2 12's in a civic, power problems?

[ruffriderGA]

I have a 1000watt lanzar amp, and 2 12's i'm having installed this weekend in my 97 civic.

Here's a pic of the setup in my old f150:


I don't know a whole lot about civics and their charging system. my buddy told me i wont be able to install this because i will have power issues. (lights dimming, ect)

Anyway, It's getting put in saturday along with my new pioneer head unit. can someone give me the low-down on the power issues?

I know when i had this setup in my f150 it SLAMMED. I didn't have much to compare it to but i was the loudest at school.

also one more question, everyone keeps telling me it will be way louder because it will be in my trunk and not in my extended cab truck. is this true.

thanks for any input you have on this.

[sina518]

car alternators are made only for the stuff that was in the car when it rolled out of the factory.does this mean you cant put a system in it no. its always wise to upgrade your electrical system weather now or in the long run the more stuff you put in your ar the more power you need will your lights dim every time the bass hits yes, is your battery gonna die if your sitting in a parking lot with the car off blasting your music yes. there are 3 big steps ppl usually take, ill break this down. upgrade alternator, 150 amp on up typically about 500 bucks (ohio generator) there are some mom and pop places that make existing alternators better but like the saying goes you get what you pay for. next thing would be a battery a stinger or i like to use svr batteries, thats about 120 to about 165. the last thing and most popular is a capacitor anywere from 60 bucks to 600. in your case i would upgrade my battery to something like a stinger or svr ( i have worked with the 2 so i know there good) and i would get a capacitor nothing too fancey. now when you decide to get multiple amplifiers and you have some serious subs and mids and highs i would look into getting an alternator ( ohio generator preferably)

[ruffriderGA]

Thanks dude, i don't know a whole lot about this so I just didnt wanna have any type of serious electrical problems...i can deal with a little dimming.

gonna throw a cap in it and a nice battery and i'll go from there. i think my civic needs a new batt anyways.

I hope it thumps pretty hard. I know it did in my truck..

[b@d @pple]

get a not so shitty amp while you spending all this time and money to get some bump

[ruffriderGA]

Well im only 16 and budget is kinda an issue. I'm getting a head unit installed because my old one was stolen and the wiring is bad. usually i would put it in myself.

a guy my dad knows is going to put my head unit in and my subs and amp for $50 and clean the wiring up some. it needs new wiring to the door speakers, and new door speakers. and some other little stuff...its got some tweeters in it that need wiring up.

but when i get some cash i'll throw a nice amp in there, i might be able to find one used for a decent price

[sina518]

i noticed you said your getting a pioneer. from experience stay away from pioneer unless it is a N3 or a z1

[ruffriderGA]

Thanks for the help man. You wouldn't happen to know anyone around jonesboro who needs some extra cash and is pretty good with stereo stuff do you?

Basically it just needs going through and sorted out, it's had a stereo stolen from it so the wiring is a mess.

my dad would pay for whatever it needs, speakerwire, ect. and pay them for their time

so if you know someone who wants to screw with it for a couple days, and make a little cash let me know. he has a guy who wants to do it for $50 but i honestly dont think the guy knows what the hell he's doing.

i'm not gonna lie to you though...the wiring is a friggen mess from what i've seen. i know it needs the door speakers either hooked up or rewired, they probably need replacing...they look pretty rough.

anyway if you know anyone let me know, the car would be on tara blvd.

[BanginJimmy]

Sina, you forgot onw thing. You should do a big 3 upgrade also. Big three are your alternator to battery positive, battery negative to frame, block to frame. That upgrade will only cost you about $15-20 in wire and the ring connectors for it and at least for the short term in combination with a nice battery like a Stinger, SVR or Kinetik you shouldnt have to worry about electrical problems.


As far as the cap goes, I dont use them. They are as much of a drain on your electrical system as they are a help. Yes a cap smoothes out some of the peaks and valleys of current consumption, but thats all they do. They arent going to help if you dont have the power to start with.

[ruffriderGA]

so a cap is just like a bandaid then... you kinda lost me on the big 3 thing, you mean upgrade the wires from alt to bat,ect ?

[BanginJimmy]

yea, upgrade the wires, its just running an entra peice to help make the charging system more efficient. If you notice, your factory wiring is like 10 or 12awg. Upgrading it to 4awg will cut down on wire resistance, hence more amperage to your battery at a higher voltage.

[sina518]

Sina, you forgot onw thing. You should do a big 3 upgrade also. Big three are your alternator to battery positive, battery negative to frame, block to frame. That upgrade will only cost you about $15-20 in wire and the ring connectors for it and at least for the short term in combination with a nice battery like a Stinger, SVR or Kinetik you shouldnt have to worry about electrical problems.


As far as the cap goes, I dont use them. They are as much of a drain on your electrical system as they are a help. Yes a cap smoothes out some of the peaks and valleys of current consumption, but thats all they do. They arent going to help if you dont have the power to start with.

i didnt forget of the big 3 just got tierd of typing

[DJ XtRaK©]

get a not so shitty amp while you spending all this time and money to get some bump

good call on this statement that amp aint no 1000 watts, it may say it but it aint, promise you!

i noticed you said your getting a pioneer. from experience stay away from pioneer unless it is a N3 or a z1

what the hell are you talkin about????

[sina518]

pioneer fucking sucks

[b@d @pple]

pioneer fucking sucks

agreed

[gobraves00]

mr. alternator is a great website to buy from, good customer service fast delivery, i believe it mralternator.com and for capacitors try batcap, for al ittle more money than a 1farad cap you can get a batcap which is like 100 caps in one xstatic.com

[v3rd1g0]

agreed

x2 i have one right now, not doing too well at all.

[BanginJimmy]

I'm really liking the panasonic units lately. Nice looking, alot of features, pretty user friendly and as far as I can tell very reliable.

[Allstar3.8T]

I ran 8 12"s and 4400 watts on stock alternator on my 99 civic Si....No caps either. 3 batteries, and always made sure the car ran when it was playin. A big bank of caps would have helped, but the naked ear couldnt tell, it was LOUD!

[yerrow]

damn skippy it was loud!

[ruffriderGA]

Well about my amp, I know its not the best brand but like I said I'm on a really tight budget and my amp and subs were free, pulled em from a repo car at my dad's place. so basically its all i have for now.

anyway, my civic had some problems, shaking very bad at idle, over-heating, ect. and it's at my dad's shop getting some work done so after all that i'll get back to having the install done.

and for a head-unit, a repo came in with one of those flip-out dvd headunits the other day, and if it doesnt get claimed i'll get my hands on that too. (I think its jensen i didnt have much time to check it out ) and maybe a set of kicker impulse 15's but the kickers look kinda rough so i'll have to see if they work or not

so far though i havnt been able to find another amp, i have a boss 360watt i pulled from a truck but its not that strong at all, and a sony xplod amp that sucks also..

[ruffriderGA]

I ran 8 12"s and 4400 watts on stock alternator on my 99 civic Si....No caps either. 3 batteries, and always made sure the car ran when it was playin. A big bank of caps would have helped, but the naked ear couldnt tell, it was LOUD!

so you can add batteries without upgrading the alternator?

[gobraves00]

it is recommended to upgrade the alt so that it can keep up with the recharging of the batteries

[Allstar3.8T]

so you can add batteries without upgrading the alternator?

Long, but it may help;
Yes, because the way most people will wire multiple batteries, makes the Alt see team as one big battery, not 3 separate ones. (Unless the use a battery isolator, then the Alt supplies each separately in theory)

Batteries supply power ...until they cant since they dont "create" power. The alternator supplies the batteries power once they feel a draw. Caps take a tiny "piece" of power from a battery and enlarge it, it does this in milli-seconds, gaining power, multiplying it (for sake of this discussion) and discharging it to whatever is drawing off it (amps typically), ready to do it again in millliseconds.

The reason I had a 300 amp max pull rated system (Amps as in amperage not watts) on 3 svt batteries w/o caps and a big alternator is simple. When the car is running, the alternator is. The draw WAS more than the alternator could supply at idle, but it'd take a few hours to kill the batteries since the draw vs supply was fairly close. Yes, it'd kill 3 batteries WITH the car running. When driving the car, (higher revs etc) it was fine, and honestly, you couldnt really listen full volume for great lengths anyway, it was loud....... like windows down, sunroof open, roof flexes 2"-3" loud.
Since I really didnt night drive the car, the lights dimming wasnt a big deal...they did some...but the 1,000,000 C/L driving spots didnt help either.
In a perfect world, I'd put a 140+ amp ALT on the car, but it isnt, so I didnt!
Hope this helps,
GC

[BanginJimmy]

a battery isolator only isolates 1 battery from another when the vehicle is off. When it is running the isolator is 'open' both ways. When the vehicle is off, the isolator prevents your system battery from using your vehicle battery for power. This way you can run your system battery down to dead, then start the car up without needing a jump. Adding an isolator doent not cause an alternator to 'see' multiple batteries, it still just sees 1 large one.

[T.S.]

YOu are all hitting on the right spots first off whats the amperage on the fuses on the amp ill tell you exactly what that amp is putting out. Im guessing its a class D amplifier. The first things you need to do is clean up your engine bay and that means all of your grounds. This will take some noise and add better current for your alternator and amp. Basically what Banging Jimmy said, Ground battery better, Ground alternator better, Run lead wire from alternator to battery with big awg wire. And Ground your motor. Thats what causes alot of humming or vibration in the music. Basically this should cost you around 20$ to do. EZ and simple.

Next Yes caps are ok, but they put more strain on your battery and alternator then anything. So i would recommend not using one of these. Since you only trying to run under 1000 watts. Which i know that amp isnt pushing 1000 watts All you really need is a good Deep Cycle battery and some good wire. I prefer Tsunami or Yellow Tops. You dont need more then 1 battery. You could upgrade the alternator, But are you made of money. They arent cheap and really unnecessary. Unless you go with a nicer amp and alot nicer subs i wouldnt even worry about it. Make sure you use 0 awg for your ground wire. And you should be good.

OH also, If your unsure about someone touching your car i wouldnt let them. Basically in the audio video world, If you touch someones car you bought it. Means if there are any problems in the car they just became yours. ANd 50$ is INSANELY cheap to hook a system up.

later....

[gobraves00]

actually my battery isolator is hooked to a switch. so that when driving around and i still want good performance from my car or i want strong headlights at nite, i switch it to off and the car battery is on its own and the 2 batteries in the back are running on there own. then when i have time or just driving to and from work ill turn it back on and allow them to recharge.and this feature works great at shows, u can play your system without turning car on and play it till the battereis dies, then just get in and start your car up and they will recharge.

[ruffriderGA]

I got it all installed today, my buddy charles did it for 50.00


I got a brand new jensen headunit, 2 sony xplods in the doors, 2 sony xplods in the deck, 2 12's in the trunk and my amp, and all wired up and no power issues and it THUMPS but still sounds good

pictures coming tomorrow i still have some cleaning up i want to do, he mounted the amp on the back of the box so i can just let the seat down to mess with the amp, it's easy to get to but also hidden

[ruffriderGA]

Pictures of my audio situation:

the trunk is still a little sloppy:


my amp is mounted to the box, so I can flip down the seat and have easy access to the gains/wires/ect. It also keeps the wires hidden real well.


My head-unit:

The sony xplods are in the stock locations, under the stock speaker covers..