Club 80-90 Forums

I'm running a 1500watt amped system off of a second battery in my bus, the battery is showing 'fully charged' but within 15mins approx the radio starts to flash on/off as though the battery is nearly discharged already. The sound levels were very low and I'm surprised that the Hi-Fi would flatten the battery that quickly. The system was originally wired to the main battery and loom and did exactly the same. Is this correct or is there an alternative way of running this system.

System= 1x 1500 watt amp
2x 5" pioneer speakers
4x 6x9 Infinity speakers
1x 12" sub woofer
Alpine Head unit

I don't run my stereo parked up - flattens battery inside an hour and I'm not running 1500 watt..... - nowhere near.

Wattage does not always mean a good sound by the way. Could be wrong but using ohms law, its drawing 125 amps!!! 15 mins is good going then.

Thanks Ralph, I guess that your answer was always in the back of my single brain cell, I was hoping that there might be a magic wand.....Rob

I'm kinda with you on this, nice to have. I think you'll get fed up with flat batteries though unless you only take power when engine is running. Even so, you'd need a damned good alternator. Modern cars have huge alternators these days just to keep up. I think even a 90amp would be kept busy there.

Too much power draw - TBH dont see why you need so much power! Most headunits now have a inbuilt amp powerful enough for 6X9's and a set of components.

This is a really good point. Do we really need an amp for modern headunits which provide ample sound?

I have a cable the size of a water pipe from my leisure battery to amp - which drains the battery quickly. My Golf without amp and sub sounds great. Rip out the rubbish I say!

skysurfin09 wrote:and I'm surprised that the Hi-Fi would flatten the battery that quickly.

Worth finding out just how much power's being drawn - remove the fuse, stick your multimeter on something like a 10A range, and put it across where the fuse was.

You will need more than a 10A multimeter to read that setup. Use a clamp meter (mine is good up to 1000A! - military spec.)

When I first installed the head unit I was perfectly happy with the sound quality as the Alpine came very highly recommended. The problem was That I whilst being a 'Child of the 'Sixties' ..Cream, Jefferson Airplane, The Dead and Santana... I also love Ska and Marley and therefore wanted the bass line to blow the doors off any child pulling alongside me at the lights. [Childish I know] but then..I am entering my second childhood. In my quest for this I've meerly added to my prolems., power drainage, sound insulation, cabling et al. I, after you guys advice, am leaning towards removing the amp and reverting back to normal power. Thanks for the comments it is helping make probably the right decision. Rob

skysurfin09 wrote:When I first installed the head unit I was perfectly happy with the sound quality as the Alpine came very highly recommended. The problem was That I whilst being a 'Child of the 'Sixties' ..Cream, Jefferson Airplane, The Dead and Santana... I also love Ska and Marley and therefore wanted the bass line to blow the doors off any child pulling alongside me at the lights. [Childish I know] but then..I am entering my second childhood. In my quest for this I've meerly added to my prolems., power drainage, sound insulation, cabling et al. I, after you guys advice, am leaning towards removing the amp and reverting back to normal power. Thanks for the comments it is helping make probably the right decision. Rob

Not childish, I do it in my wagon, which has one of the best standard stereo (non premium) set ups I have ever heard! Clarion HU with Clarion woofers in the doors, mids in the dash & behind the seats and tweeters in the A pillar!
Had a 'kid' pull up next to me as I revered up to deliver to a convenience store and he coudnt believe it was all standard stuff!! lol

That set up screams out for Tangerine Dream ' Dreaming on Danforth Avenue Nij

Nij - how have you done the tweeters in the A pillars? any pix? mines are cellotaped on as a temp measure

ronsrecord wrote:Nij - how have you done the tweeters in the A pillars? any pix? mines are cellotaped on as a temp measure

Its standard setup in my Scania P280