Hey guys,

Another question....

I am gonna have two amps....do I need a new alternator....?

One amp power type-r front and back speakers....

and...
Another powering two Type-R subs (4ohm)..?

 

The Alternator is not the first thing you should replace when you're upgrading your electrical system. When you upgrade your 12v audio, you should choose electrical upgrades in this order:

Amps -> Batteries to power the amps -> Alternator to charge the batteries -> wire to carry the current.

Assuming you're going to be running 500w to each of the Type Arghs (which is their rated power), you will need at least a new battery, but probably not a new alternator. Unless you plan to play your system for long periods of time full tilt, without giving your alternator a chance to charge your battery/batteries back up. With only 1200w or so, you should be able to get away with just replacing the battery under your hood with any of the following XS Power batteries: D1200, D5100, D3400, D2400 or D2700. I believe the D3400 is the largest that will fit, but if you're willing to do a bit of modification to your battery box, you should be able to fit the D2400. The D2400 is what I have under the hood of my 2.3L and it's an absolute beast. I had a D5100R (Reversed Polarity) for awhile, but then switched it into my Celica when I got the D2400.

Just be sure to do the Big 3 when you start replacing things. This will help to get the most out of your alternator.

 

LOl there goes Matt whoring his xs batts again. But yea they are good.

 

xs battery? are they like extra strong.
How much they go for?

 

Yes, they are extremely strong batteries. Their website is 4xspower.com.

The best shipped prices online are from www.mechman.com.

 

Simple, when your car suddenly stops running.

 

worthless ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

k then how bout run a load test with a clamp meter and see if voltage drops.
btw all that other stuff won't matter if you alt cant keep up.

 

To answer your question you have to understand how the charging system in a vehicle works and what each component does. Although this description is very crude and generalized, it should be pretty accurate.

Battery: A battery runs the electrical equipment while the engine is off, and also supplies power to start the vehicle. It has 6, 2.1 volt cells in series giving it a charged voltage of 12.6 volts. When the vehicle is running the voltage is around 14.4 volts, so the battery won't be doing anything except for maybe recharging. A second battery or a larger battery will only be useful when the engine is off or during starting.

Alternator: The alternator is what produces power when the engine is running. If the electrical draw becomes too great, the voltage drops reducing the amount of draw in the system. This can be seen when head lights dim during heavy bass notes. If your sound system is drawing too much current for the alternator, then the best solution would be to get an alternator that will meet the demands of your system.

Wire: Many times larger wire is run to the amplifier. However that wire only covers a part of the charging circuit. The existing wire within the electrical circuit may be smaller wire and therefore will negate any benefits the larger wire provides. You must upgrade all the wire in the chain. This I believe is always the first place to start if you have a problem.

So do you need to upgrade something? Well it might be a good idea to make sure something is "broke" before you try to fix it.

Here's some more information on a vehicle's electrical system: http://www.bcae1.com/charging.htm

 

You should be fine as long as you upgrade your battery to something as noted above. I have two amps with an Optima Yellow Top and have never had a problem

 

a good battery and the big 3 is a good start

 

Not necessarily true. While it is for the most part true in a DD style system, there are several setups that I know of running very small alts to charge the batts, or in 1 case, no alt to charge the batts. I know of another setup that has an alt, but it's not hooked to the rear batts at all, it just runs the car itself.

 

^^^Werd but those with that setup are usually spl competitors right? Tons of batts for one big blurp or setups with low current draw high efficient amps. In any case there are always exceptions to the rule, but I was just assuming the op's car is his DD judging from his listed setup.

 

Mostly. 1 of the ones with no alt connected to the rear batts is a DD though. Well, to and from work, but then he's got a work van to drive while working. He runs a 16v substage, so rather than 2 alts (no room in his HHR) he runs a converter and a battery charger to charge the 16v batts (8 of them) for his SS XXX 6500s. And my setup is a DD and is currently running 2 amps (soon to be 3, when I get around to adding my tweeter amp into the mix) and I'm still running the stock alt. You just have to watch your voltage, that's all...