Stea1thV Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 Hi guys, i would like to say im pretty into Car audio i hooked up my whole system and you can see part of my system in my sig however i just wanted to know at what point do i need a bigger alternator or a bigger battery? i have 2 amps a cap and a aftermarket HU all polk audio stuff, my one sub is an alpine type R but i wana add a second type R and im wondering if my battery or alt, along with my 1.2 farad cap could handle three amps..... any help would be great... don wanna kill my alternator. thanks guys :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merlin390 Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 how many amps is your system drawing? what is the max amount the system can draw (sum of your fuses) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owned Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 What kind of voltage does the system see? I'd be more worried about an alt than a battery, if I were to be worried about anything.Honestly though, I don't think you're very near the limits of the stock system with just a single sub and door speaks. We do get fairly good alts, unlike the Honda kids running around with those sweet little 40A units. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stea1thV Posted July 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 What kind of voltage does the system see? I'd be more worried about an alt than a battery, if I were to be worried about anything.Honestly though, I don't think you're very near the limits of the stock system with just a single sub and door speaks. We do get fairly good alts, unlike the Honda kids running around with those sweet little 40A units. ya lol i think the volvos are putting out like 200 amps rite? lol i have one amp for my sub and one 4 chan amp to power all my momos, i want to put one more mono amp to power another type R u think that would be too much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owned Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 ya lol i think the volvos are putting out like 200 amps rite? lol i have one amp for my sub and one 4 chan amp to power all my momos, i want to put one more mono amp to power another type R u think that would be too much?For a FWD Volvo it's either 100A or 120A, model dependant. Your S70 is 100A. I think you're fine as long as the system is seeing decent voltage from what you have now. If you still have a Volvo battery look at Exide. Optima is good, too. I'm less of a fan of them lately, though. I have 3 dead yellows sitting around the shop right now. There's no big rush to upgrade your battery, though, unless you play the system with the engine off. There are sometimes other, more cost effective, upgrades that should be tried before going with a more powerful alt, also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POOKDIZZLE Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 You should be fine, what voltage does your cap read when at idle with the system playing fairly hard? If the cap stays around 12+ volts you are fine ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owned Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 You should be fine, what voltage does your cap read when at idle with the system playing fairly hard? If the cap stays around 12+ volts you are fine Voltage should be common to the whole system, unless you have a problem. If the cap is in the trunk with the subs, you're better off playing them hard and checking from the begining of your power run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stea1thV Posted July 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 You should be fine, what voltage does your cap read when at idle with the system playing fairly hard? If the cap stays around 12+ volts you are fine ya it says like 12.4 and the occasional 13 lol can you upgrade the alternator? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POOKDIZZLE Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 You are fine no need to upgrade as of right now. That voltage was that with the AC on and lights on? If not make sure you are still staying above 12 volts. If you are still above the 12 volts you are good to go B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owned Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 ya it says like 12.4 and the occasional 13 lol can you upgrade the alternator?Yes, absolutely. I don't think you need to, but you can run a rewind or custom built one. Heck, you could even remove your A/C and run a dual 12/16 setup. :ph34r: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stea1thV Posted July 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 cool lol so wait let me make sure i understand the lower the voltage on my cap the better or worse? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owned Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 Worse. What's on the cap is the same on the battery. Voltage is common. 14.4 is ideal, 12 or more is OK, less than 12 is where you want to start looking for some solutions.You may want to look into upgrading the wiring between the alt and battery, before you start getting into an alt upgrade. The best bang for the buck, for lack of a better term, is the pathway between the ground and neg post. On the flip side, the pos to pos is also effective, but from what I've seen in the 850, Volvo starts out with a 4 ga out of the alt and it splits into about 20 other smaller wires that go off into no where. This is something that you're not going to be doing. Replacing the small OEM battery grounds is also possible and effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stea1thV Posted July 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 Worse. What's on the cap is the same on the battery. Voltage is common. 14.4 is ideal, 12 or more is OK, less than 12 is where you want to start looking for some solutions.You may want to look into upgrading the wiring between the alt and battery, before you start getting into an alt upgrade. The best bang for the buck, for lack of a better term, is the pathway between the ground and neg post. On the flip side, the pos to pos is also effective, but from what I've seen in the 850, Volvo starts out with a 4 ga out of the alt and it splits into about 20 other smaller wires that go off into no where. This is something that you're not going to be doing. Replacing the small OEM battery grounds is also possible and effective.so wait like the less the number thats the amount of voltage the battery has left to spare? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POOKDIZZLE Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 No, your cap basically reflects where your charge/voltage for your system is at. Keep it simple, if the voltage reads over 12 volts at the cap when the system is on, the car is on and the lights and AC are running you are good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owned Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 so wait like the less the number thats the amount of voltage the battery has left to spare?Correct, or close enough, anyways. Low number is bad, high number is good. Just not too high. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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