alts vs batts

[skittlesRgood]

I believe I read that 50% thing from one of Ed's posts. It also on RF's website.

I bet you do get "every single watt" out of those 3kwps on music.

im not exactly your average user that goes to RF's website. It's not like im pulling comments out of my ass. i have an oscope and a few clamp meters. i study this stuff and i get "every POSSIBLE watt" i can.

[hdorre]

im not exactly your average user that goes to RF's website. It's not like im pulling comments out of my ass. i have an oscope and a few clamp meters. i study this stuff and i get "every POSSIBLE watt" i can.

I believe you get every possible watt, I just read that as every single watt originally..My bad. I don't know your experience or the equipment you use, so I really can't argue about all that.

[fmedina]

1200w / 14v = 85.7amps / 70%efficiency = 122amps that your car needs to supply your sub amp.

your car should be using 70-80% of your stock alts output so add that number to the amount of power you need.

if you got a 250 amp alt you probably wouldnt need extra batteries.

so is that 122amps that u got from the alt? so ur sayin for a 1200w system i need at least 122amps from the alt depending on the amp

[fmedina]

well i guess that depends on you. i, for one, get ever possible watt out of my amps even on music. they damn sure dont do half power on music.

well i also want every watt out my amp. i wana get wat i payed for ha. and wat u mean half power.

[tejcurrent]

Depending on how you set your gains your amp will use a lot less power for music than burps. Most music is recorded a lot lower than test tones, like -3 or -6db. Unless you specifically set your gains for music you'll see a lot less output than if you set your gains on 0db test tones. Also music is dynamic, and most people don't sit in traffic like they're bassracing the guy next to them

This is why many places recommend 1/2 of an amps rated needs. For instance a super quick rule of thumb is that a 1000 watt amp with a 100 amp fuse rating needs 100 amps. Truthfully they should be fine with half that for music, and short bursts higher than 1/2 power will be made up for during the breaks when there is no bass. You wont see 14v all the time, but should stay in a normal operating range.

If you're competing and clamp your amps and know exactly how much power they're pulling, you can say "well I need 300 amps" and have an exact number to go from. If you're the average person who rarely competes and doesn't own a clamp meter than using the quick formula I posted above will be a starting point. Using 1000 watts? Make sure you have at least 50 amps of alternator, using 10,000 watts? Make sure you have at least 500 amps of alternator. That's my opinion anyway.

To answer your battery question I like to add a d3100 for every 2500 watts.

[fmedina]

Depending on how you set your gains your amp will use a lot less power for music than burps. Most music is recorded a lot lower than test tones, like -3 or -6db. Unless you specifically set your gains for music you'll see a lot less output than if you set your gains on 0db test tones. Also music is dynamic, and most people don't sit in traffic like they're bassracing the guy next to them

This is why many places recommend 1/2 of an amps rated needs. For instance a super quick rule of thumb is that a 1000 watt amp with a 100 amp fuse rating needs 100 amps. Truthfully they should be fine with half that for music, and short bursts higher than 1/2 power will be made up for during the breaks when there is no bass. You wont see 14v all the time, but should stay in a normal operating range.

If you're competing and clamp your amps and know exactly how much power they're pulling, you can say "well I need 300 amps" and have an exact number to go from. If you're the average person who rarely competes and doesn't own a clamp meter than using the quick formula I posted above will be a starting point. Using 1000 watts? Make sure you have at least 50 amps of alternator, using 10,000 watts? Make sure you have at least 500 amps of alternator. That's my opinion anyway.

To answer your battery question I like to add a d3100 for every 2500 watts.

wow thanks man that really helps a lot. gives me a good image. i dont compete, least not yet , so i dont need too much alt power. so im pretty good rite now cuz im only runnin 1200w. i have a yellow top optima. is that good? and the big 3 of course