ptcary

Since the back batteries (2 HC600s) are inside the car and resting at 13.1v and the 1400 is underhood and exposed to the engine heat and cold weather, and is resting at 12.3v, I am thinking that the 1400 is having problems.

Thanks Ray! So it is not completely dead yet? I'll give it a try. 12.9 is normal? I found this quote from missing link on resting voltage: "To rule out the battery 1st check its (resting voltage) use a volt meter first thing in the morning before you ever start your car (do not charge battery over night then test) Simple #'s are 12v dead , 12.5 55%full , 13v full , if your pumping 14.5 to 15 volts into your battery it should be (resting) a solid 12.9+"

Decaf, thanks. The 1400 underhood is resting at 12.3v, and the two 600s are at 13.1v on the buss bars. I am pretty sure that the 1400 rested @ 13v when it was new. You think I should replace the 1400?

Thanks, I'll check the two rear batts when I get home tomorrow. Nothing is on after I turn the key off, so I can't think of what would drain them. I did go from one 4 channel amp on my mids/highs to two 2 channel amps temporarily, cause the 4 channel died on me. I know I will need more battery if I am going to run an extra 450rms, but it has only been a few weeks. I hope I don't have to replace a battery, but it's cheaper and much easier than the alternator.

Ok guys, need your advice. I have stock alternator 136 amp, MLA module, Kinetik HC1400 under the hood, 2x HC600s in the car, 3100 watts RMS, 1/0 throughout. Nothing is staying on with the key off. When I finished the PT I had ~450 RMS watts less going to mids and highs, and everything was happy, I ran the charger on the batteries every weekend. This past week, I noticed that the PT has been taking an extra turn of the engine to start. Once it does it is fine and my meter is at 15.1 (14.7 normal, but cold temps outside). After a full charge, then shutting off the car, the resting voltage engine off is 13.3 then immeditely starts dropping, takes about an hour to get down to 12.0, then stays there. Since I am not getting an alternator light on the dash and am seeing the full voltage when the engine is running, the alternator is OK right? Tonight I am going to run the charger on the batteries, then disconnect the rear batteries from the front one, and see if that one will start the car tomorrow after work. If it won't I can reconnect the rear two to start the car. Am I going in the right direction? Thinking one of the batteries has gone bad and the others are compensating for it? Any chance that running 3100 RMS off of "2600" worth of Kinetik batts could take its toll on the batteries in a week or two?

That Bug is SWEET! What year?? ............EDIT: ok I just read 1965!

DEMO = Demonstration ........ or DEMOLITION!

Nice! I was gonna say how about 1 12" or 1 15" sub and a a nice SQL setup with a carputer, but you might need more subs to drown out that procharger!

Damn thats funny! .......kinda creepy..... .....but funny!

Get a PT Cruiser! Toss the back seats, plenty of room back there for 1 15", and the round shape is nice for cabin gain, too. Then when you want more, you can wall it off!

Agree. Steve has posted many times that he has a regular full time (non-car audio) job. Everything he has in there is VERY well deserved, and VERY well earned. I can't imagine how much free marketing he does just by showcasing the capability of the equipment brands he runs. How many of us have built our cars because of what we seen him do. Nobody and I mean NOBODY, builds like he does.

Damn man, thats good sh*t right there! Its gotta be louder, cause unless its the camera, seems to me it drowns out the mids and tweets more than the older vids. Are you sure there aren't eight of these earmarked for the Hoopty? ......I know, I know, you already said "No!". Oh, and Merry Christmas!

A little lower in the back . J/K, its really not that bad, my PT is lowered on H&R suspension, and was 1/2 inch higher in the back vs the front anyway, so I guess it's pretty level now. If you have ever noticed the difference in your car when you drive it with a few friends inside vs empty, it's comparable. Keep in mind, your rear seats that you remove also help. Mine weighed in at 111 lbs. **EDIT and ditto on what Steve said above, make sure it's bolted down to the floor! This is not that hard to do at all. I used the threaded holes already there from where the rear seats bolted down.

Yeah, how much for 8 12"s??? ....j/k, Glad to see you finally got your hands on them. They look to be dangerous! .........make sure you warn the neighbors!

The doors (and everything else) look great!!! The mac mini is amazing in there! Steve, I'm not sure if I missed it, but can you talk about how you decide which speakers are actually the front stage vs front fill, or do they all get the same power? I am guessing that your front stage is actually the doors, and the kicks and a-pillars are "front fill"???

Looking great Steve! I think I remember you posting somewhere in the Hoopty build that you felt it a necessity to still have a headunit in there even with the computer. I am gathering computer parts for a Hummer H3 to go along with the PT next summer, and with limited dash space I would have to put a headunit somewhere in the center console. Would you ever run a computer without a separate headunit, if there was not the need for the volume knob? Is there an issue with the sound card on the computer limiting SQ or anything like that? Keep up the awesome work!

Great band! Thanks for posting, I did not know they had a new album out.

Damn, that box looks brand new again! As always you do some amazing work. Any time you wanna come to Austin and leather the PT wall, come on down! Can't wait to see more vids, the Tahoe looks great with all that new leather and RF gear!

While we are all waiting on the latest update on Steves Tahoe...... I thought I would post up 3 new vids of the PT. I finally found the Beach Boys stuff. Everythings the same, doors and kicks are not wired yet, and I got a wiring problem somewhere on my front stage 3-way crossovers, so I plan to pull the seat out next weekend and figure it all out. So the gains are lowered to protect the mids/highs amp, and I am in SQ mode right now. Any yes, the bottom mirror is very dusty! :01nocomment8so:

Papa Doo Run Run.....and it's a Telarc disc, too

Steve, for the Hoopty alarm (5900) I have had good luck with energizer ultimate lithium AAA batteries, I get about 1.5-2 months out of them with daily use in my 5900 remote. I hope you can mod the window modules for more power. As usual the Tahoe is looking great! Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Glad to hear you have found your way back. You know I build the PT cause of this sucker! I am just as anxious as everyone else to see how it gets finished. ...and in case you haven't heard, Steve was so distraught that he hadn't heard from you, he took a saw to his Tahoe!

Anyone know a lot about smaller chassis and wheelbase building for a mini-rock-crawler? Basically a 1:15 scale Toyota FJ Cruiser? I am trying to find a chassis that will easily accept a 7" wheelbase to fit the 1:15 FJ body I am customizing. ...I am brand new to this hobby, so chassis building is not something I am comfortable with. RC forums guys are recommending the RCBros mixer chassis. Any thoughts from you guys?

Nice....looks kinda like a baby T15K! You gonna mount some of the 8 where they will be visible? ...or all of them under the rear seats?

Its an incredible design that Steve came up with and has no cancellation at all. It is holding up perfectly cause everyone including Steve said I had to build it strong and well braced. I just discovered last week that it can float a styrofoam cup. I really like the look of your bandpass, I only did one bandpass in all my years of building for 2 Orion 12"s and it was power hungry...maybe it was the subs. Listen to what Ed Lester has to say, he knows his stuff; and is an HHR owner, too.....a rather nice HHR!