I think my Amp is draining my battery?

Question

I have a 2000 watt amp running two twelves off of the stock head unit in my intrepid. When I first got it I had a friend of mine hook it up. I asked to have a switch installed on my dash so that if I wanted, I could flip the switch, killing it and just let the stock system play. So he ran the remote wire to a swich and then to the head unit. I used the system for awhile and thought everything was ok, till one week I didn't drive for a couple of days. When I came out, the battery was dead and wouldn't recharge anymore so I got my alternator checked and put a new battery in. I thought it was solved but then a couple of days later, same thing. It has a blue neon light on the top of it that lights up everytime the power is connected, and when I flip the switch off, the light goes out and the speakers stop. Is it my amp? I also have a 15 amp fuse on the main battery line. The odd thing is the switch has a light in it to tell me when it's on. When the car completely off, it doesn't light.

Answer 1

It sounds like you have a parasitic drain of some type, but it's not certain that it's the amp.  There should be a power light on the amp itself.  Does it stay on when the vehicle is shut off?  If so, your remote wire needs to be connected somewhere else.  It doesn't sound as if this is the case, though.

You can try removing the fuse from the amp power wire at the battery next time your car is going to sit for a couple days.  If you have a digital multimeter with a DC current setting, remove the fuse and measure the current between the fuse terminals while the car and amp are shut off.  If you get a current reading of more than, say, 50 mA, then there may be a problem with the amp.

I don't believe that your alternator is the problem, since your battery is draining while the car is sitting, not while it's running.  That's not a symptom of alternator trouble.  Also, if your fuse at the battery is only 15 amps, you don't have a 2000-watt amp (or anything close to it).

Answer 2

get a high output alternator

Answer 3

>>  I have a 2000 watt amp

Most car alternator only puts out about 800 watts.  So you are running the system off the battery until it is dead.

Get higher current alternator.

Good Luck...