battery and alternator

Systems

i'm new to both your forum and car audio in general. i was wondering if you could give me some advice on batteries, capacitors, and alternators. right now i'm planning on running the following system. 2-12" audiobahn aw1208t subs, the subs are 2 ohm dual voice coil subs are rated at 1500 w rms and 2000 w peak. im running these with an audiobahn 2300hct amp it's 2 channel, 1 ohm stable amp and i plan on running it at 1200 w x 2.
i'll be using 1/0 guage wiring. the speakers in the cab will be the mm6 6.5" component speakers and 6x9's in the back. these speakers will be run off of some older lanzar amps. i have 2 channel 50 w lanzar optidrive plus amp and a 2 channel 200 w lanzar optidrive plus amp. the deck that i'm looking at is an alpine 9815, rated at 60 w x4. so here are my questions.
1. is this going to destroy my alternator?
2. should i upgrade my battery and alternator?
3. are the lanzar amps worth keeping or should i upgrade those?
4. if i keep the lanzar amps how should i wire them up to the speakers in the cab?
5.what are the benefits of having a capacitor, and will my particular system benefit from one?
6.capacitors are rated in farads, what does this mean and how do i know how many farads i would need?

i will appreciate any help, opinions, and criticism that you have to offer towards my system.

PoweredByDodge

1- i am not mommy
2- this is not school
3- suggested readings to answer the questions which would require lots of typing (ie "what's a farad")

--- www.the12volt.com
--- http://www.carstereo.com/help/elect_upgrade.cfm (just read the article on caps -- the battery statement is a bunch of **** -- its "misinformation" that needs to be restated -- sounds like the guy who wrote it ripped off someone else's information and put it back together the wrong way).

--- a really GREAT article for beginners from the termpro library... http://www.termpro.com/articles/electsys.html


as far as the equipment you purchased -- i'm no audiobahn fan, but quite honestly that's certainly not a bad system for a starter... its actually quite frickin amazing for a first timer -- and i really think you bit off more than you can chew.

a good starter system is a head unit and 4 speakers... then add an amp.

then add subs and sub amp.

then learn everything you need to know, rip it all out and junk or sell it, and go get somethign along the lines of what you just bought now -- which leaves u with a precidament -- the solution for which you've come to us.
........... you don't know what you're doing.

and i'm not knocking you here -- as much as it may seem i am, i'm not.

i really think you just got way over your head and when you see the bill for power wire / electrical necessities / wire terminals / clamps / speaker wire / patch cables and other accessories, you're gonna blow a gasket in your brain.

... first 0 gauge is the bare **** minimum -- the peak for 0 gauge is 300 A (at leats that's what's accepted commonly) -- you're running 320+ (see below)...

i dont know what those lanzar amps do -- but lets say u use them for now and if they're good u keep em, if they'r enot u upgrade -- but whatever u end up with you'll be in the 150 to 200 x 2 range for fronts, and like 100 x 2 for rears -- thats 200 + 400 = 600... now u have 2400 w for subs....

600 / 0.65*14 = 66
2400 / 0.65*14 = 260

326 amps total draw.

sounds like a lot doesn't it ? -- it is.

anyway -- u can do 0 gauge... but dont go over the wattage rating described or you really should go 00 or add a 2nd power line

i have no idea what car u have so i cant even guess at alternator size.

lets say you're lucky and have a 100 amp alternator -- you're 226A short.

so you want to pinch it and make it work anyway -- well you better have room for another battery -- and you'll have to buy two - from the same manufacturer, preferably from the same production lot.

dont mix batteries.

then you'll need 3 to 5 farads of capacitance, and a whole lot of praying.

ideally you'd get an alternator that would spin up 300A, but that's going to be damn near a 1,000 bucks or more (and it will require serious modification for mounting as the casing will be huge -- ie a leece neville) for one that'll do any amperage at idle, and do 300A at or below the rpm you hit when you're going 55 - 65 miles an hour (or 200 - 250-ish when you're at the rpm you do 30-ish in the city)

for one that'll do 300A but spin jack **** at idle, and only do its rating at highway speeds, then you can get away for as low as 500 bucks if you find the right guy, and he can build u a good casing - and less and its a royal piece of ****.

you can get 200a alts all day long however... ohio generator, powermaster, and other mfg's make them for just about every vehicle... and will run you 500 - 700 bucks for one that'll do what you want it to do and be a direct bolt on.

the only other option - which i've been fliriting with for a while is to leave the stock alt, power diode isolate (i've yet to find said diodes or networks of diodes or somethign appropriate yet anyway though...) outputs for prevention of back-talk, and dump in a 2nd alternator -- a GM modified 1 wire... its own regulator -- just have somebody weld onto your engine or fab up a bolt on bracket which you can mout the 2nd alt to - and then get a new belt (maybe even pully) setup to work around it.

u can get 1 wire GM's as high as 200A for like 350 - 450 bucks for a respectable one. --- cheaper if you dig...

now with all this bloody goddamn power running through your car, they're goig to be a shitload of DC (hell maybe even ac) noise going around.

you're going to need very good patch cables that can stand up to it or else you're music will be one big buzz fest.

70 bucks for 6 foot runs -- 120 for up to 15 foot runs -- per pair--- and u prolly ahve three pre-amp outputs so thats 210 - 360 bucks.

go with radio shack **** for 20 bucks and you'll be crying in a day.

--- alpine 9815 is a nice deck -- get it -- even if you have no idea what you're doing as long as u dont break it someday it'll prove its worth -- its a really nice "show piece" (in addition to tis kick **** functionality) to a system.



I forget where the hell this is from -- wait, i remember, star trek .... picard is talking to Q and he's like, "you're all fked up now Q (not a direct quote), you're going to have to rely on the charity of others for your survival."

... that's my advice to you -- and admittedly you did come here and ask for such advice... but seriously - unless you know something you're not telling us, you're gonna need a lot of help to get that in and not jack it up beyond all recognition.

as such -- information is needed, and i'm sure as long as u're willing to put in the time, myself and the other guys in this forum will be more than willing to aid you as best as possible...

so ...

1- make / model / year / options / features... everything ... on the car.

2- alternator size on the car... if you dont know it - call any local dealer for your brand car - ask for parts dept - give them your VIN number of the car and they'll tell you the stock alt size that your specific vehicle came with.

3- max alt size available for your car (sometimes optional alternator sizes are available) again ask the dealer.

4- is all the equipment (minus the lanzar stuff) new or used? if not - what is what?

5- what is the model / approximate age / and last known condition of hte lanzar amps --- and how much power do they put out into what ohm load ? (dirt **** old lanzar was pretty damn good stuff)



... lets start with that for now -- may be more Q's later as it progresses... but that'll do for now.

get two things in your head right now though...

1- you will spend about 1,000 give or take dollars on batteries / wire / patch cables / caps / misc wire.

2- you will most likely need an alternator and it may cost you up to 1,000 bucks to get that in there.. hopefully it wont. hopefully you can "hack" it like i did -- i've got a about 120A running through there with two batteries and a couple caps and it keeps on truckin although i do get some sickly dips now and then... i do need to upgrade the alt soon, but the rest my upgrades were also necessary -- so maybe u can get away w/ out the alt for a little while. gotta figure that out still.

3- for future reference... try to shy away from audiobahn -- your hard earned money can be more efficiently spent on product that is much better backed up by teh manufacturer and is of better build quality.

MTXMAN

dude if you havn't already bought the audiobahn look into other brands first. one of my preferances for subs is the Diamond Audio TDX, comes in a dual 2 and dual 4ohm model and does around 2krms (not sure on this), others here prefer IDMax's and the Adire Brama from what i've heard and they are all great brands, we just go by what we've heard and of the 3 i've only heard the TDX's and they would probably put the audiobahn's to shame. if you're looking for high class power you may want to consider getting 2 US Amps 2000x amps which will give you a blazing 2000w at 4 ohms (get the dual 2ohm diamonds and run them at 4 ohm's one to each amp). If you're going to have to put as much work into your system as you're going to have to do for the audiobahn you may as well go ahead and get the better gear too, i doubt it'll cost you all that much more either, you can get both amps for about 2 grand and you can get the 12" subs for 344 each all at www.speedsound.com also you can look into the trutechnology sledgehammer amp for both subs, 5000x1 rms at 1ohm, this amp will cost you at least a grand more than the 2 usamps though (possibly more than that though)

good huntin friend and if you get it done right it should sound sweet. btw when you're looking to do the install if you're near ft. wayne IN i could help ya out (i'd charge but less than a shop would ;D )

PoweredByDodge

hah! you fink! -- you'd charge??

normally I'll do just about anything in somebody's car for free... however a job to this extend I would have to charge -- **** i'd have to take two weeks off school and work and just do the damn car.

MTXMAN

dude i'm a poor college student in need of gas money, i'd do just about anything for a few bucks... anybody need a kidney??

PoweredByDodge

same situation and i get 14 or less on the highway. ... less since i've added the exhaust and opened up the air intake.

guzzle guzzle...

it takes just over 3/4 of a tank ( i think a tank is 26 gallons ? or 24 ?) to get to erie PA from buffalo and back again.

old man's truck - same year, same everything cept motor - gets there and bak on considerably less than half a tank.

Vinnie Spinelli -- He-**** 4 Hire...
1-800-Dial-A-Ho

Yes folks, i said ----> 1800 - Dial - A - Ho

and i'm 'da Ho.

Print out this post and receive 10% off your first purchase from 1-800-dial-a-ho.... you're 1 stop shop for all your he-**** needs.

my life for a larger intake for dual carburetors... a hood scoop to cover said dual carburetors... and enough cash to finish off the rest of it.

MTXMAN

hey vinnie can i join you as your partner?? i could use cash too... and to all the ladies out there i promise satisfaction for my services ;D

sntnsupermen131

my truck gets 12...its a 3/4 ton though....but not 4wd
-Cody

CPHILHOWER

My Escape used to get about 20mpg. Until I put the bigger tires on it. Now, I think I am lucky to get 18. Tough call. The AWD got a work out the last couple of storms.
Chris

PoweredByDodge

... he-whores ususally attract ugly chicks, business women, and flaky guys as clientel.

so lets just hope there's a lotta businesswomen so we can turn away the other customers.