Battery?

i have a stock tacoma (V6) battery right now and i put a dry cell stinger spv44 battery in the cab to run my memphis 12" M3 subwoofer and 500D amp.  the reason why i got the battery in the first place was because whenever my subwoofer would hit my speakers would crack and fade out right when the sub hit.  so the car audio guys said it was a power draw issue which made me get the battery.  so it still does it after i got the battery which is really bugging me.  the car audio guys said i might need a new bigger alternator to power up both batteries.  but what i was thinking is wouldnt it be better if i just took out my stock battery and put my new dry cell stinger battery in its place?  because its suppose to keep a charge better or something like that so maybe it would be just what i needed becasue it would be delivering more power to my subwoofer and sound system plus my alternator would be able to charge up one battery better than two?  i dont know alot about this electrical stuff so could someone plz help me out??

thanks

 -James

Do you have a capaciter? Your battery should only matter when your car is turned off the alternator runs everything when its running. You might need to upgrade your alternator or try a capaciter if you dont have one. If you know how to install it yourself i would go ahead and get a better alernator that way if you want to add anything else later you wont need to buy a better capaciter and it'll save you some money in the long run. If your budget is tight go ahead and try a capaciter it should help.

Sounds like the car audio guys are just trying to sell you stuff. 

First off, that's only a 500W amp - I am surprised you had problems with it at all, but you should have been able to use a 0.5-Farad or 1.0-Farad capacitor to take care of it.

Dual batteries should have helped, but what is recommended is to run the dual batteries off an isolator, so the second battery only powers the stereo and the first runs everything else.   However, having both connected should work fine except that you run the risk of draining both batteries and not being able to start the truck.

Doubtful a bigger alternator is needed, but - if you play the stereo with the truck not running, does it still happen?  If so, you are having the problem without the alternator in the system, and it is not just a voltage drop from the alternator not being able to keep up.  Also, try turning the stereo off for an hour or so and driving around (so the alternator can charge the batteries) and then see if you still notice the problem (both with the truck running and off).

Finally, if the Stinger and the stock battery together don't have enough juice to run the amp, I don't see how the Stinger by itself is going to be able to.

Hope This Helps!!!! 

How old is the truck?  Your alternator may be on its last legs.  I would get your alternator tested at a reputable shop before I went any further with this.   V6 engines don't usually come with high output alternators unless they are part of a package, but pretty much any charging system in good shape should handle a 500 watt amp.

By the way, the idea that you don't need a good battery when the vehicle is running because the alternator is handling everything is incorrect.  The battery acts as a reservoir that many of your systems draw from as needed while the vehicle is running.  True, the alternator should be able to handle supplying the bulk of the demand while driving, but there are always times when it needs help.  It then tops off the battery during the periods when demand is less.

carolinasp3:

How old is the truck?  Your alternator may be on its last legs.  I would get your alternator tested at a reputable shop before I went any further with this.

Agreed. 

By the way, the idea that you don't need a good battery when the vehicle is running because the alternator is handling everything is incorrect.  The battery acts as a reservoir that many of your systems draw from as needed while the vehicle is running.  True, the alternator should be able to handle supplying the bulk of the demand while driving, but there are always times when it needs help.  It then tops off the battery during the periods when demand is less.

Agreed the battery needs to be part of the system as well, and a dying battery can put a strain on the alternator as well.

Where I was going is as follows:  There are now two batteries in the truck, presumably at least one of them is still good.  If the system has problems with the engine running and not with the engine off, perhaps the alternator is dropping from 13.8 Volts down to 12.6, where without the alternator it is able to maintain 12.6 and avoid the problems.

I could be wrong about this, though. 

Get the alternator checked...If that's fine then a big 3 upgrade may be in order.

 

 

http://www.sounddomain.com/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/312025/page/1#Post312025

Tiger, my comment was directed to spddemon's statement that the battery does not matter while the vehicle is running.

Np - spddemon replied while I was typing my initial reply and I didn't even see it until after I replied to your reply - if that doesn't confuse everyone!

so im really confused wat to do, my truck is a 2000 tacoma.  im kind of afraid of getting a fire in my cab cuz i got the stinger battery right behind my seat.  so im wondering if i just replaced my stock battery with the stinger one, if that would help things??  idk i need more info lol thanks guys

James0985432895243:

so im wondering if i just replaced my stock battery with the stinger one, if that would help things??

That shouldn't help anything, but with the system you have described you shouldn't need dual batteries anyway.  The one thing that might do is that if you stock battery had a dead cell that was pulling the alternator down, that would eliminate that problem, but you'd really have just gotten lucky.  Try doing that and if it doesn't fix the problem, get the alternator checked like we recommended previously.