What do i need to change to run 1000watt amp????

HONES · petrol head Joined: 04 Feb 2002 Posts: 1786

Thinking about updating to either 800 or 1000watt amp. 4 channel of course so i can bridge 2 channels to my 12 inch cadence and then amp up front splits...

what would i have to do to make sure my car runs it okay??
get new alternator? bigger battery?

anyhelp please.
chez

Gene FJ20DET

i run 1200watts on a kamart battery and i "did" run it on the stock gemini batery for 2 years.

just use thick ass wire for the power lead (i think 2 gauge, its about as thick as ya thumb) and it all should be fine
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HONES · petrol head Joined: 04 Feb 2002 Posts: 1786

how long did that last your battery if you just played it without the car started
(i plan on sitting at maccas late on saturday nights and need to show the other commodores that i can play loud music)
nah seriously...just get a bigger amp wire then?
anyone

Gene FJ20DET

yeah bigger wirer. but not sure about leaving the sterio runing with the car off....
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Pervert · backyard mechanic Joined: 09 Mar 2002 Posts: 527

Not too big tho, too big is not always good. Also remember bigger wire usually draws more current so i recomend u get a bigger battery aswell if u plan on leaving ur stezza on when car is off.

Frederick Stienheld · petrol head Joined: 05 Sep 2002 Posts: 2719

4 Guage should do the trick for an amp of that size.
You will definatly need a huge battery if you want to have your stereo going in the carpark without the engine running.
Something to remember if you want to up the size of your alternator is that the higher output you go with your alternator the faster it needs to spin for it to work properly, so if you stick a 100amp alternator on it will probably output less at idle (carpark situation) than a 50amp alternator would.
If you want to sit in the carpark blasting away for a couple of hours it might be worth your while to buy 2 decent batteries and stick them in the boot to power your stereo.

Pervert · backyard mechanic Joined: 09 Mar 2002 Posts: 527

yeah what fred said, or if u really want, buy one of those dry cell batteries, last time i seen one for about $365 and they are about half da size of normal car batteries. But thats usually for serious car sound freaks i reckon.
cheers

Tweakin TE · rice boy Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Posts: 22

hey mate. if ur lookin for a battery to run when the cars of, try either of these two things.

1 - buy a battery with a high reserve. thats how much it can put out when the battery is turned of, i think its measured in amps for an hour. it has an amp hour rating, that, when ran at that max amp rating for one hour, it will hold up. i can't imagine you wantintg to max a stezza for more than an hour anyway. they don't usually have this spec on the battery, but go to any good battery place, and tell em what you need, they'll give you options, and yeah, bobs your fuckin sister.

2 - get another battery and run all your stereo shit to a y piece, which enables it to go to your normal battery, and to one in say, your boot. now, switch this wire, so you can turn it to the boot battery when your at the car park, and your driving one when driving. then wire up your battery positive in your boot to the positive of your alternator, and when you drive on the driving battery, this will charge! just earth the other terminal i think. someone will fix this shit up for me, i learnt this ages ago, so it's probably like, the use of it's right, but the details arn't. others know more than me, so they'll more than likely fix my fuckups

hope this helps a bit
Andrew

rod · tinkerer Joined: 14 Apr 2003 Posts: 380

get two large batterys. put em side by side. wire them in parralell. than run a chunky wire too the positive side off ur amp. than use the same thickness wire too run your neutral connection too your chassis

this method should last alot longer while listenin too ur sounds with ur car not running

SHEEL

Allright dude listen up, some of these other guys have some ideas right, someone said get a dry cell... DO IT if u want to run ur stereo with the car off you will need at least 700 cold cranking amps, my drycell is 950.

use 4 guage cables running to your stereo gear, re-wire the cars original cables which will be old and shitty, not to mention they are a tad smaller than 4 guage, get new cables that are pre crimped with terminals. you can get them from bursons, repco, ect.

someone said bigger cables are not always better. sorry but that is incorrect for this application. bigger cross section means less resistance and less power loss due to heat transfer. BIGGER IS BETTER!!!

use only quality connections with gold plating if possible.
GOLD is one of the best conductive materials you can buy.

make sure your alternator holds charge with all the headlights, heater, and stereo on.
if it isn't up to it you will need to upgrade. you can use a bosch unit from an EF falcon they bolt on with little modification to your original wiring.

If your really serious about it, relocate your battery to the boot, so that the cables to your amps are as short as possible.
you dont need 2 batteries or a capacitor, one good battery, especially a dry cell...will be fine

this other dude that suggested a switching system i would NOT advise as there would be too much voltage drop across the switch. i've never seen this done before and it doesn't sound like it would work reliably.

My car is currently running around 1200 watts RMS, yes RMS
with one 700 cca battery in the boot and using the origional alternator.
I regularly go to the drive in cinema and watch 2 movies for around 4 to 5 hours with the stereo flat out and the car off. i've never had any problems and it always starts easy...always.

hope that helps
sheel
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