HO Alt or New Battery

Discussion in 'Automotive Electrical' started by ruak, Aug 10, 2009.

  1. ruak

    ruak Full Member

    Hi im wondering which i should get for my car audo system. I have 2 12" kicker L7s with a 1500.1 amp all stock electrical system on a 1987 Chevy Caprice 305 V8.

    Should i get a battery? or would i be better off getting a HO alt.

    I do not have the big 3 done yet.
     
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2009
  2. cccullen

    cccullen Full Member

    I would say do the big 3 first and then see if you'll need to do any other electrical upgrades.

    what's the size of your stock alt?
     
  3. 94f150

    94f150 Full Member

    most definitely do the big 3, i had charging problems and i only had a 75 amp alternator, i did the big three and it didn't help much , so i went to a 140 amp alternator. The reason the big 3 didn't help me much though was because i was slowly melting my stock alternator! :D
     
  4. ruak

    ruak Full Member

    Where did you get the 140 amp alt?
     
  5. 94f150

    94f150 Full Member

    my uncle works at a dealership and he can order parts through stors at manufacturs costs and he hooked me up! im not sure what store he got it from..im not even sure how much it cost.
     
  6. ruak

    ruak Full Member

    How about powermaster H.O alts? Any good? worth it for the price? Do i need a 140 or a 200 amp alt?




    or DB electrical?
     
  7. ruak

    ruak Full Member

    idk where my other post is but i asked what alt do i need for my setup?

    1987 caprice v8 2 12" kicker L7s powered by Kicker zx1500.1 amp 1/0 ga wiring with stock electrical system
    (battery, alt, etc.)

    Light have been dimming like hell and my amp is super hot after i bump for a little while.

    Would a 140 amp alt do it? or would a 200 amp do it?

    powermaster has some good alts from what i heard.
     
  8. cccullen

    cccullen Full Member

    well, you could just add another battery but if you want to change the alt i would go with the 200amp alt.
     
  9. ruak

    ruak Full Member

    Is a Kinetik hc1800 battery good for my setup? or would i need something bigger or smaller?

    Found kinetik 1800 for $189

    grab it?
     
  10. Kvo_8

    Kvo_8 Full Member

    if you go to the kinetik site, they have a chart thing where you put in your watts rms you're running and it tells you which battery is good for your set up
     
  11. jonnyv713

    jonnyv713 The Young Gun of CAT

    yes, i would go with the battery first after the Big 3 for sure.
     
  12. jon_k

    jon_k New Member

    If your current alternator isn't doing the job then adding more batteries won't help.

    In proper setup, your alternator should be powering your audio system, all of your car and accessories, and charging your battery if it's not topped off already. If it's failing at keeping your stock battery charged; then adding more batteries means more load/work for the alternator to put out for charging; which it's already failing to perform, so why bother?

    The batteries are there for when the car is off. If you plan to blast your stereo for 2 hours with the car off, the extra battery might be wise so you can still start your car.

    If you've got enough RMS wattage going on to surpass your charging systems ability and start draining your stock battery regularly, by adding a second battery you're just extending the period before both batteries go flat.

    If you're running in to issues with peak wattage though, a secondary battery may be able to pick up the slack when your first battery gets low from engine idle or whatever.

    The big 3 might help; but your stock alt is rated for a certain amp output and the wire is rated/matched for that. If you upgrade the ability for your wire to deliver 10,000,000,000,000 amps, it won't matter if the amp still can't deliver that amount. Think of building a river with a 400 foot wide riverbed, will it help your water flow performance if your source of water is still only pushing 1 gallon per minute? You'll have a huge river with the same small trickle (though it'll be prepared if you open the flood gates with a high output alt, err dam!)
     
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2009