ok, so i just got sound back in my car for the first time in about 5 months!!

heres my general electrical setup..

i'm going to have near +2000watts pushing in my system...i have a optima red in the front for general electric use, and a optima yellow in the back for audio both connected to a battery isolater.....and i have a 1Farad cap off the yellow top...

my question is as follows...

i have a infinity 4 channel amp for front and rear speakers....it has a input volume level control which i now have set at about 35%....i was wondering if i turn it up to around 60% will it draw more amps/volts/watts from my system...

i am just concerned because my volt meter on my batteries say around 14.4 for the front, and 14.3 in the back.....and they tend to be fairly in consistent.....some times the front will be 14.8 and rear 14.7 sometimes even less.....


also, just on a side note.....would not having a muffler on my car (rusted off) in any way hinder my alternator from doing a good job/charging all the way?



thanks for the help/clarification guys!!!

~shiba

Shiba wrote:i have a infinity 4 channel amp for front and rear speakers....it has a input volume level control which i now have set at about 35%....i was wondering if i turn it up to around 60% will it draw more amps/volts/watts from my system...

The amp will have the same upper limit for power draw. All you'll do by turning up the amplifier gain is allow it to reach it's maximum more easily. (For better or worse).

Shiba wrote:also, just on a side note.....would not having a muffler on my car (rusted off) in any way hinder my alternator from doing a good job/charging all the way?

Not in any way I can think of.




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you dont really need that isolater unless your running the system with the car off, what size/brand wire do you have between the batts? what size fuses?

Stephen wrote:you dont really need that isolater unless your running the system with the car off

damn, that sucks, so that was really a waste.....crap....

Stephen wrote:what size/brand wire do you have between the batts? what size fuses?

this is what it will look like, right now i just have the infinity amp hooked up....

all wire is 5ga Scosche (from walmart), except for the ground coming off of the amps, those are 9ga Scosche wire....

currently i have the positive wire from the isolater to the red top as 9ga wire, but will change that to 5ga tomorrow when i can pick up some new crimp terminals....
i also have 9ga wire for the ground on the yellow top, but will also change that...




thanks again guys!!!

~shiba

The alternator runs off the serpentine belt which has virtually nothing to do with your exhaust pipe.

Turn the amp up to where you want and as long as there is no dimming or voltage drops you should be fine. Really, the cap should take care of a lot of problems because it acts as a voltage "tank" when the alternator isn't producing 14.4

bradsk88 wrote:The alternator runs off the serpentine belt which has virtually nothing to do with your exhaust pipe.

i just figured that maybe the engine wasent putting out enough power because there was hardley any backpressure (i've been under the impression that mufflers cause some exhaust backpressure....correct me if i'm wrong)

bradsk88 wrote:Turn the amp up to where you want and as long as there is no dimming or voltage drops you should be fine. Really, the cap should take care of a lot of problems because it acts as a voltage "tank" when the alternator isn't producing 14.4

1) so no matter where the amp level is, it will still be drawing the same amount of power?
2) what would you consider a voltage drop....because with the volume at around 15 on the deck, which is a normal volume, 20+ is to impress the ladies, ect... the voltage meter says its at about 14.3-14.5 and i havent been able to really read the cap too much while i'm driving....
3)i knew that about caps....however, would the second optima yellow top i have also act as a voltage "tank"??

thanks again fellas

~shiba

*bump*

1) yes
2) a voltage drop is alright unless its significant (>1 volt)
3) yes the yellow top would act as a voltage tank

pretty much if your wiring is dont with a heavy enough gauge which your post said you did you should be fine.

"I did it because I wanted to see what it would look like. You should be greatful that I even told you that it would look good. If your to dumb to use photoshop and change the color of your own car then you don't need to see it changed. I'm not going to give my work away. I'll sell the pic to you though for $15."-Adam Kalin

^^JBO is about not being that guy

for #2....what if occasionally it drops down more then 1 volt, but then charges back up to around 14.6....is that ok??

and i've heard people say that much larger wire was needed for systems pulling as many watts as mine...but idk...

thanks ahead of time guys...

~shiba