Dead battery due to sub woofers

[88Brandon88]

I recently put in two 10" Hyphonix sub woofers and they are being powered by a 500w Bazooka amp. I am using 4 gage wiring throughout my car and ever since I put them in, my battery was losing juice by the next day more and more and finally today, it was completely dead.

If I change out the battery wiring into 4 gage as well, would that fix my problem or maybe a new alternator?

[audtatious]

Could have simply been a bad battery in the first place. If so, get a new battery of the same CCA to replace it. To validate the alternator, simply make sure it is putting out around 14.5v while the car is running.

[88Brandon88]

Well, I'm pretty sure the battery is good, well it was fine until the subs were put in, and as far as the alternator goes, I'll check it tomorrow.

Thanks for the help/advice.

[crash n burn]

similar problem with matt's eclipse(friend)..the amp was constantly pulling from the battery..a slightly larger system, so i dunno if this may apply..we put it in, turned on the car and drove around listening to it..but when we parked it and turned off the car for a second..the battery had died..

so he went to get another battery..next day he drove to school..but came back out..the battery had totally drained, did this 3 days in a row..he had to keep turning the amp on and off, still would drain it..until he got a red top optima, that seemed to fix things, but he was told to get a capaciter to help, but i really dunno much about systems, i'd prefer to have a nice sound system in the factory location

i'd say check on that maybe..

[qwikxr]

charging/battery issue. The added current draw caused the weak link to rear it's ugly head...

[audtatious]

Honestly, could be the starter too. I went through three batteries in a week and it ended up being the starter was FUBAR and drawing far too many amps for the batteries to handle.

[maik21]

i had similar problems... my car got 2 subs 12" pioneer and an amp of 900 rms ... the battery dead all days... i had to drove with stereo off to charge the battery, but when the stereo and amp were on... they draw much current.. a capacitor dont help to much, because the current is provided from alternator... a capacitor help to amortiguate voltaje fall. when the subs kick... the voltaje drop to aprox 12.5 or maybe 12 volts.. without the capacitor.. but with the capacitor... it drop to 13 volts.. its only an example... but when the voltaje drop... the capacitor need time to get fully charge!!! it prevents the headlamps flash !!! ... now im running an red top optima and a chevrolete alternator 105 amps !! but i need more power from my alternator... i need to upgrade to 200 amps.... but the red optima its awesome. now.. my battery never die !! with engine on or off, and the sound system on, i can listen music much more time and when the music die because battery discharge.. it has an extra to put your engine on !!!

[88Brandon88]

Thanks everyone for the help. I think I am going to fork out the $180 to buy a Red Top Optima this weekend. Hopefully it's worth the money...

[wankelTII]

dude you should be able to get a red top for like $80-$120!!! You are looking at the wrong place if they are $180.

Get a multimeter and with the car off and everything off disconnect one cable from the battery and check the amount of current by connecting the multimeter in series with the battery and cable. If its more than .02 amps then its too much and you need to make sure the amp is cutting off and nothing is still drawing power.

[qwikxr]

180 will get you two Optimas..

And make sure that your alternator is in tip-top shape.. The battery could be fine, and the alternator may not be able to replentish well enough. Go to Autozone and get a free charging system test, as well as a battery load test!

[88Brandon88]

I sure would like to know where they are $60 cheaper than what I have found ecause I have gone to 3 different places and they all want the same price.

[qwikxr]

Go

I sure would like to know where they are $60 cheaper than what I have found ecause I have gone to 3 different places and they all want the same price.

go to NAPA and get their megatron dry cell, or whatever that interstate battery is.. it's the same as an Optima, and about 110$

[88Brandon88]

Alright, I'll check it out tomorrow, thanks man.

[xdabsx]

get a capasitor its easy to install and your system wont drain your battery

[GoTRicEo0]

A capacitor would help out the system so it wouldn't draw a large amount of current all at once... It wouldnt' be a too bad of an idea to get one. EVEN if its a 1.5 Farad.

Then again it could always be a low voltage output alt. 240's are not stereo friendly...

[88Brandon88]

I went out today and bought a Yellow Top Optima, so I am going to see if it does the trick.

[qwikxr]

did you check the charging system out yet?

[88Brandon88]

did you check the charging system out yet?

No, I just swapped out the batteries.

[qwikxr]

No, I just swapped out the batteries.

So, if the charging system has an issue, you'll kill the 150+$ battery?

Not trying to be a smartarse, just hoping you don't waste money, ya know

[88Brandon88]

So, if the charging system has an issue, you'll kill the 150+$ battery?

Not trying to be a smartarse, just hoping you don't waste money, ya know

Actually I appreciate the help. How exactly would I test the charging system? I'm new to this kind of stuff.

[qwikxr]

I'd take it to the local autozone store, and have them check the charging system, as they do it for free. They can check battery, alt., regulator, etc.. in a matter of minutes..

[88Brandon88]

I'd take it to the local autozone store, and have them check the charging system, as they do it for free. They can check battery, alt., regulator, etc.. in a matter of minutes..

My dad and I looked at it today and it's doing fine. I'll keep AutoZone in mind though. Thanks.

[qwikxr]

cool cool.. hope everything stays good for ya!