I'm running a box with 3 10" MTX thunder 8000 subs in the back powerd by the MTX 81000 mono block amp. It's birth sheet says it put out about 1300w RMS @ 2ohms...and my sub box is setup at 1.8ohms. I also have a 4 channel MTX6304 amp powering the speakers. I had trouble starting the car last night with the radio on right after it stalled on me, so after i turned the radio off, it started, but idled really really rough for about a min before it smoothed out. I've always had subs and stuff...but I didn't put in the mono block and new subs until last weekend. So I plan on buying a capacitor first then in a few weeks I'll probably get the optima yellow-top battery. However, will that be sufficent to fix the problem? I ran the system for about a week before i had any problems. Do you guys think i'll have to get a new alternator? If I get a cap...would a 1.5 farrad one be enough? Thanks for any help.

 

My advice is to definitely NOT get the capacitor just yet. IMO, the only real reason to get a capacitor is if you don't like your headlights dimming when the bass hits. It's just not worth the $$ IMO. Get the Optima Yellow Top first. Your battery is low on juice, but because it smooths out after your car being run for a little while, your alternator shouldn't be a problem. I've run an Orion HCCA (1000 watts rms) and Rockford 600.4 (650 watts rms) together off of an 80 amp alternator (smaller than the camaro's) with no capacitor for 2 years straight. I've had ZERO problems with not being able to start my car. You have to be playing the stereo for a very long time, with the car off, for the battery to die.

 

just to make sure...I checked the optima battery website and they have the yellow top D34/78 battery listed as the one for camaros. It also said I would need something on hte bottom to raise it up higher or something and for most GM applications the terminal puck (i think it was called..). Is it correct?

 

Uhm, I would defenetly look into the alternator, you only have about 30 amps of overhead on a stocker, and that's if you're lucky...

I'm running a 200A that I got off ebay with no issues after 3 years of useage.

Oh, and I'm running about 2kWrms outta my system, it's fused @ 200A. I'm also running 2 Farads worth of caps, which helps a little with the headlight dimming.

The yellow tops are a good investment if you like running the stereo with the car turned off, otherwise it's just another band-aid for needing a larger alternator. But if you go that route, make it a second battery, mounted in the rear, and be sure to run a battery isolator, and some large (2Ga or larger) cable from the front to the rear.

 

97FormulaWS-6 <~~~ What he said!

Caps are only good if the current demands placed on your charging system are only slightly higher than what your charging system can deliver. In this case a cap can help. If the current demands are too high for the cap to help it will end up making matters worse than they were because the cap is now adding even more load to the charging system.

Optima batteries may be good batteries but they are over hyped BIG time. The battery doesn't even provide current to the car when the engine is running. The charging system provides ALL the juice when the engine is on.