Dual Battery

[aelli614]

Ok so I'm looking at hooking up my extra battery to my X.

Ive done some research. and I have a few questions.

1.Would a battery solenoid be ok or is an isolator needed?

2.Can I just got for a manual switch to select batteries?

All this reading is giving me information overload.

Thanks.

 

[BrooklynBay]

What will this extra battery provide power for (stereo, lights, trailer wiring, etc)?

 

[aelli614]

just two amps highs and lows

 

[BrooklynBay]

Get a diode isolator that is equal or higher amperage than your alternator (preferably higher). Harbor Freight sells them.

 

[pbnj22]

are you putting your amps in the back? i would just add a battery to the back with no isolator
just run power cable from battery up front to battery pos in back and then run a ground from battery in back down to the frame
on a side note how big of amps do you got? you might not need another battery and you might want to get a high output alternator depending on how much power your pushing ??

 

[aelli614]

i ll look into the diode isolator.

and yes both amps are going to be in the back. 1 1200watt the other a 300watt

 

[pbnj22]

class d amps? what ohms are you running? I am running 1000 watts at 4 ohm for my subs and then another 400 watt 4 channel at 4 ohm for speakers and stock batt and stock alt handle it fine. I even have a volt meter in dash and never drop below 14 ever.. even when its hitting hard...
but then i tried my amp up 2000 at 1 ohm and it didnt like that very much.. it died on the way to work

 

[aelli614]

class d amps? what ohms are you running? I am running 1000 watts at 4 ohm for my subs and then another 400 watt 4 channel at 4 ohm for speakers and stock batt and stock alt handle it fine. I even have a volt meter in dash and never drop below 14 ever.. even when its hitting hard...
but then i tried my amp up 2000 at 1 ohm and it didnt like that very much.. it died on the way to work

the sub is at 2ohm if im not mistaken. Running off a 2chan amp. It would dim the lights like crazy when i was @idle when it was hitting. the 4chan is 4ohm.

 

[jprentice94]

What size wiring that can cause light dimming i had a class d kenwood 1800 with 4 guage and a 250 4 chaneld alpine on stock battery and alt and it didnt dim at all when i got 4 guage also your alt isnt producing enough power at idle thats why people rev to 1500 cause then the alt is recharging battery. If i played my stereo with car off for 5 mins my battery would die

 

[BrooklynBay]

You could replace the stock alternator pulley & belt with an aftermarket one which is smaller to get a higher RPM on the alternator at idle. What kind of battery do you have?

 

[pbnj22]

I would upgrade the "big 3." google that if you dont know it is basically increasing the wire gauge from
alt pos to batt pos (add a fuse if you can though i do not have one)
bat neg to chassis (ground)
bat neg to engine block (ground)
use the biggest wire you can afford... i used 0 gauge and will never have to upgrade and since it is 3 short runs it is not to expensive.
There will be existing wire in all three places and you do not need to remove it, just run the bigger wire side by side with it or wherever you decide to route it..
this helps power "flow" from your alt, to your bat to the rest of the car...
this alone took care of my lights dimming in almost all my cars...
your kind of on the border of needing another battery and being good with the stock battery and alternator... that being said i would not get another battery unless you get a high output alternator to be able to keep 2 batteries charged.. this is a lot of extra strain on a stock alternator..
The lower the ohm load the less efficient things run ( so in theory my system should be slightly more efficient which would explain why i am fine on stock battery and alternator and you might not be)..

on a different note i thought isolaters were to be able to use one battery like when the car is off and not have it drain your "starting" battery so if you kill your battery from cranking the stereo it will only drain one battery and not bot and then you only have the capacity of one battery for the stereo?
for car audio you want the capacity of both batteries so dont you want them both wired in parallel and then to the alternator?

 

[jprentice94]

With a stock alt and stock wiring it would be pointless for a second battery btw to much current through stock guge wires causes fires my friend burned his whole wiring harness from trying to push more power than they could handle and you should by good wire for example scosche is like middle end boss and stuff like that lowend and kicker stinger high end i had stinger and it was really good wire

 

[pbnj22]

With a stock alt and stock wiring it would be pointless for a second battery btw to much current through stock guge wires causes fires my friend burned his whole wiring harness from trying to push more power than they could handle and you should by good wire for example scosche is like middle end boss and stuff like that lowend and kicker stinger high end i had stinger and it was really good wire

do not waste you money on "high end wire" it doesnt go bad and high end stuff is mostly marketing scam... i have welding cable that i paid 1.50 a foot and and it works wayy better than any expensive crap my friends bought... just make sure its all copper, and has a high strand count. like i said before do the "big 3" so you do not burn up your wires and start a fire..
but the biggest gauge wire you can afford all around. you will be happy in the long run that you did
and still i would upgrade alternators befor egetting a 2nd battery or your current alt will not last much longer.

 

[jprentice94]

I disagree that wiring doesnt make difference look at a cheap 4 awg wire next to an expensive wire like stinger and you will understand

 

[pbnj22]

brand isnt as important as oxygen free, and making sure its copper and getting the biggest wire you can afford... 0 awg is 0 awg... for the most part... yeah of course there are exceptions and some wire will be more flexible but still..

 

[jprentice94]

Agrred with oxygen but 4 awg cheap has more rubber than wire better suff actually has 4 awg of wire so oawg cheap is equivelent to 4 awg expensive the main point im saying is dont buy a 1000 worth of stuff and go get 30 scoshe wiring

 

[pbnj22]

thicker coating equals more insulation from noise being introduced through rcas and other signal cables.. awg is a standardized table use to measure wire thickness..
4 awg is 4 awg... same thing when buying t shirts.. a large is a large.. and an xl is an xl... obviously there is a slight difference between the crap companies and good ones but its negligible but you dont need "high end"... i would actually recommend knukonceptz for all your wiring... good quality, not too expensive, and pretty flexible to bend in tight corners and what not..

 

[Sheepdogg]

Ok, Ive gotta jump in here. Ive installed car audio and electronics longer than I care to remember. First upgrade the big 3 with 0-2 gauge wire 1)battery to frame 2) engine to frame 3) alternator to battery. Next use a capacitor mounted as close to the amp as possible. then add an upgraded or rewound alternator. This will fix your issues. An average 1500 watt amplifier will pull upwards of 200 amperes where a standard stock alternator will put out only 70-120 depending on your vehicle. 60-70% of that output goes to run the vehicle itself 40-70 amperes. a second battery will put an extra strain on your alternator due to more of a constant draw. A dual battery setup will just give you longer playtime without the vehicle running. NOTE this is a discussion regarding audio not winching. Second Note.... I use 0 gauge welding cable for all of my need personal and professional.

 

[pbnj22]

Ok, Ive gotta jump in here. Ive installed car audio and electronics longer than I care to remember. First upgrade the big 3 with 0-2 gauge wire 1)battery to frame 2) engine to frame 3) alternator to battery. Next use a capacitor mounted as close to the amp as possible. then add an upgraded or rewound alternator. This will fix your issues. An average 1500 watt amplifier will pull upwards of 200 amperes where a standard stock alternator will put out only 70-120 depending on your vehicle. 60-70% of that output goes to run the vehicle itself 40-70 amperes. a second battery will put an extra strain on your alternator due to more of a constant draw. A dual battery setup will just give you longer playtime without the vehicle running. NOTE this is a discussion regarding audio not winching. Second Note.... I use 0 gauge welding cable for all of my need personal and professional.

agree with everything except the capacitor.. everyone has their opinions and reasons for that though.. i just dont like them..

 

[jadez03]

agree with everything except the capacitor.. everyone has their opinions and reasons for that though.. i just dont like them..

Why not? You like your headlights to dim to the beat?