2nd car battery- solenoid/relay?
09-05-2009, 12:02 AM
#12
Again with the caps.....
I run around 2.3KW in my truck......I have 1 run of 2ga about 15ft long for power supply, a decent quality 1000cca battery and a 130amp alt. Big 3 are done in 2ga and the ground is a 3ft piece of 2ga to a good, clean ground point. My headlights and the voltage gauge in the dash don't flinch or flicker at all at full volume.
I can understand Fada Yuli needing lots more supply for the systems he does, but for an average system too many people are still applying too many band-aids instead of dealing with the fundamentals first.....
Unless you plan on listening a lot with the car shut off you probably don't need a second battery. Get the proper electrical reinforcement in there first and go from there......
HTH
I run around 2.3KW in my truck......I have 1 run of 2ga about 15ft long for power supply, a decent quality 1000cca battery and a 130amp alt. Big 3 are done in 2ga and the ground is a 3ft piece of 2ga to a good, clean ground point. My headlights and the voltage gauge in the dash don't flinch or flicker at all at full volume.
I can understand Fada Yuli needing lots more supply for the systems he does, but for an average system too many people are still applying too many band-aids instead of dealing with the fundamentals first.....
Unless you plan on listening a lot with the car shut off you probably don't need a second battery. Get the proper electrical reinforcement in there first and go from there......
HTH
Last edited by BigRedGuy; 09-05-2009 at 12:08 AM.
09-05-2009, 12:04 AM
#13
do the big 3 as it will help with dimming, honestly there seems like your bat sux or something with you electrical sux, because I have an 05sx(neon) 1 stock 85amp alt, and and 1 bat under the hood, it never dips below 12.5 no matter what! I run a second battery now just to help with voltage and well because I had a red top laying around LOL. My under hood battry is like 1000ca and 800 or 850 cca. and I have 4 runs 1/0 front to back. 2 power 2 ground
oh and I run a 3k sub amp, and a lil wonder 500.4 for 4 channel
oh and I run a 3k sub amp, and a lil wonder 500.4 for 4 channel
09-05-2009, 12:56 AM
#14
Ok first thanks for all the replies. Appriciate the help. I have done the big 3 in 4awg, the connections are clean, sanded and good terminals were used. The alt is stock (97 civic- not sure but 130amps at very most). I had similar problem with the old vechicle (asuna sunfire) which ended up fried( alternator diodes went and the whole electrical fried- the alt was putting out 20v+ AC) so now I plan on changing the alt and adding a battery. And honestly if that's a wrong approach I have no idea what to do- cuz I don't want to fry this car.
09-05-2009, 07:05 AM
#16
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what size wire do you have front to back?...u said u did the big 3 in 4 awg, if ur running 4 awg front to back u might wanna change that.
as for the solenoid, SURE its the proper way.
i have ran about 5 of my own vehicles with 2nd or more than 2 batteries, and never used a solenoid. but then again, i hardly used fuses in any of them also.
My suggestion is if your unsure of any of this, bring it to a professional, or at least do it the proper way, in case something does go wrong, use fuses and a solenoid. isn't what i would do, but meh.
also, 1 good battery under the hood should be enuf with only 2500 rms. But if your plan is to run it with the car off often, get one big honkin battery for the back just so u dont kill everything, and yea, rock a solenoid so ur car will still start. u can get battery isolators that just shut off the one from the other. lets it charge but wont let it drain the other batt.
also, your solenoid will really only have to support as much amperage as ur alternator puts out, as it wont be drawing from ur front battery, or else the solenoid would be useless if u wanna draw from the front.
as for the solenoid, SURE its the proper way.
i have ran about 5 of my own vehicles with 2nd or more than 2 batteries, and never used a solenoid. but then again, i hardly used fuses in any of them also.
My suggestion is if your unsure of any of this, bring it to a professional, or at least do it the proper way, in case something does go wrong, use fuses and a solenoid. isn't what i would do, but meh.
also, 1 good battery under the hood should be enuf with only 2500 rms. But if your plan is to run it with the car off often, get one big honkin battery for the back just so u dont kill everything, and yea, rock a solenoid so ur car will still start. u can get battery isolators that just shut off the one from the other. lets it charge but wont let it drain the other batt.
also, your solenoid will really only have to support as much amperage as ur alternator puts out, as it wont be drawing from ur front battery, or else the solenoid would be useless if u wanna draw from the front.
09-05-2009, 09:10 AM
#17
Thank you again everyone for helping out. The wire I'm tuning front to back is 2awg. Distance is about 10ft or 12 at most. Honestly the second battery is the cheapest solution I could come up with. I can upgrade the main power to 0awg if necessary but it will cost me more then a new battery. I'm probably going to upgrade the alt to 165amps to begin with and maybe add second alt if needed later on. I won't install the solenoid, main reason I was going to do so was protect the batteries from "draining eachother" that I have heard from someone. Honestly $35 is worth the try, even if it doesn't help- then I'll put a better alt- it was recomended by installer long time ago anyway. I just wanted to be sure I won't run into trouble by installing the second battery. Again thank you all for help, if battery won't help then I will order that hi amp alt cuz redoing the wiring was allready done.
09-05-2009, 11:17 AM
#18
Thank you again everyone for helping out. The wire I'm tuning front to back is 2awg. Distance is about 10ft or 12 at most. Honestly the second battery is the cheapest solution I could come up with. I can upgrade the main power to 0awg if necessary but it will cost me more then a new battery. I'm probably going to upgrade the alt to 165amps to begin with and maybe add second alt if needed later on. I won't install the solenoid, main reason I was going to do so was protect the batteries from "draining eachother" that I have heard from someone. Honestly $35 is worth the try, even if it doesn't help- then I'll put a better alt- it was recomended by installer long time ago anyway. I just wanted to be sure I won't run into trouble by installing the second battery. Again thank you all for help, if battery won't help then I will order that hi amp alt cuz redoing the wiring was allready done.
HTH
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