How To Install Second Battery For Car Audio

Enjoyment from listening to the music can be damaged quickly when you lot turn your engine on and find out that your battery is flat.

Unfortunately, having a standard battery dead is a mutual issue with powerful automobile audio. 1 of the solutions to fix that trouble is adding an actress battery to your car. But when should you add an extra battery for car audio? Allow's find out.

As a full general rule, you need to add a second battery to your car if yous take a powerful multi amplifier'south car audio organization or listening to the car audio with the engine turned off. Yous will also need an extra battery for car audio if y'all attend machine audio competitions to ensure your organization performs well.

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Tip: Having installed a second battery in your machine will boost your audio organization and improve performance. Merely, to do it correct, you lot accept to make sure that you are using practiced power wires.

You have to remember that power and footing wires should have the aforementioned size (gauge) and loftier quality, ideally OFC.

I use the KnuKonceptz four gauge OFC Wires that I have plant really flexible and easy to install. They are available in either red, blue, or black, depending on your needs, and in different lengths from 5 to 100 feet.

In the article below, I will show you more than about car sound batteries and how you should install yours.

When do I need an extra battery for the machine sound organization?

Whether y'all need a second bombardment for car audio or non is determined by your audio system and how much power your amplifiers demand.

The easy way to find out if yous need a second battery for your car is to check the headlights. If headlights are dimming while you play the music, it means that your amplifiers are drawing more power than your alternator and battery can produce.

Call up that your serial bombardment was designed to start your engine and to work with standard electrical equipment in your motorcar, and so adding powerful amplifiers to the vehicle increases a total load of your electric system.

How Much Power Can My Serial Auto Bombardment Hold?

There is an like shooting fish in a barrel way to discover out how long you can listen to the music in the car before the battery is drained.

The calculation below shows how long you tin listen to the music, depending on the amperage of the battery and amplifier'southward ability.

Running fourth dimension (hours) = 10 ten battery chapters (in Amp hours) / load power (in Watts)

If you have a ninety AH battery and ane,800 Watts RMS amplifier, the calculation looks similar beneath:

10 x 90 / 1,800 = 0.v h

In other words, a 90Ah battery volition be able to ability your 1,800W amplifier for half an hour before it goes flat.

Based on the above, if y'all want to listen to the music with the engine turned off for a longer, or yous have a more powerful amplifier, yous need to install an actress battery for your car audio system.

Yous tin can likewise quickly determine how much amperage you need for your car sound system by using the below formula right of Ohm'south Law:

Current (I) = Wattage (P) / Voltage ( E )

Allow'southward take the above amplifier of one,800W that is running at the standard 14.4V.

i,800 / fourteen.four = 125 amps

But, an amplifier does not run at 100% efficiency, so you take to divide the 1,800W by an average of 70%.

In effect, your amplifier to supply 1,800W needs to receive from the bombardment 2,571 W.

Permit's at present supersede the 1,800W with the actual 2,571 in the calculation:

2,571 / xiv.4 = 178.54 amps

This is the actual amperage the bombardment demand for your 1,800W amplifier, just this is non the end.

The majority of the standard car electrical systems swallow around threescore amps to operate, which should exist added to the total requirement.

178.54 + 60 = 238.54 amps

If y'all want to install a 1,800W amplifier in your automobile. Your electrical arrangement needs to supply a constant total of 239 amp.

Do I Need an Extra Bombardment for My Subs?

You can never have as well much ability, which is as well true for the car audio arrangement. Subs are the most powerful elements of any car sound system, and even if you exercise non have a strong amplifier for the speakers, I am sure you have one to power your subwoofer.

You demand an extra battery for your sub, peculiarly if information technology has a power of several thousand watts. In addition, if yous have installed a professional person competition system, you lot need to ensure the proper corporeality of free energy is supplied to the system.

Tin I Use a Regular Machine Bombardment for Car Sound?

A battery for your car audio organisation works the same manner that any regular automotive bombardment does, simply instead of powering all vehicle electronics, it simply powers the radio and amplifiers.

The vast bulk of the regular automobile batteries are Lead-Acid batteries. Although these batteries are most popular in cars, they crave regular maintenance.

You lot will accept to check the water level in each cell regularly, and if it is too depression, y'all need to add a distilled water. Otherwise, this battery tin exist permanently damaged.

Another disadvantage of lead-acid batteries is that they tend to nifty, then if you take an excellent finishing of your machine sound area, the terminal matter you lot demand is to have water or moisture there.

You can use a regular battery for the car sound, which is common practice. Yet, installing higher output AGM or Lithium-ion batteries volition bring more benefits to the organisation than just a regular lead-acid battery.

The only drawback when installing an actress battery for machine audio is that the second battery can cause problems for the serial alternator.

While the additional battery supports your motorcar sound, it actually acts like extra load every time the engine runs, cartoon more current than the standard alternator can produce.

Therefore, it is strongly recommended (not only by me) to upgrade your standard alternator whenever you decide to add a second battery to the car audio. Otherwise, you may find a flat, not 1, only both batteries.

Are AGM Batteries Good for Automobile Audio?

AGM batteries are the best choice as a second bombardment to the automobile audio systems. Considering of AGM'south low internal resistance, fast recharge, sealed, and maintenance-free, they work best for the car audio.

AGM batteries are an excellent solution for loftier-end and avant-garde car sound systems. They have significant power demands and have a longer life span than most acid jail cell motorcar batteries.

Only non only for car audio, but you tin can also install an AGM battery instead of any factory battery. An AGM battery will give the vehicle more cold cranking power and greater resistance to rut and vibration.

The only downside of the AGM batteries is their belch rate, which cannot exist larger than 50%, while you can discharge lead-acid batteries to 80%. In other words, it means that the lead-acid bombardment tin can run longer than AGM on every single charge.

Therefore, it is handy to have an AGM bombardment charged at dwelling house overnight and make sure that information technology is fully charged every time you go out the house.

Recollect also to change an AGM battery before the first connection to the car audio. New AGM batteries come uncharged for rubber purposes.

What size 2nd battery for car audio should I buy?

The size of the second bombardment for car audio depends on how much power your amplifiers need.

As a general rule, you lot need a 100Ah battery for every 1,000 watts RMS of your automobile audio.

The table below shows a few examples of pop batteries with the RMS wattage that can back up on top of standard electronics in the motorcar.

CCA	Ah Max	Amplifier Wattage (RMS)
410	45	164
550	100	364
730	115	419
760	120	437
850	140	510
900	160	582
950	190	692

Maximum Wattage that Motorcar Batteries Can Support

When looking at the bombardment characterization, y'all will not always see both the CCA or Ah values. To calculate the rough estimation of the Ah of your battery, you tin can accept CCA and divide it past 7.25.

Where to Place an Actress Battery for Machine Audio?

Virtually factory motorcar batteries are installed under a hood, but there is not plenty room for the second one in the engine compartment.

Boosted car audio batteries should be placed close to the amplifier, and the about common places are either inside the cabin or in the trunk.

Batteries installed inside the car should exist leak-proof and vibrations resistant, and this is some other reason why you should not employ standard lead-acid batteries for car sound systems.

If you install a bombardment close to the powerful subwoofers that make many strong kicks, the vibration resistance is crucial. If you mount the bombardment in the other than manufactory position or even on its size, its leaking proof is mandatory.

Which Boosted Accessories Practise I Need for Auto Audio Bombardment?

When installing an boosted battery for your car's sound system, you need to ensure it works at its optimal performance. To do that, you need to employ some loftier-quality accessories:

Terminal clamps

Terminals made of either copper or gilt will forestall connections from any corrosion and avoid voltage dropping.

If you are adding a second battery, do not apply old terminals from the acid lead battery, only install clamps with multi-connexion points instead.

Power and ground wires

Power and basis wires used for a 2d bombardment should have the same gauge every bit the other power wires used in the car audio.

Call back never to employ ground wire that is smaller (thinner) than the power wire. For case, if you use a judge four of the power wire, utilise the aforementioned approximate 4 for the basis wire.

I accept been using for a whileKnuKonceptz OFC wires, and they work actually well.

Battery Isolators

Battery isolators are used to disconnect both batteries from each other when the engine is off. This will continue your offset-up battery able to commencement an engine even if your second battery is drained.

Fuses

It does non matter which secondary battery for car audio you apply. Fuse on the ability wires is mandatory.

There are many models and amperage versions, but remember to employ i fuse on the power wire between batteries and another between the secondary bombardment and amplifier.

Distribution Blocks

Distribution blocks are needed to connect several power and ground wires to the aforementioned battery final and are mainly required on the secondary battery.

You will take at the positive terminal input power wire from the primary battery and output ability wires to the amplifiers, so at least two solid and thick wires in the same place.

Wire connectors

Power wire connectors are as important as high-quality terminals, although they are non required for every battery or amplifier blazon.

If you practice not employ a proper size for either battery or amplifier, you adventure sound quality considering they can become the weakest points with the most resistance.

How to Install a Second Battery for Car Audio?

How to wire an extra machine audio battery depends on the blazon of bombardment used and if it is the same bombardment type as your main or a different one.

The simplest style to connect a second bombardment is when it is the aforementioned type every bit the chief i and is placed, for example, in the trunk.

However, if you add a second battery that is different than a kickoff-up battery, you have to charge them separately to the same voltage level earlier connecting to the same circuit.

The new battery withal has to be connected to the alternator, simply you lot cannot wire both batteries together if they have different charge levels and, therefore, volition supply different voltages. This volition kill a weaker battery.

To wire the second bombardment, you should use the thickest guess wires you can. If you have to utilize gauge zero for both power and ground, practise information technology.

Also, try to place the actress bombardment shut to the amplifier and make wiring connections as short as possible.

If your 2d battery is a different model, size, capacity, or technology than your primary one, the installation is more complicated, and you lot will demand boosted equipment to make information technology work.

You cannot connect batteries with different chemistry in parallel. So, for example, AGM and Lithium batteries can work in the same car just in separate circuits.

Connecting a 2d battery in the car, you lot start past running the power wire from the alternator to the identify where you volition install the bombardment. If this is a torso, and so y'all accept to run a power wire through the entire machine.

On the power wire, close to the 2nd battery, you have to identify the fuse, and it is a proficient practice to add a second fuse of the same size close to the alternator.

Next is the direct wiring from the fuse in the tunk to the positive battery final. Make sure that for all connections, you utilise wire of the same size (gauge).

Some other wire from the positive bombardment concluding you lot connect with the power terminal in the amplifier. On this wire, you lot likewise have to add the fuse, so you will finish upward having two fuses in the trunk, one between the amplifier and the battery and the 2nd between the battery and the alternator.

Now the ground wire from the amplifier and another one from the 2d battery. Here, you take two options: run a short wire to the chassis bare metal or directly to the bombardment.

Using a chassis to ground the wires allows y'all to use shorter wires, merely the disadvantage is that in some cases, especially in older cars, the chassis can take loftier electric resistance and limit the quality of the current flow.

Because of that, I adopt to have a direct wire connexion for both power and ground wire directly with the battery and not through the car'south chassis.

To summarize, wiring from the 2nd car battery is every bit follow:

Two wires with fuses from the positive concluding. One goes to the amplifier, and the second connects with the alternator.

One wire from the negative terminal. It goes either to the chassis or to the main battery'south negative final.

How to Accuse the Second Bombardment in Car?

There are a few ways to charge your second battery, and all of them are straightforward.

The easiest is using the alternator from the engine to charge your 2d bombardment when traveling on the road and using a voltage sensing relay (VSR) or an isolator switch in the SCA dual battery kit.

Some other fashion to charge a second bombardment for car audio when the engine is off is to utilise a solar battery regulator.

The best is a DC to DC Charger with solar input. This is the more efficient way to regulate the input to your bombardment from both sources without damaging the battery over fourth dimension.

All the above devices allow both batteries to accuse while the vehicle is running and isolate the batteries subsequently switching the engine off.

This way, y'all will keep your starting battery at total charge, while the second battery will ability your amplifiers.

Tin can I Run Ii Batteries on One Alternator?

You lot tin can run two batteries on the aforementioned alternator because alternators protect confronting excessive current bleed and are non affected by multiple batteries.

When you connect the batteries, the voltage in the system equalizes, pregnant that the lower voltage battery sucks ability from the other.

If your batteries are the same type, the alternator sees your main and an extra battery for auto audio as a single large battery and charges them the aforementioned.

The batteries self-regulate the amount of electric current they take as they accuse. Therefore, yous can use the same alternator for several batteries, but 1 additional bombardment is installed in almost automobile audio systems.

Conclusion

Installing a 2nd bombardment is straightforward, and it does not take much time.

When yous need to add a second battery to your car audio system, it is worth looking at the AGM batteries.

They are the best choice because of their low internal resistance, fast recharge. AGM batteries are also fully sealed and maintenance-complimentary. In addition, they can be installed in whatsoever position, different standard wet cell batteries that can be placed only vertically.

Source: https://improvecaraudio.com/add-second-battery-for-car-audio/