What battery to go with if running 400w amp

[sy605]

Re: What battery to go with if running 400w amp

I owned several optima batteries, red or yellow, garbage, expensive & the worst batterry i ever own

I've never had a problem with them. Any battery will suck a@@ if you just leave your truck on jackstands or just drive it 2 times a year. I've had 3 red tops and multiple yellow tops. Never had a problem. Ever.

I just put a yellow top D51R battery in my Sy. No problems.

 

[MadMike]

Re: What battery to go with if running 400w amp

Do you have a constant draw on the batteries when its sitting off? I'd guess yes. Does your amp shut off when the truck is off?

If you have a draw beyond anything normal, fix it, but you might get it straightened out with a battery tender.

Keep the truck inside. Dont let it get all sun faded....

I would just get 'normal' battery. I've heard nothing good about Optimo's as far as longevity.

 

[strada]

Re: What battery to go with if running 400w amp

i used the optima batteries not just on my syclone, on my rest of the cars, i don't see why spend that much money for a battery, that does the same as the regular batteries. junk junk junk

 

[Mephisto]

Re: What battery to go with if running 400w amp

Do you have a constant draw on the batteries when its sitting off? I'd guess yes. Does your amp shut off when the truck is off?

If you have a draw beyond anything normal, fix it, but you might get it straightened out with a battery tender.

Keep the truck inside. Dont let it get all sun faded....

I would just get 'normal' battery. I've heard nothing good about Optimo's as far as longevity.

The amp shuts off when the radio shuts off, but if i'm leaving the truck outside the alarm will be on which will have a lil bit of a drain.

I have a nice California Car Cover for it... so no fading issues.

I'll swing by the dealer on my lunch break and see what they're getting for the "professional" series battery with the 7 year warranty.

 

[Richie Rich]

I would run a capacitor with any stereo cheap and keeps any headlights dimming or any draw on electrical system. I have a 20 farad in my Buick. With a good cap you also create great solid voltage for the amps that will help the life of the amps.

 

[0966Sy]

Re: What battery to go with if running 400w amp

I'm running a Delco battery from a 2011 Corvette, smaller than a stock, enought cranking amps, works for me.

Do you have a part number for this battery? I'd like to get the deminsions

 

[Mephisto]

Re: What battery to go with if running 400w amp

I just picked up a P75 Delco at the GMC dealer for $140+tax. 7 year pro rated warranty, 30 month free replacement works for me. The parts guy got all excited when I told him the battery was for a Typhoon haha. "do you have the truck here?!?!? I love those things!" haha.

This battery is a little bit smaller than the DieHard too so I should have enough room around the CAI hose. :tup:

 

[NJSERRANO]

Re: What battery to go with if running 400w amp

I just got my 3rd Optima Red Top today, warranty replacement. I chalked it up to an alarm, not starting it often, no battery tender, etc...

I was reading the instructions pamphlet, and came across something interesting. under the "custom application" heading, it warns about protecting the battery from excessive heat sources such as tubochargers.

I think that these Optimas are very sensitive to heat, resulting in premature failure. This heat sensitivity is compounded by our turbos sitting 3 inches from them.

Is anybody running an Optima with success in a "relocation" kit?

 

[midnightbluS10]

Re: What battery to go with if running 400w amp

I'll commence with a beat down on this one hahaha... I have an EverStart in my DD (930pm battery died, no other option to get home, walmart only place open HAD to go there), I have to go in and swap out the battery almost every year. I can't even sit in my car on my lunch break with the radio on for 30min before the battery is dead. The only upside is the lackies at Wal-Mart never give me shit and just swap out the battery. I don't want to have to deal with the same shit on 2 cars.


I think we've barely had an inch of rain all year here... rust not an issue in SoCal :tup:

I stopped off at Sears again (but forgot my old battery D'oh!), talked to a different guy there about the batteries and he said he drag races an old Falcon and uses the Platinum with no problems. I've never really had any issues getting a battery replaced there in the past and the Die Hard has a 4 year warranty, so I might just go that route.

i saw those solar chargers on Summit, I'll probably grab one of those too, so I don't have to have an extension cable trailing out of the garage and risk the gardeners taking a weed wacker to it like they did our christmas lights.

Then you need to start checking the specs and get one with a higher rated reserve capacity. Looking at the specs will help you make a better, informed decision. Here's AC Delco's, for example:

http://www.acdelcotechconnect.com/pdf/tas_batt_spe_chart.pdf

Reserve Capacity and size are the two biggest I'd look at. Then CCA and cranking amps. You don't need something with 1200CCA just because you've got an amp. I had a Crunch amp bridged to 1 ohm that never killed the battery in my 87 S10 and it was a pep boys special, IIRC. I may have replaced the battery in that truck one time the entire time I had it. Look around. compare specs. You'll be suprised at hoe much difference there is from one co to the next. Sears 75 series battery may be much higher rated than WalMart's 75 series battery. On the flip side, it could be lower, too.

edit: looks like the Die Hard standard 75 series is MUCH better than the standard 75 series Delco:

http://www.sears.com/diehard-gold-a...p-02833075000P?prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2

r. Rated for performance in low temperatures, this battery offers up to 850 CCA (cold cranking amps) of battery power and up to 165 minutes of RC (reserve capacity) for flawless car starting even on the coldest winter days.

The Delco offers 650 CCA/ 90 RC.

Wow. That's quite a difference.

 

[92 Ty 1173]

Re: What battery to go with if running 400w amp

Wow, reading about all these battery dihlemas makes me happy I live 1/2 hour from Deka battery. They have a factory outlet in which you can get 1st and 2nd batteries. 2nds are only $40. You can also get wire, chargers, terminals, almost anything electrical for auto/industrial. Place is great. So for anyone within a reasonable distance of Topton, Pa head there for your next battery purchase. You can call the factory store for a $ and availability before you head out. Plus, if you have a surplus of junk batteries they pay $$ for them.

 

[MRKING]

Re: What battery to go with if running 400w amp

Is anybody running an Optima with success in a "relocation" kit?

I went through a couple redtops , a blue , then a yellow , before switching back to whatever autozone had on special . Each were with the ATR relocation kit. I hated having to screw with that installation over and over again , especially on my lowered truck :tdown:
I would stay away from the new optima's , they are inferior to the old design .

 

[Captain Morgan]

Re: What battery to go with if running 400w amp

so I did a search and among the hundreds of threads about battery relocation, all I learned was that Optimas suck now. Captain Morgan in all his glory tried to do an ultimate battery thread, which I read through and not a single person who responded was using an amp for their radio.

I read a bunch of recommendations for Odyssey and Braille... but I don't think anyone is running a stereo amp with those either.

The POS DieHard that I had in my Ty is dead and the guy at Sears wants to prorate me and get me to buy some DieHard platinum (err some precious metal that sounds cool) for $220. I'd rather not drop $220 on a DieHard if I can get something better. However, I do like that Sears is 3 miles down the road and if I have a problem I can get it taken care of same day versus a mail order battery and getting service god knows where.

My Ty isn't a daily driver so it'll be sitting a lot. To make matters worse, my roommate just bought a jet ski (that he'll probably use once a year) which means my Ty is getting the boot out of the garage to make room for that POS. That being said the alarm will need to be activated which eliminates my option of unplugging the negative terminal when I'm not driving it.

I'm all ears...

400w amp isnt going to care what battery is in your truck. My truck has over 1500watts in it and that isnt anything major either. Any normal battery can handle that just as good as any oversized, deep cycle, $300 battery.

I would personally be more concerned with protecting your alternator. When amp draws its power, a normal battery doesn't discharge fast enough for the demand of the amp. What usually happens is the alternator takes the up the slack and the voltage regulator is taking the shock.

To avoid that from happening, capacitors should be used inline with the amp power wires. I'm sure someone will comment on here how capacitors don't work or don't do anything, so let me get it out of the way now.... you're an idiot.

So anyway, run whatever battery you feel like, install a 1/2 or 1 Farad capacitor near your amp and you should be just fine.

 

[e95 Ty]

Re: What battery to go with if running 400w amp

I just got my 3rd Optima Red Top today, warranty replacement. I chalked it up to an alarm, not starting it often, no battery tender, etc...

I was reading the instructions pamphlet, and came across something interesting. under the "custom application" heading, it warns about protecting the battery from excessive heat sources such as tubochargers.

I think that these Optimas are very sensitive to heat, resulting in premature failure. This heat sensitivity is compounded by our turbos sitting 3 inches from them.

Is anybody running an Optima with success in a "relocation" kit?

As I stated earlier, I have had my Red top going on 3 years. It is relocated in the rear of my Ty. I have had 0 probs with it. No tender, sits for weeks at a time, never had a prob. I do have a batt disconnect switch though that kills the batt so there's no draw on it. I did not cut any corners at all with the batt relocation. 1ga pos and grounds, batt grounded to the frame.

 

[Captain Morgan]

Re: What battery to go with if running 400w amp

My post 2002 Redtop lasted me 1 year, then it start having a hard time starting, then it eventually crapped out. I was using a low amp tender as required when it was in storage, still crapped out.

Meanwhile, my pre-2002 Redtop (which was stolen) lasted me for 2 year, probably would have went longer, someone got a good battery out of my truck.

2002 was right around the year Optima was bought out, clearly by some cheap shit company. My ex g/f had a Yellow Top in her Sonoma that randomly crapped out on her one day, it was only 2 or 3 years old.

I will NEVER waste my time or money on a Optima again. Relocated or not, they suck.

 

[hatrik8]

Re: What battery to go with if running 400w amp

I also had problems with optima red top. I went through two or three of them back around 2005. They weren't worth the headache. I ended up with a normal battery from advanced auto that lasted about 5 or 6 years I think. I just replaced it with an autozone battery because I got a good deal on it. I've been keeping it on a battery tender though.

I'll probably be going with an odyssey battery in the Syclone for the extra room at some point in time.

I have these and no issues with them ever.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dtn-021-0128
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dtn-021-0123

side note: I have an autozone battery in my trailblazer and it died from sitting this winter. I have three batteries that sit in the garage and only two battery tenders, so the trailblazer one died. I got a free replacement at autozone and now keep it on a battery tender as much as I can. I need to pickup a solar tender for the camper for the summer and an extra battery tender for the garage.


Captain Morgan is right about the capacitor. That will help the most. I had a small amp with no capacitor in an old car I had and it killed the alternator, not the battery.

 

[Richie Rich]

So why not run a large farad capacitor for the Amp?

 

[Damian]

Re: What battery to go with if running 400w amp

When you have a deep cycle batter like Optima, you need a charger designed for deep cycle batteries. I have a red top in all 3 of my vehicles with zero issues, but then again I actually drive all 3 of them regularly and have no need for a charger.

My old Eclipse had a red top that last 9 years with no issues.