Too much power draw?

ibanez737 · 11-01-2006, 11:53 AM

So I've had my carputer set up for at least 6 months in an incomplete stage. At the moment, I have a Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop (P4, 512 mem, SB LIVE PCMCIA, 128meg ATI vid card), a 7" Lilliput, a Profile 1200W amp, an Alpine 240w amp, and 2 RF 10" p2 subs. Right now, both the amps are running off the battery, and the lilliput and a 90W DC/DC adapter for my laptop are running off the accessory line.

My question is would this be too much drain on my battery? Last night, I was driving for an exteneded period of time, stopped for gas, and poof...dead battery. My first conclusion was that the alternator couldn't keep up with the draw off my battery and crapped out? Recently, almost 50% of the times I start my car, my gauges "reset" going all the way to 160 mph, and then coming back down, which happens everytime I remove the battery.

Idk if I'm draining my battery, or my battery was crapping out, since I think it is the OG battery on a 55k mile car. Any input is appreciated.

david69leonard · 11-01-2006, 11:59 AM

I had the same problem with my car, i had two 3200 watt amps, my carpc and a whole bunch of extra crap i prolly dont need but sooo cool to have... so all i did was bought a dry cell optima battery from autozone for about $250 and added an extra 2 farad cap and no more problems...

ibanez737 · 11-01-2006, 12:18 PM

Well, when my car died, it was 11 at night and I was a distance from home, so I had to give in and buy a new one. They gave me a Duralast gold. I've heard great things about the optimas, especially the yellowtops. It seems it would be the best choice for my application, but 250 is rather steep. Also, I've never dealt with caps whatsoever. Is it pretty much just a "second battery" so to speak? I'll have to do some more research if it comes to that.

psyrex · 11-01-2006, 12:37 PM

Caps are only good for about a second or less of power. Useful for quick shots of amps when a high powered subwoofer kicked in for a particularly low note, but useless as a battery. Against a load, the voltage across a capacitor drops exponentially; the voltage across a battery holds constant for hours.

Legacy · 11-02-2006, 06:01 AM

i had 1 12" sub a 700 watt amp and a 300 watt amp running off my old battery, and first day it got cold died twice. I went and bought and optima yellowtop battery and i now have 12" sub, 700 watt amp, 300watt amp, 7" lilliput, carpc, front fog lights, with now problems at all

david69leonard · 11-29-2006, 12:30 PM

optima's rock!!!