Alternator vs Second battery

[orlandoman 0]

Now I was told is that you swap out your factory battery and replace it with a better battery and high out put alternator.

Others mention that I should have two batteries one for the car and the other for the stereo and high out put alternator.

What should I do?

Also are Odyssey batteries good since I have a PCJ 12OO under the hood.

[sefugi 166]

What is your current voltage now when playing the system???? Is there a need for the upgrades??? What all are you using??

[lightingman117 8]

Now I was told is that you swap out your factory battery and replace it with a better battery and high out put alternator.

Others mention that I should have two batteries one for the car and the other for the stereo and high out put alternator.

What should I do?

Also are Odyssey batteries good since I have a PCJ 12OO under the hood.

First, I would suggest reading Newbie Rules and Newbie Sign in

Before you get flamed ("flamed" might not be the right word) for general not obeying rules you agreed to upon signing up.

Second, which would be addressed if you had read the rules. What are you trying to accomplish? Less dimming? Have you done the big 3? What kind of amperage draw do you have? Whats the setup? Things like this are much needed info so you get the best possible answer.

Not trying to be mean just trying to save M5 from having to moderate people's threads.

As per your question. It really depends on how much you're willing to spend. Alternator will keep voltage up while the car is running. 2 Batteries will allow you to run longer without car running. And alt+bat will allow you to run longer with extremely high amperage pull before you have to shut it down and let the alternator recharge the batteries.

[CrazyKenKid 64]

dear mister confused man! (your sub header in your post)

please state what your current setup is in your car? and what is the current specs of the alt and battery

for example if you are running say 5,000-rms i would recommend 2 big batteries in the back (near the amp) and 1 big one upfront and a H/O alt to boot (this is my current setup and it works nicely for me)

BUT if you are running say 1000rms just get a bigger battery for upfront no real need to upgrade the alt unless you using a honda civic whihc has a what 65amp alt stock?

so please fill in some blanks as in to what you are running and what it is running in! make sense

and yes Odyssey is a good name brand in my books

[orlandoman 0]

2006 KIA SPECTRA SX sedan

GEAR

1. Eclipse CD 5030

2. ARC AUDIO KS 300.2

3. ARC AUDIO KS 500.1 MINI

KS300.2

It is running the Morel Dotech Ovation 6 two way set [180 x 2 @ 4 ohms]

KS 500.1 MINI

Running the Diamond Audio D3 15 sealed [ 500 x 1 @ 2 ohms]

Sub

Selling my DA so that I can get a Fi Audio SSD 12 sealed or ported.

Now I have a distribution block with digital volt meter. It reads 14.4 when the system is on but it goes down to 12.5 but head lights flash / dim like crazy. I was told to add a second battery but I only know SPL vehicles that have more than one battery. I was thinking of going with a XS power battery in the rear and a Universal alternator that is 220 amps or one from DC Electric 160 amps or even one from a Chevy or GM vehicle that is 120 amp.

My alternator is 80 amps although some claim it is 90 amps.

[cheese20323 13]

A battery should do just fine the 1400's from xs....

[Jay-C76 333]

Second battery couldn't hurt.

But if your charging system can't keep up then you'll need to

invest in a alternator that has a higher amperage output.

Both will require redoing your cabling both under the hood and inside your ride.

Since your voltage is dropping so low, it would seem like a new alternator

would be where I'd turn to first as well as bigger awg. cabling. (i.e. Big 3)

Then add a secondary battery to help with the current capacity.

[CrazyKenKid 64]

i say get a bigger alt since you already have a decent starting battery and if you ever upgrade again an alt will be essential piece

[lightingman117 8]

Also, if you haven't done the big 3 yet you should definitely do that. It can solve many problems and may even solve your dimming problem without being forced to buy a new alternator.

[theabunai 3]

Battery is worthless unless you got something that can charge it up as efficiently and effectively as the system can draw from it.

I'd do the alt first.

[BanginGMC 23]

Alternator should be your first investment, because unlike a secondary battery.. when you want to upgrade your system to one that will pull even more current the alternator will be able to keep up.

I reccomend DC Power Engineering