12v Or 16v?

[Soulman07]

It would have to be 18v to charge the 16v batteries. If you end up needing multiple modules wouldnt you just be better off applying that cost into a second alt to run a 12v system? Seems logical to me.

If you had a choice to use 12volt batteries or 16volt batteries for your race car. And the 16volt would increase your speed by 33% and give you more power to go up the slope which would you choose? 500-600 amps worth of power on a 16volt system is more than sufficient I'd think for an 8.1. Provided that he has a good amount of batteries. Later on with adding another he'll experience some voltage drops from having two I'm sure, but even at that he won't be dipping down into 11-13 range on 16 volt batteries, which still equals more power.

[David]

1) 8.1 will draw at least 680 amps of current, so imagine what 2 will pull. 16v would be Ideal for the amplifiers, its alot to think about.

[Mrbubbles00482]

1) 8.1 will draw at least 680 amps of current, so imagine what 2 will pull. 16v would be Ideal for the amplifiers, its alot to think about.

Damn..It really is a lot to think on..lol.

Alrighty then, lets say I don't upgrade to another 8.1 and I just run one on 4 15's. I can run my single 170 amp alt in the stock location on too a small kinetik of some sort to run the car and my high end amps, then run 2 18v alts in my A/C and smog pump location for the back battery bank that the 8.1 will be on.

2 18v alts, and a good 6 16v batts will run the 8.1 fine.

Thoughts on that?

[David]

that would be pretty darn good electrical system, I would say you should be good.

[Mrbubbles00482]

that would be pretty darn good electrical system, I would say you should be good.

Alrighty then. Time too start looking into alts =/

Good 18v alts?

I'm probably going to contact mechman first, thats where my 12v alt came from I bought a good while ago and I absolutely love it.

[Soulman07]

Yeah it'll be as close as you'll get to perfection with it! I'd get the highest rated alternators that'll fit and roll with the adjustable regulator that you can control from inside to cab to save you time considering the internal adjustables are a biznitch to get to sometimes.

[MECHMAN]

Not necessarily a 18+ volt alternator, just an external regulator that's adjustable. Most you can adjust from 13-20. Most cars come factory with what? 70-100 amp alternators? The idea of daisy chaining a few stepdown modules vs replacing batteries seems a bit more logical to me.

Just FYI Mrbubbles- Your MechMan alternator is already 16V capable WITHOUT having to buy an external regulator. Just turn the white adjusting screw in the digital red regulator on the back of the alternator all the way up and it will charge at 18.7 volts, which is a good place to be on 16 volt batteries.

The easiest and best way to do what you want to do on the street would eb to add a seccond 12 volt alternator in the smog pump location. You could easily run the vehicle, moids, highs, deck, etc... of a 170 amp 12 volt alternator and a single 12 volt battery under the hood, then run your current MechMan alt at 18.7V to a bank of 16 volt batteries dedicated to the sub amps. This is how I have my truck set up, and it works great. No need to run any modules, and you don't have to worry about 3 post batteries swelling up with street driving.

[soundzright]

If you had a choice to use 12volt batteries or 16volt batteries for your race car. And the 16volt would increase your speed by 33% and give you more power to go up the slope which would you choose? 500-600 amps worth of power on a 16volt system is more than sufficient I'd think for an 8.1. Provided that he has a good amount of batteries. Later on with adding another he'll experience some voltage drops from having two I'm sure, but even at that he won't be dipping down into 11-13 range on 16 volt batteries, which still equals more power.

16v race batteries give you 33% more hp? Besides that I am talking the electrical system for the CAR not the audio. Seems mechman agreed with me as well.

[Soulman07]

16v race batteries give you 33% more hp? Besides that I am talking the electrical system for the CAR not the audio. Seems mechman agreed with me as well.

I used RC cars as a metaphor, you are getting confused. He stated the option was 2 alts and a 16v battery bank or 3 alts and a 12v system after the whole stepdown transformer situtation played out. You must not have read the entire thread and the direction it was headed in. I'm not trying to bust anyone's balls or come across as a smart ass. Drop all your what's the most convenient way point of view and think about his original post which said this will be for a competition vehicle. If he's going to drop this much cash on gear why not push it to it's limits that seems to be his mindset as well.

Aside from that, mechman was pointing out the fact that his unit already comes with an adjustable regulator on the back of it. Something I had no knowledge of while stating that any alternator can use an adjustable regulator.

If he were to go with 3 alternators and a 12volt setup, They'll be able to efficiently handle all the power the amp is capable of drawing at maybe 15 volts or so. Thing about that is he won't get to peak the 11,000 watts the amp is capable of even with having three alternators. It'll be very consistent though at what it does on the 12volt system.

He wants to push the limitations of his gear, plain and simple. I'm just stating suggestions from experience.

[MECHMAN]

I used RC cars as a metaphor, you are getting confused. He stated the option was 2 alts and a 16v battery bank or 3 alts and a 12v system after the whole stepdown transformer situtation played out. You must not have read the entire thread and the direction it was headed in. I'm not trying to bust anyone's balls or come across as a smart ass. Drop all your what's the most convenient way point of view and think about his original post which said this will be for a competition vehicle. If he's going to drop this much cash on gear why not push it to it's limits that seems to be his mindset as well.

Aside from that, mechman was pointing out the fact that his unit already comes with an adjustable regulator on the back of it. Something I had no knowledge of while stating that any alternator can use an adjustable regulator.

If he were to go with 3 alternators and a 12volt setup, They'll be able to efficiently handle all the power the amp is capable of drawing at maybe 15 volts or so. Thing about that is he won't get to peak the 11,000 watts the amp is capable of even with having three alternators. It'll be very consistent though at what it does on the 12volt system.

He wants to push the limitations of his gear, plain and simple. I'm just stating suggestions from experience.

Assuming that your amp is stable at 18.7 volts, 16 volt batteries will always outperform 12 volt batteries, period end of story. If you are going to go through the expense and effort of a multiple alternator setup and have to buy more batteries, the may as well be 16 volt, the difference in cost is negligable, amp for amp, pound for pound. (16 volt vs. 12 volt)