voltage

[blazen]

i was wondering if haveing the volt drop down to less than 12 everyonce and awhile will harm anything. sometimes when i stop at a light my volts drop because of my system. i will be getting a larger alt. in the near future but just wondering if it will harm any of the electronics in the truck

[1993blazerlt]

only thing i think it might hurt would be over working the battery. Low voltage i don't think is that bad. Now if it was high voltage you could burn things up.

[nomaboy]

that and the factory volt guage tends to over exagerate the readings.

[blazen]

i didnt think it would do much but just wanted to make sure

[xtc_customs]

it can cause problems . the ECU can shut down , along with the BCM and other electrical units .

[blazen]

i've never had anything shut down on me (not yet) but all i really have to do is turn the volume down and the alt. will be able to keep up. hopefully nothing goes wrong. i guess i better just get that alt alittle quicker than i was gonna

[xtc_customs]

get ya an iraggi alt . cheaper and tougher than the competition .


heres his e-mail its the best way to get a hold of him
dominick@tds.net

[blazen]

cool thanks xtc i guess you do need that guru title

[xtc_customs]

thats why i said it suits me . i may not know all but what i do know can help all .
at least in their pursuit of audio greatness .

[bvr775]

Unless you drop below 6v you want hurt the comp.
I've can kill mine at 60mph and melt the antena at the same time, but the amp that does it has nothing to do with car audio.

shh don't tell the fcc

[joker2040]

Before I put a capacitor in my system I could drop my voltage below 10V at idle with my system bumping. I haven't saw any adverse affects yet. It still can't be good for the alt. This was with my old battery too. I have a new yellow top optima now.

[Blazer69]

mine does the same thing from my system....i already boiled a battery and smoked the alt before the strereo...i need to buy a yellow top and hopefully that will help out

[XxInFaxX]

blazen, get a cap 1st. my $.02

[xtc_customs]

a yellow top will not help . if you need more power you need to make more power .the only way to introduce more power into a vehicle while it is running is a bigger alternator . the stock alt is barely able to provide power for all the accesories on our trucks . let alone a high power audio system .

caps will not work , the create more of a load on the existing alt .
adding batteries will not work , again an even bigger load on the existing alt
a bigger alternator will work , provides enough power for the load at hand .


once the charging system (alt) is up to par , you can then see small results from extra batteries ,and caps (not often ) . caps are a gimmick in car audio , their whole purpose is meant to FILTER the 12V line . NOT to act as a battery or means of extra power .

[XxInFaxX]

caps are meant to store voltage. they charge and discharge rapidly allowing the system to drain the cap and NOT the battery, if your lights are dimming from the hard bass tones a cap WILL work (depending on how bad the drain and how many volts you are pushing)


no, one will not always work but i do not agree with what you have posted. not going any further into this, but my $.02

[xtc_customs]

all i will say and i will leave it to rest also .

how many caps do you see in alma gates' bronco ?

none .

there IS a reason why .

[bvr775]

i don't like getting into this debate because of most people don't deal with the nig enough power drain to understand why caps suck. I run radio equipment as well as my stereo equipment(not the centrifuge in my bed for testing s&w content in crude)
caps are not solution they'er a bandaid, but if you must use one get a good one like a batcap. the cap has to recharge and it draws as much recharge at a faster rate than you can discharge.
If you really stop and think about how a cap works they can actually be a limiter(a bottleneck for electrical discharge) if your drawing your battery down at speed or even at speed and you have a cap in line your going to pull more than the cap can regnerate if it's a free flowing system. so a cap will limit what you you can take out so that it can keep up.

[blazen]

i was thinkin this summer i'm gonna put dual batteries (also helps when starting in 0 degree weather) and i'm gonna get a bigger alt

[xtc_customs]

2 batts for eveything , or 1 bat for the truck and one batt for the stereo ?

or going for the latter route i would look into a battery isolator , it will isolate the stereo battery from being used by the truck and the truck battery from being used by the stereo . while being able to charge them both at the same time .

[importmaster1300]

Try having an E-fan and 1200watt sys. w/out a cap!

[xtc_customs]

try having a true 1500 watts RMS @ 2ohm . running it @ 1.5ohm daily(about 1670watts) and @ 1ohm(around 1820watts )for comps . on a stock alt and no extra batts . with a cap ,did a 149.8 on the termpro . took out the cap and went up to 150.6 on the termpro .


BTW this waz with 2 -15's tuned to about 54hz ,actually playing 64hz . and really sounded like AZZ .

[blazen]

Try having an E-fan and 1200watt sys. w/out a cap!

go no cap plus i have an e-fan plus driving lights plus a 2400 watt amp a 700 watt amp and a 240 watt amp

[blazen]

2 batts for eveything , or 1 bat for the truck and one batt for the stereo ?

or going for the latter route i would look into a battery isolator , it will isolate the stereo battery from being used by the truck and the truck battery from being used by the stereo . while being able to charge them both at the same time .
i would prob try the isolator. my dad has that in his surburban i think he uses on battery for starting and head lights and the other for everything else. so i might try what you said

[blazen]

try having a true 1500 watts RMS @ 2ohm . running it @ 1.5ohm daily(about 1670watts) and @ 1ohm(around 1820watts )for comps . on a stock alt and no extra batts . with a cap ,did a 149.8 on the termpro . took out the cap and went up to 150.6 on the termpro .


BTW this waz with 2 -15's tuned to about 54hz ,actually playing 64hz . and really sounded like AZZ .

do caps really help that much. i heard that there good for a short hit of bass but cant regain there power fast enough for continous use.

[xtc_customs]

do caps really help that much. i heard that there good for a short hit of bass but cant regain there power fast enough for continous use.

notice i TOOK OUT THE CAP and went up in SPL .

[blazen]

yeah some one told me that before but everyone seems to like and use them. i wonder if they would work better on a smaller system since you have such a large system maybe that was your prob with it.

[xtc_customs]

the problem with a cap is it cannot hold amperage . and amperage is what you need to run you electrical system . a cap is used in car audio to smooth dips in voltage ( and filter line noise ). to produce power you need both amperage and voltage . lack of either will result in less power .

[blazen]

thanks xtc i know who i'm gonna talk to when it comes time to redo my system or if i have any probs. i know enough stuff to make a decent system but i might talk to you to so maybe you could give me tips and advice..........thanks

[xtc_customs]

anytime you need help/advice just ask . i love car audio , i even volunteer my own time at the local shop for free . this is just what i love to do . i see no sense in ruining it by making it my job .

[bvr775]

try having a true 1500 watts RMS @ 2ohm . running it @ 1.5ohm daily(about 1670watts) and @ 1ohm(around 1820watts )for comps .

I can beat all of you in a power drain fest. beside the 800w amp. I have a grey 250w driveing a maco 2500w tube liener. that's about a 600amp drain. I can only key up for 1 1/2 minute before it kills the truck and the power must be completly cut off to the stereo or i'll fry it. I seriously can kill hondas and kias just by pulling up next to them and keying up.

the centrifuge i use in the feild for testing will kill a 2 fully charged batterys in less than an hour.