Makenzie71

I have had a problem...before my car broke down my stereo system along with several other gadgets caused quite a pull on the the car's power supply. I was told that one way to fix this would be to get a 1 ferad audio capacitor from like best buy or something and hook it up to my system. My car will be running again in about a month and I want to fix this while my hands are both idle and clean, and I was wondering if the capacitor would help with the drain or is there another solution. Somehting else, are the capacitors that they sell for stereos the same as any other capacitor or are they different. If they're the same than why do ppl spend so much for them when you can go to a hardware store or an electrition and get them for a quarter the cost? Thanks for any help you can give.

schexy1

It will help when th e bass hits if you have a subwoofer. best fix would be a H/O alternator, but they are very expensive.

Makenzie71

I have an H/O alt....but the thing is is that I also run dual 150watt foggies which I intend to replace with 7'' landing lights and sometimes other gadgets...the subs pull the most...with out them everything else is fine. I was also wondering if it was possible to hook up two altinators to the same system in parrallel...my air pump has been removed and that would be an ideal space.

schexy1

You can't run dual alts.. together, but you can run one for the car and one for the stereo. As far the cap goes, 1 ferad per 1000 watts. There probably isn't much difference between Monster (any name brand) and discount ones. The important thing about caps is the ESR. The lower the better.

Makenzie71

how do you run an altinator to the stereo alone?

schexy1

If it has an internal voltage regulator just run a wire straight to the amp. It would be better to have an extra battery, or it will only work with the car running. Also, remember to use fuses.

Makenzie71

could I not run a lead from the battery to the alt? That would rpevent the need of a second battery, I'm trying to keep my weight gains under 25lbs., and if I use a second bat, I won't be able to do that.
(btw....I do understand that a 2nd bat would not be NECESSARY, but I would like to listen every now and then and not need the car running)

schexy1

If you run the wires fro a second Alt to the battery you will have probs. You could probably use relays to allow the amp to use the battery when the engine is off and the Alt when it is on.

Makenzie71

I'm thinking of just wiring a switch into the dash that will power the stereo when the car is off....of course I'll have to remember to turn it off...lol

Roger Collins

what is the output of you altenator in amps?

what amp are you using?
what size are the fuses in the amp?
what subs or speakers are you running on the amp?
brand names please and models

Makenzie71

I use 2 cheap wally world amps...1 80watt and 1 250 watt...both use 20amp fuses...
dual jenson 10'' bandpass...250rms
2 jenson 8'' mid ranges...75rms x 2
2 jenson 6'' 2 way...45rms
2 jenson tweets...???

the stereo isn't the only thing...I also have a coupl of lights inside on and two landing lights out. The overall pull of all my gadgets at night is my prob...my alt keeps up with everything unless the landers and high ebams are on.