Pretty simple pretty basic I'm wondering if there are any for the LNF I'm eventually replacing stock sub/head unit so more oomph would be nice to have

 

No need for a high output alternator. Get a capacitor for when you start upgrading the electronics. .5 (commonly labeled 500k) to 1 farad should be enough. The capacitor will charge up and when your system requires more voltage for the heavy hits, it takes it from the cap first. You will also notice sharper bass, and faster bass response if you go this route. Your alternator will never get overworked.

 

Yeah I had one in my old car it would still dim the lights if it hit heavy while idling at a light or something.....

granted it was a Saturn with a 90 watt alt at load haha

 

You realize your alternator has to charge that right....

 

I second this kinda why I was wanting high output alt plus if I ever decided to add aux lights haha

 

You charge it once with a load resistor and youre done. Capacitors store energy, its just not a temporary thing.

 

So when you use the energy, what recharges it?

 

Its easier for the alternator to charge one or two volts the cap MIGHT need here and there than to constantly work to maintain a constantly changing system. Alot of energy is stored in a cap, and most of the time, you will barely drain the thing. It'll kill you if you short it wrong while youre hooking it up.



This is the setup I had on my 93 GMC Jimmy. Kenwood 12" 1800W sub with a 1,000W amp. My headlights used to dim before I got the .5 farad cap.

 

My only point was that the cap needs to be charge be the alternator as well. Basically, they are a bandaide for an alt that cannot handle the load that is being asked of it.

 

I wouldnt call it a bandaid though, more like a necessary mod. Youre increasing the amount of energy the system has. You decrease bass response time, and you reduce the possibility of clipping, an alternator wont give any of those. Anyone in the business will recommend a cap before they recommend a high output alternator.

 

I was going to get one anyways nothing but good things with my last one....

but no need to strain my alt with that and any other things I may add in the future so I'll just go high output from the get go paired with optima I can't really go wrong

 

A cap isn't used in this way OP is on the correct track with a alternator and a cap. Basically what a cap does is installed a second power storage unit or battery very close to the amp. So when the bass hits the amperage draw can travel from the closer storage unit (cap) and not the 20ft away battery / alternator. After the power is drained from the cap the alternator has to recharge the cap. An alternator is designed to supply the car with enough current to run all the electronics on the car as well as recharge the battery not run a 50+ amp amplifier.

OP try looking into a cavalier alternator you may be able to find a larger aftermarket alternator that can be custom fitted

 

The battery is already on the trunk next to the amp.

You just said what I've been pointing out; the cap is just something else the alternator has to supply power to.

 

This makes my head hurt.

Do the " big 3". The alternator positive is TINY. Do some research on the subject.

Buy a nice dry cell/deep cycle battery

Upgrade the alternator

in that order. You will be amazed at how much the wiring upgrade will help. Plus its cheap and easy to do. Save your money and don't get a capacitor

 

a capacitor is most certainly a band-aid in a car audio system. It may appear to correct your issues with a low power system, but it just hides the real issues.

Simple terms:

if you have a lower power system that only draws enough power to dim the lights on a few peak notes, the capacitor may provide enough "juice" to stop the dimming on those notes. while the system is not peaking out, it provides enough overhead to let the cap recharge.

The issue is when you have a higher power system that really strains the electrical system a high % of the time. Once the audio system draws enough power to cause a voltage drop and discharge the cap, the electrical system is now strained with the current draw of the amplifiers AND recharging the capacitor. It becomes an extra draw on the system.

the reason your lights dim is because the electrical system's voltage is dropping. Start at the very basic ways to reduce voltage drop. The "big 3" upgrade, and using high quality/proper sized wiring will reduce resistance in the electrical system. This might be enough to properly stop the lights from dimming on lower power systems. the factory alternator lead is 8ga at best. this is feeding the cars entire electrical system, plus your stereo.... i'll just leave it at that
Make sure your grounds are solid

if this is not enough, look into upgrading your battery. A nice dry cell/deep cycle will do wonders. the battery acts as a buffer between the alternator and the amplifier. you may notice that you can play the system at high volume for a short period of time without light dim, but the longer it plays, the worse the dimming gets. a better battery will prolong this time, and help maintain a more constant voltage throughout the charge state of the battery. the alternators voltage regulator can only respond to voltage drops so quickly, and the battery is what helps supply power/maintain voltage in those high current draw moments. If you only really crank the tunes for reasonable periods of time, this should be more than enough. Deep cycle batteries are meant for higher abuse applications

If you are really hammering for long periods of time and the above doesn't correct your issue, the next step is an alternator. This will help maintain a full charge on your battery(s), and keep everything up to its full potential. If your system is big enough to draw this much power, you really need to make sure your entire electrical system is up to snuff.

If you jump to a H/O alternator from the start, you are wasting potential. Start with the wiring, and go from there. you might not even need to go any further, depending on your system. I ran an aq1200d, and a small 4 channel on a 60 amp/hour dry cell and proper wiring with almost zero issue.

start with the small things and work up if needed. You might end up saving yourself a lot of cash.

This is all assuming you have the basics covered. Grounds grounds grounds, properly set gains, proper installation, etc.

 

I ran a 3000w audiopipe monoblock with (2) 12s and (1) 15. All i did was run a yellow top and my lights would only dim if i was blasting it. I ran that for about a year with no problems

 

https://www.dcpowerinc.com/most-popular-products.html

 

i was starting to read throught all of this but dont have time before work.... So i have to ask how much power are you expecting to add?

 

well I am pretty sure the sub I'm looking to put in runs around 1400? so maybe a 1200 amp nothing major....

eventually a double din and switching to the RPD I may or may not add leds in the interior etc later on


granted I don't know what the stock alt puts out at idle or full but I do know at night parking(pre retros) in reverse with the blower on if I tuned the wheel the lights dim blower slows a bit... my battery could be on its way out though

 

Anything below 13v I'd considered clipping. My dodge 1500 has a 118amp alternator and my one 12" still gets the voltage to drop below 13v if I'm listening to 30-31hz.

I already replaced my battery with a 90ah agm and did the big 3 and all wires with 1/0ga. My amp is a Memphis mr1.1000 and my sub is a rockford fosgate power hx2, and I built the ported box at 2.75cubes and tuned to 33hz but ended up around 29.5hz because of a 1/4 inch measurement I fudged. Super loud for the budget I did it all on.

Thanks to craigslist
Amp-$160
Sub-$60
Wires/big3-$40
Battery-140(orielleys)

I did 137db on a term lab, pretty awesome for 1 12" sitting in the back seat of a truck. I'd never get a cap, I'm going to add another agm battery under the back seat, and change my alternator to a mechman 250a. That will be suffice power for my re hc motor I'm in the process of building into a 15".

I'll add the link to my videos shortly.

 

1400 RMS or peak?

honestly what it sounds like for you you just need to replace ur battery and do the big 3 and you should be golden. BUT replacing the alt is never really gonna hurt either. It just sounds more like ur battery is going out like you said and while a new alt will help the electrical system its not going to make up for a busted battery

 

I had a capacitor in my old system. It was neat. Not sure if it helped much.

I met a coworker recently who is huge into car audio. He says capacitors are useless in a good system. They're a mostly a gimmick made to improve profits for the audio bizz.

Not sure how much truth there is to his word can anyone elaborate a bit more?

 

Pretty much. It's just a bandaid for a really weak system. The only way a capacitor will discharge is if the amp supply of the alternator drops. At that time the cap will kick in. At this point, the alternator is already stressed, and the capacitor does nothing to save the alternator. The capacitor is the last thing to discharge in the system.

 

nah bro a cap is generally the first thing to discharge in the system...

a cap can be helpful sorta in a limited range of situations. Problem is most people don't use it for those situations so caps end up getting a bad rap. All a cap does is store energy just like a battery. The only difference is it has a much lower capacity and if you have a good cap then a much lower resistance as well. This allows the cap to charge and discharge at a much faster rate then your battery. Whenever you are listening to music the song isn't constant so during the timeframes you need alot of energy the cap will discharge completely and recharge during timeframes where less energy is needed. This would smooth out the energy the amp is drawing from the battery and provide the energy the amp needs at a more consistent basis (since the battery is slow) Also in most cases the battery is pretty far from the amp so having a cap inches away from the amp is very helpful. With all that being said the only way the cap is going to "work" is if it has a low enough ESR where it will react faster than the battery, the wiring to and from the cap has low resistance and the alt/battery combo is enough to power the system in the first place.

most people buy or add a cap on the principle of the battery is too small or dying/dead or the alt is too small or dying/dead. In either case the cap not only will not help but it will end up hurting the system as its another drain and another thing that needs to be charged. And if your alt/batt is enough for the system then the effects of the cap are much less and its harder to justify the cost.

 

I believe 1400 peak I would only throw a 1000 or 1200 amp with it just to be safe plus that's more than enough oomph for a little car....

so big 3(any how to links on the wire replacement) battery and the alt but that still begs the question of where I can find one....