In my 1994 F150, I am going to be installing 3 Kicker 08S15L54's, each run by an 11ZX7501. I'll also have one Pioneer GM D9500F powering four five way speakers. What battery or batteries would I look for to power these amps at a total of about 2500 watts RMS and 4900 watts peak? I have a 130 amp alternator from my current sound system but I'm sure I'll also need to upgrade that as well. Thanks in advance for any responses.

 

The battery is the least of your problems. Any battery you get should do just fine.
Get one above the specs for the truck. more cca's. With that power you need to worry about the wiring and design of that wiring. Thick wire and distrubution block and the like.
Make sure your ground spots are strong. Prolly going to need a cap for your system.

 

Yea don't get a cap, they're completely worthless unless you like that show factor. Definitely up the alternator and do the big 3 upgrade and use all 1/0 wire or possibly even 2/0 when you do the big 3 for the extra current that will be going through it. I'd also pick up one of those 20 dollar stinger volt meters to monitor where your voltage is at, if you see it starting to drop a lot all the time from the bass then you'll need to start looking into a second battery.

 

check out this company have used them for years will build you one for your needs.
http://www.highoutputalternator.com/index.htm your going to want some thing in the 200amp + range also I'd add a second battery with a battery oscillator that way if you played your system without the truck running you will always have a charged battery to start your truck.

 

Alright thanks for the help. The battery I have now has 880 CCA but I was thinking I'll probably need more for my new sound system. I am going to do the "big 3" upgrade and get an isolator so I can separate the batteries.

According to this article: http://knowledge.sonicelectronix.com...ower-cell.html
If I got an alternator that outputs 400 amps, it would leave about 260 for the sound system. If this is correct, there is no alternator that I can find that can output so many amps.

 

Realistically you won't find an alternator that outputs any higher than true 300A because of operating temperature and RPM range. 250A should do fine. Batteries really won't do much unless you're running your system with the engine off, in which case you'd want a couple of deep cycle batteries. But you would certainly be best getting an isolated battery setup if you do decide to go with two batteries, have a battery dedicated towards keeping the truck running, that or get yourself a jump pack for when your batteries die. Def do a big 3 upgrade, and I wouldn't suggest any smaller than 2/0 wire and fuse it for 300A. Mathematically your amps (with their given RMS rating at their lowest handling loads at 12V) put out 212.5A but since no amplifier is 100% efficient and you are running a Class A or AB amp, your alternator and/or battery(ies)will be putting out over 250A, and that's if you're running full RMS power of the amplifiers (which is unlikely to happen because music varies in volume, frequency, thus current draw). With your setup, play it safe. You've spent a nice penny on your system, don't be cheap and spend money on the good wiring, connectors, battery(ies), and especially alternator. And like pizzaman711 said, don't bother with a capacitor. Those are just a draw on your electrical system and since they're not 100% efficient, they don't help your electrical system at all.

 

Would I be able to have two batteries without connecting them and have one alternator for each? That way I wouldn't have to get an isolator and all the wiring and fuses for connecting the batteries. I'd be able to keep my almost brand new 130 amp alternator for the first battery and have a new 200 or 220 amp alternator for the second battery.

 

I wouldn't mix and match alt's like that, not sure if it'll cause a problem or not but it's not good practice. And doing it that way means your looking at buying another alt, and a custom bracket to mount two. In the end it'd probably just be cheaper to get a 250 amp one, or somewhere around there. And you could still sell that 130 amp one too. But I wouldn't even mess with the idea of a second battery until you have it all installed. Then you'll actually be able to see where you need to go from there. You'll be able to tell if when the bass hit's your lights dim, or if you have a battery meter on your dash and it actually works you can watch that too. With all those amps though your going to need to do at least 2 runs of 1/0 to the back or a single run of 2/0 or bigger to the back to be able to distribute the power to them. On a side note, if you can don't ground to sheet metal or anything that's just kinda tack welded in place. The best place would be to ground to the frame because it has the most direct path back to the battery, but remember you don't want your ground wires more than around 20" long either.

 

pizzaman711, yet again, it on key. Don't let the battery be the biggest concern unless you're intending on running your system with the vehicle off most of the time. Really worry about the alternator. You can run two alternators, one to one battery and the other alternator to the other battery, but you'd want to isolate the sound system's electrical system which would be a pain in the @$$ to do. Your best bet is to go with just a single 250A alternator. If you notice your lights dimming, that would mean you are lacking in current, which would happen mainly when you're at idle and loud volume. A second battery won't fix that, since batteries aren't regenerative but an alternator is.

Ultimately my advice is to go for a 250A alternator. If you're concerned about changing out your stock 130A then you might want to downgrade your equipment. You can achieve lots of bass by designing a proper enclosure while still running a modest amount of power. But if you're set on what you have, then the sound you're looking to achieve will require quite a bit of electrical upgrading.

 

The 130 amp alternator was actually not stock in my truck. I think my truck had a 75 or 85 stock but I upgraded it to a 3G 130 amp. I do plan on using my sound system a lot with my truck off. So if I use a larger battery in the back for my sound system, what isolator and fuses would I need between the batteries? Correct me if I'm wrong but I should connect the two batteries together with 2/0 gauge wire and an isolator between them, the "Big 3" upgrade for my alternator with 2/0 gauge wire, and get a 250 amp or bigger alternator.

 

That's how I'd do it, and make sure you put a fuse between the batteries as well. Use 2/0 wire through all the high current areas, alternator to battery(ies), battery to battery positive, battery to battery ground (if you intend on grounding them together), battery to chassis, chassis to engine block, battery to distribution block, again anywhere where a high current will flow. You're always better off being safe then sorry, never hurts to use really big wire.

 

http://www.kinetikpower.com/2009/default.asp

 

Alright thanks for the help. Would 250 amp fuses be enough between the batteries? I was going to get either a Kinetic power cell battery or a Stinger SPP1500D so suggestions would be appreciated about that. I was leaning more towards the Stinger.

 

I perfer the kinetic

 

I like them both, I'm actually using Optima yellow right now. Personally speaking, whichever one you can get the better deal on will be better. But when you fuse your wires to your batteries, go with 300A. Always remember that when you fuse your wires, you use the fuse rating for the maximum current your wires can handle, your amplifiers already have internal rotection either via fuses or circuit breaker.