I have an 05 altima, I just bought a system for my car, i have a 15 in sub (i don't know the watts), a 10in sub (1600w), and a two channel amp (800w/300w).
Now the other night every time the bass hit, my lights would dim, so I changed songs to something less bass-y. The lights were fine. Within 3 days of having my system put in, my battery had to be jumped because it drained. the wire is connected from the amp to the battery (I know that shouldn't be the way it should be installed)
How can I make it so that the system doesn't drain my battery? What are capacitors and are they necessary? Please explain to me like I am a 5 year old because I have no idea how to read car-audio lingo.
What is the best way to play music without draining the battery? I listen to mostly rock, but when I listen to rap that is when the subs are being used. What is the most affordable route I can take on this situation?How to keep amp from draining car battery for 05 altima?Since you say you have the wire connected from the amp to the battery, I take it your amp is always on even when the car is off. On your amp there should be a spot for a %26quot;remote wire%26quot; this wire should be connected to a 12 volt source in your car that turns off when the car does. The most common 12 volt source to connect to is the power wire for your radio. If you take the radio out, there should be a red wire (almost always red). Splice this wire and connect the remote wire to it as well.
If your wiring is already set up so the amp turns off when the car does, check your power wire from the battery to the amp and make sure there isn't any bare wire touching metal. If there is, that would drain the battery.
For your lights, there isn't a true way to prevent them from dimming but a capacitor will help.
A capacitor is designed to %26quot;stiffen%26quot; the voltage coming from the battery. So you don't lose power. Every time the sub pounds is pulls power pretty hard.
The capacitor stores power to allow the pull from the sub to happen without losing voltage.
After reading Rick G's comment, I had to edit mine and say he isn't completely wrong those are options but highly unnecessary for your system.
And I completely disagree with a capacitor being a waste of money. It does not put more strain on the alternator at all. It puts no more strain on the alternator than just the battery alone. All that happens is power goes to the battery which then goes to the capacitor. The capacitor does NOT pull power from the battery. It's basically a reserve of power with the capability of having larger amounts of power being pulled.
Capacitors will save your alternator in the long run. With your system I think you would be fine with just a 1 or 2 farad capacitor. No need for me to explain what that means but lets just say it's enough for the amount of power your running.
A Capacitor won't help the drain of your battery if your amp is always on. Make sure you wire it up to turn off when the car does.
Whoever's giving the thumbs down are being a little arrogantHow to keep amp from draining car battery for 05 altima?do what joe said. a more powerful battery would help with your lights dimming. also, upgrade your ground wires.How to keep amp from draining car battery for 05 altima?listen i am not going to bash the other answers, but i must say i completely disagree. first in my opinion, capacitors are a waiste of money, and so would be a second battery. why because they get their power for charging from the same place your amp does, the alternator. adding more things to charge will only be harder on your alternator and actually might make things worse.
The obvious fix is a high output alternator but they are costly and might not be what you want to do. there are a couple less expensive options that may work for you.
1: do the big three upgrade. this is a addition of 3 wires that help the alternator work more efficiently...
2. there are custom pulleys that can replace the factory ones on your alternator. think of it as changing gears on a bike. i makes the alternator work a bit harder, creating a bit more output, but be aware this will shorten the life of the alternator. But if you need a new one for the stereo anyway your really not loosing anything...
hope that helps.How to keep amp from draining car battery for 05 altima?i had the same problem in my 07 impala, i would put the volume up and the car lights dimmed a lot so wat i had to do was put another battery in the trunk for just the amp because the battery in the car cant handle giving power to the car and the amp, the amp requires a lot of power which the car battery doesnt have so it causes the lights to dim.a capacitor is supposed to help the amp get more power and take less power from the battery but it rlly doesnt help so i would recommend to put another battery in tha trunk for just tha amp, you could go to any car audio shop and tell them that you want a seperate battery for just your amp and they could help you and tell you what you need and how much it will cost
