Help with Car Audio and Big Three (Alternator, Battery, Wires)?

Question

So I have 2 12" L5s and some other mid and high range speakers running about 1500 RMS...Driving for the first time the other night and I knew this was going to happen lights dim to about halfway...It's bad

What is the first component to go? (Alternator or Battery)

I was thinking alternator because it can no longer provide sufficient power flow to the battery which is being drained by my 0/1 gauge wire to Alpine PDX-1.1000 (1180RMS birth) and MRP-F450 (280RMS)

I can get HI OUTPUT alternators for my specific car online for about $150-$175 and they are almost 3 time the amp rating as the factory dying one. I will try to find the correct size (51R) battery for my car either (Optima, PowerCell, or Kinetik) Those are some of the brands I have heard. Should I get deep cycle and what is this and dry cell?

Also not to keen on a capacitor so going to try without first and should work fine w/o it

Thanks I am pretty informed just need a little advice from you car enthusiasts.

Answer 1

Adding a Second Battery

Many people are under the impression that adding a second battery will cure their electrical problems. If one battery is good then two must be better. Right? Wrong. Remember that the function of a battery is to start the vehicle and to provide power when the vehicle is not running. The only thing a second battery will help you with is "parking lot" listening time. Basically it will provide you the additional capacity to run your stereo longer without starting the vehicle. After the vehicle is started the second battery becomes another load on an already overworked alternator. If you do replace your battery I would recommend getting one from Optima or one of the other specialty battery manufacturers such as Stinger or Rockford Fosgate.

Upgrading Your Alternator

Frequent dead batteries are a good indication that your electrical system isn't keeping up and you may need to upgrade your alternator. Doing so will give you more juice to run all of your electrical components, including your stereo system, without looking to the battery for help. The problem is your alternator is undersized for your new electrical requirements and has to look to the battery to provide the extra power, resulting in shortened battery life. Have a qualified technician verify this before investing in a larger alternator. Hopefully you can find a larger alternator from your vehicle's manufacturer that will interface with your existing system. Consult the manufacturer or the local dealer to find out about this. If not then you can look to the aftermarket manufacturers to see what is available. Check with Ohio Generator or Stinger for high output models.

Power Capacitors

Another solution is to add a power or Stiffening™ capacitor. This device acts as an electrical storage "buffer". It stores power until needed for high electrical demands such as heavy bass notes. If your headlights dim when you have you stereo cranked then you MAY benefit from one of these. This is most noticeable when music with a heavy beat is played. Your headlights will dim to the beat. This is being caused by a voltage drop that is being created by the large power demands of your amplifier(s). A power capacitor will help fill in the gaps in the energy required by your amplifiers. Because of their low internal resistance they can deliver a lot of power much more quickly than a battery can and can often prevent this voltage drop.

Infor on Big 3 (highly recommend you do this for your system)

http://forum.sounddomain.com/ubbthreads....

when all is said and done, i would first try the big three, there is a chance this will solve the prob, or at teh very least help. second i would replace the alt. theese two things should be all you need. if you want to clean up the power and make it sound a bit better, then and only then would i bother with a cap. typically they help, but not enogh your money is better spent on the alternator. but be aware a audio shop may try to sell you a cap, why? because typically they do not sell alternators.

UPDATE:

The guy below me claims to have been installing for 15 years, for that reason it is surprising to me he is recomending a new battery. yes there are benifits to replacing your existing battery, but to add more makes no sense. yes if you are to compete and dont want to run your car, they make sense, but for a daily driver that you start and drive a alternator is a far better place to spend your money. he even admits the alternator has to charge the battery, so if you buy a battery to supply additional power what is going to charge the batttery? the alternator. if the alternator is to weak the battery will drain and you will have zero benifit from the 300 dollar battery.

simply put your audio system needs electricty to run, it is not getting enough and only one thing produces power, and thats the alternator. no other item will produce power. so not enough power? alternator is the only logicall FULL PROOF solution. but you dont have to take my word for it... hit up the #1 and 2 audio guys on here, trust me sparky will agree with what i have said.

i would upgrade in this order

1. big 3 (i agree here)

2. alternator

3 "replace" battery (but i doubt you'll need to).

4. there is no four, this will do the trick  i promiss you.

Answer 2

always upgrade in this order:

1.) the big 3

2.) battery (optima or kenetik)

3.) alt. (if needed)

4.) more abtterier (if needed)

the guy above is dead wrong about adding additional batteries. they will supply on hand power for your system while the car is running. true they are charged by the alt., but they hold that charge to be sent to you system. you hook your amp directly to the bat...unlike everything else in your car that runs off the alt....that supplies the fuse box. he is correct about adding a bat will create more work for your alt. (so will a cap), this is why you only get a second one after you upgrade your alt....if you still need it.

never use a power cap. they are a waste of time and mony that could be put to better use by upgrading properly. you will never see a serious competitor using caps...thay have racks and racks or batteries for a reason.

for your set up i think the big 3, a good battery and an upgraded alt. will do you just fine.