90 amp alt, BIG 3 IS complete with 1/0 wire. After checking all of my grounds, shortening my wires make sure fuse holders are good etc.. I am still experiencing voltage drops. battery up front is a duralast (3 years old or so) stock battery, and I have a batcap 2000 in the back right near the amps. I have a sundown 1500, and a kenwood kac 646.. around 1500 rms total. Tested resting voltages on both batteries again to make sure, front was at 12.88, back is at 12.9. While the car is on, front is 14.25, back is 14.2. here is the kicker. Playing a semi heavy bass song, on volume 40 my front battery drops as low as 12.98.. sporadic of course. at the amp in the back I'm seeing 12.47 lowest. I cranked it up to 45, and put on young jeezy "put on". front battery bounces around from 13 ish to 12.45 lowest. at the amps.. the first note is 12.28. then it drops as low as 11.8 on the following notes!! just don't know. I cleaned all my grounds everything appears to be good. BIG 3 is already finished. I have the batcap 2000 grounded in the trunk.. and I have a dedicated 1/0 ground and power wire from the back battery to the front battery. I asked this question on another forum. Would upgrading my front battery to say .. a kinetik 1400 or kinetik 1800 (if it will fit) resolve this issue? I also seen ace alts has a 150 amp alt, and powermaster has 140 amp alt.. for about the same price I will spend on the kinetik. What would you do? Alt or battery? I have been told time and tiem again that a 90 amp alt with a batcap 2000 near theamps should suffice in running 1500 rms.. I just don't get it. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
well in my experince my voltage drops came from bad connection on the power wire or corrosion on the power wire.
what kind of alternator are you running? stock alternators arent really strong enough to run big systems you will need a high power one for it to keep up.
The Kinetik 1800 is a great batt, but the 90a alt is holding you back alot.
What vehicle do you have?
11.8v is a little low, but nowhere near as low as alot of the locals I see...lol. Tested a guys system today and it was dropping to 10.2
I see in your sig that you are from Monroe. I work for Desiard St. Pawn and Car Audio across from ULM campus. Drop in if you need any help. (Also, we are hosting an SPL comp at Hooters on May 31st)
I think I have found the problem guys. Going to redo my big 3 this weekend and let yall know. Canaan, I believe I have talked to you before about making a custom box. I still need that custom box built. Once I get the money saved up I will come by and talk to you . Thanks man. To the guy about the 90 amp alt being my limitation, I have been told over and over that 90 amp alt should be sufficient... but you know what maybe you are right.
true I suppose i could do that. I would rather go ahead and upgrade my alt though lol. like i said, I messed up on my BIG 3. going to redo it this weekend. also,consider two things. one, music is dynamic. different notes will demand different current levels.. and two I am not playing test tones here lol. so i am not always going to draw the same amount of current. that is the assumption that everyone is under that has told me 90 amp should suffice.
And yes, music is dynamic so 2 good batts are close to ok for your system. NickV runs his 1750's w/ just extra batts, but he doesn't play loud very often. Just quick demos. For long continuous playing, you will want to look at an alt.
Jake - seems to me your alt IS sufficient. It's job is to supply the vehicle's electrical needs with enough left over to charge the battieries so you can start the car. Voltage drops are a seperate issue. Window motors cause voltage drops, electric radiator fans cause voltage drops, power brake boosters cause voltage drops -- it's just an issue of what's acceptable and what isn't. 11.8v isn't good, but if it's instantaneous and rare I wouldn't say it's a "problem".
Before you replace the alt, if you replace it -- take all the engine running voltage measurements again while someone holds the RMP's at 1500-2k. See how much, if any, they change.