Battery Drain!

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Battery Drain!

mastermick70

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I have got a punto 1.2 2002 active sport, i have an average size stereo with a pioneer p80mp headunit and a crunch 1000w amp powering 2 12" subs and am looking at adding another amp for the 6x9's however when starting the car there seems to be a problem and its as if the battery is drained!
How can i solve this any ideas?
would a larger battery solve the problem?
Help Please! thanx in advance!
:bang:
 
does it still start?

what kind of problem do you mean?

do your lights do a funky dimmimg thing in time with the music :D ?

put a volt meter across your battery to check the voltages when its under load...


oh and also dont have the stereo on when the engine isnt...

alfie
 
It does still start yeh, but is a bit sluggish and seems a bit iffy
Plus as im looking at getting another amp im worried that its just going to get worse!
Also i dont have the stereo on when the car is off! but you can see the interior light dim slightly if i do!
Will a bigger battery be sufficient or even a bigger battery and power cap?
:bang:
 
thats going to open a whole can of worms on this forum lol...

battery or power cap? lol....

opinons are varied on here... i dont think that a power cap will give you that much.... especially if its as bad as you say... i persnally think it will drain more with a cap...


out of interest what watts rms are u running in that amp? i have 3x 800watts rms (i know!.... manufacturers say so tho probaly not that much! lol..but you get the idea..) atm it still has stock battery and cap... tho if i remove the cap theres no change in power just distortion at really now bass beats...

So anways!....

you need to get your battery checked... your altenator might be dogdy im thinking.... someone will tell you how to test it no doubts...

i think the best way is to put a multimeter over the batt when you esperience the poor symptoms

according to autodata.. your altenator should be good for 80 amps which is like the sei... so you shouldbe able to run something like all my output and just get a little dimmage...



Rob
 
can i ask a really stupid question, do you wait for the immobilser light to go off? cause that will seem like the car is sluggish to start, cause it takes a while longer to fire up

im hoping that may be the problem as i plan too run 2 amps in my punto and dont want to uprate any batteries :eek:
 
Im not totally sure that the rms total is to be honest, its a crunch 1000watt amp and then the 2 12" rockford fosgate subs i got it as a package deal!
It doesnt happen all the time its strange and there is no dimming of lights when im driving or anything like that, iv been told that it should just be my battery as its 3 years old but god knows!
Iv been advised to get new battery by one person, then a new battery and alternator by another, an optimum battery in my boot by another and someone else said new battery and power cap so im really confused lol
Fiat said that a bigger battery would be more than sufficient something like a 55amp one which iv been quote £35 for and its heavy duty
 
Ive just got a powercap and stock battery (which is about 3 years old now) and holds its charge with no problems, with alot of punishment. I even play it with the engine off sometimes and still have no problems.

As alfie says, the powercap wont solve your power problems. IMO it stops a bit of dimming depending on music. If its continious bass it wont matter because the cap has no chance to refill. What they do primerily is hold the whole car voltage up on large bass notes - If the note takes more power than the cap holds, you will dim.

Uprating the Alternator will stop dimming, and an uprated battery will keep the system running for longer :)

As for your amp being 1000w, thats about 500w RMS (assuming 50% efficiency) so woulnt kill your battery that bad. (Im running about 1200 RMS with little problems on my tiny 45 Uno)

This reminds me i must update teh power issues tutorial :eek:


Hopefully, what Gaz suggested may be your problem. Only way to find out is to get teh battery checked. If it does need replacing, i wouldnt worry upgrading to an Ultima unless you have deep pockets and plan to put alot more power into the car. A split charger as recommended by one of your mates could be a way forward, but if you uprate the alternator there should be no need :)

Hope thats cleared some things up
 
with regards to power caps, remeber they use power as well. So it might well supply a bit to stop the voltage dropping when the music hits a thumping note - but then the cap has to refill. So the car is powering the ICE, and using more current to refil the cap.

Gimick imo. I want one, just cos they look space age (y)

Just try taking the fuse out of the amp when u turn the car off last thing at night. I had a pioneer amp that use to drain my battery even when it was "off".
 
the altenator that comes stock gives out quite alot!! i did the calculations before for the output? can someone find that??

i would have said it was faulty if it cant keep up... you arent running that much stuff to overwelm the batt and altenater if one or the other wasnt faulty...

its either your battery or altenator or both.. get them checked out...

Rob
 
i had this problem in my seicento

i later found out my water levels in the battery were very low my music would only play for about 3min without engine startd and then would completely kill battery where car wouldnt start up.

ive now got a power cap which is great because it stops too much power being drawn from the battery as it trickle charges the cap back up to power the amp meaning your alternator has time to recharge the battery properly so it doesnt drain battery.

once i topped the water level up and got a cap i can now play music for ages without the battery going flat (touch wood)

gaz
 
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