Power system upgrade

[dbphelps 0]

Hey guys, I already have a 200amp alternator, Exide Orbital Extreme 34XCD battery, big 3 upgrade, and 2-gauge running about 14-15 feet to the hatch, protected by a 200-amp ANL fuse by the battery, with a 3-farad capacitor in the hatch...

My old setup that I am upgrading required about 40-50 amps for items other than the stereo (nitrous system, massive fuel pump, etc) as well as about 90 for the old stereo setup, thus about 130-140 amps at most, so the 2-gauge wiring was just fine with the 3-farad cap thrown in for good measure...

Now, I am upgrading the amps and speakers in my setup and am looking at about 1500-1700watts RMS, thus about 160-170 amps for the stereo alone, then add on top of that the 40-50 amps needed for other things, so I am around 200-220 amps total... All amplifiers in old/new setups are class A/B, no class D at all...

So, I have been planning to upgrade the 2-gauge wire to a 1/0 gauge, replacing the 200 amp fuse with a 250-300 amp fuse, and being done with it...

But, I am contemplating another route that would make my install easier as I wouldn't have to rewire anything, just add stuff in back, and that would be to add something like a Kinetic 600/800 series, Oddeysey PC625 or Batcap 800, along with a battery isolation relay, leaving the 2-gauge wiring I have in place along with the 200-amp ANL fuse and just wiring up the new battery in back, and either keeping or getting rid of the 3-farad cap while I am at...

Is there any real major drawbacks to adding the battery instead of rewiring to 1/0-gauge?

From all my calculations, if my maximum run length from the new battery in back to the amps is 6 feet or less even 2 gauge is perfectly fine there, and for charging of the battery in back the 2-gauge 15 foot run is just fine as well...

With this design I can only see positives as there is added battery capacity, quick discharge/recharge, and no need to rewire... If this is the case, should I also get rid of the 3-farad cap as well?

The only detractor for rewiring to 1/0 gauge, aside from the obvious cost, is for my setup it would be a real PITA to run something that large...

[mrray13 30]

we actually do this quite a bit...and have seen no ill effects as of yet. and we don't use the isolation thing either, jsut a second fuse in front of the second battery. and that is only to protert that long run in case of short...

yeah, get rid of the cap. with the larger battery designed for this, like the batcap 800, you get the best of both worlds....

an example for the naysayers....

2000 maxima, 4 gauge wiring from front to back, yellow top up front, factory alternator. in back, a pr100.4, ma audio hk4000d and a svr battery. even on huge bass hits, according to the volt meter on the ma audio, 11.5 is the lowest it's dropped..and yeah, the pr is ran at 2 ohm and the ma audio the same. also in this car is three screens, a 600 watt power inverter and a xbox 360.

while i'm not saying it's the safest route, it definitely works and we have had zero issues with the car to date. (other then the inverter introducing a shitton of noise. we know it's the problem because the noise goes away with the inverter off. any ideas on how to cure this?)

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Eldorado 0]

Kent, does the system have an isolator ?

Try grounding to seperate batteries.

Anything that has a transformer in it will cause some nasty noise into the system.

For example glow gauges and neons

[mrray13 30]

Kent, does the system have an isolator ?

Try grounding to seperate batteries.

Anything that has a transformer in it will cause some nasty noise into the system.

For example glow gauges and neons

no isolator, and the inverter is wired direct to the front battery with 8 gauge. it's got it's own ground as well. but all the rca's run by it.

i've tried a noise isolator on the rcas from the xbox to the h/u, but that only cuts it down some, doesn't get rid of it. we are at a loss...

truth is, we've had a run of noise, all involve memphis rcas. we've changed nothing else about the way we install, yet we are getting alot more noise issues....

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[ANeonRider 3]

Those inverters put out some pretty dirty a/c voltage. Ever look at it on a scope? Far from a nice sine wave. Maybe try a small power conditioner?