Will the civic actually handle all the power for the two amps and subs ?!

 

I have a 2008 EX-L sedan and I have two 1800.1 amps hooked up without the big 3 or power cap at the moment with no issues. I am planning to do both soon though.

 

Haven't had problem yet, but I do have two 1 Farad caps hooked to my 1001.2 clarion amp, just had my second service the other day too they said charging system is mint so its handling it just fine. I'll let you know when I upgrade some stuff this summer, I'm thinkin of goin retarted lol.

 

^^^

You lucky thing =\ ...

i used to have 1200watt sub and 760 amp from pioneer ..

they caused problems in the car electricity and honda made me return it all stock or they void my warranty ..

what the hell =\

 

first thing I did was "will this void my warranty" speech to the warranty guy, and as long as I don't hack the actual wires in the powering sytsem themselves Its good. If I didn't have the caps my car would probably shut off, the big one at full power will draw almost 80 amps lol, so without the caps it would overun the alternator. I will always recommend Caps with any amp no matter how big or small, they recommend 1 Farrad per 1000w, but more the better is the way I go, I don't have one on my small amp but when I do an overhaul I probably will ad a few. When I hit hard I dim a bit, so I could actually use another cap probably but its almost unnoticable.

 

If I'm running that much power I like to have a 2nd battery.

 

how u did that amp stand did you use any screws?? to mount that wood or what ever on the sides

 

If i were you I would put a Auto audio circuit breaker on the main line you are running to the back near the battery connection, This will add an extra level of saftey to the system and also act an a cut off poinbt if you need to be jump started to you dont accidently fry anything (and also run a 2nd battery-like an optima yellow top hidden behind one of the amps in the trunk is realy good if you are running that large of a line back there anyway).

 

the amp stand is mdf screws and carpet lol, a second battery doesn't usually help that much unless you upgrade your alternator, or install second alternator, your better off buying a few more caps, due to the fact that the alt will have to charge two batteries causing more draw on itself. As for a circuit breaker, there is a fuse block less than 12 inches away from battery, I just didn't put pics in cause hopefully everyone knows to use a fuse. besides it was just the running of the cable that I was trying to show.

 

Well..... you DONT need a 2nd alternator for a 2nd battery, I used to have bass comp set up and ran a 2nd battery and NEVER had to add a second alternator for it, now if i had more then just the second battery then i would have to add one or more. BUT that also depends on your current alternators output and you can always put a better output alternator in instead of adding a second one. BUT its much better then just using caps alone. I had an issue with killing my main battery with caps alone in my old vehicle, but with a second battery installed i never had an issue and the bass was alot cleaner. But then again, if you are not running that much power then its no big deal. I was pushing 1600 watts out of one amp (in mono) and 800x4 in the other amp.

 

i still think its funny that everyone is running 0 gauge wire and not even using enough power through there system to warrant 0 gauge wire. I ran a 2nd battery on my old bass comp truck with 2000 watts pushing 2 18's and a 400X4 amp and i didnt even have to run 0 gauge wire. I was running 2 gauge to the 2nd batt and 4 gauge wire to the amps, and this was dong by the shop who owned/designed the old stroker van that one the loudest vehicle for 2 straight years (infact my 2nd battery was out of that van). I'm not saying that you sould not do it, I'm just saying its a little overkill unless you are setting up high power audio comp systems.

no, the system was designed by me and a spon in Ral who held the loudest vechicle in the world status for 3 years, Creative Acustics, Stroker Van. I was running 1-bd1000 Rockford Fostage amp with the dual VC speakers set up as a 1 ohm load), a Rockford fostage 400a4, all these went into a fuse box mounted on the amp wall (front part of the sub enclosure, but not part of the actual sub box), also into the sub box was a 600watt dc/ac converter to run playstation (also ran my dj euiptment off of it), off this cam a 2gauge wire to the 2nd batt (optima yellow top) concealed in the base of the wall. The 2nd batt got power from a 2gauge wire running from the first battery/altenator with a 40amp circuit breaker on it (originally used a 40 amp fuse, but the fuse kept breaking (like cracking in half) due to vibrations. stock alt. and normal batt under the hood. My mids/highs were MB Quarz componant speakers (before they got bought out) and my head unit was a kenwood Video touchscreen (before they started putting dvd players in them) will TV reciever. this was in a 97 dodge dakota extended cab, with the full backseat removed and replaced with the subs and amp, the 2 18" dual VC rockford subs pointed straight up with a comp. tuned box, pushing 145.9bd of bass to the front windshield, i could have gotten more db by adding a 2nd bd1000 to the system with a 2 ohm load on each b/c it was designed to do this if we wanted without having to re-do too much of the set up (if you saw it you would know what im talking about), but i didnt feel like re-enforcing my windows, also if i would have taken the head liner out i would have gotten a few more db's but at the same time, i wanted it to look somewhat good inside. this was back in 1999 or so ( give or take a year or so)

As for what I know about running power things in vehicles, I worked for a Communication shop for a long while, installing police lighting and 2way radios (with some of the larger ones pulling ALOT more power then any audio system you will put in a civic, think about a fire dept moble command truck). We didnt even keep 0gauge wire in the shop b/c it was never really needed, Exp when you can run 2 smaller power wires for much cheeper then running 0gauge. But then again, what Do I know, i just studies lighting and sound system design for theatres in college (wich those amps draw even more power than any veichle can handle, i know, diff type of thing, but i still have to design the power source for these things as well when i design a system). Plus I have been install car audio since 1995, and police lighting and 2 way radios since 2000. Plus, did i say I'm a FCC licends radio operator, witch means i had to take many test on electrical systems (FCC id KF4ZZE)

is it me, or does the story change a little???
dude, ill tell u what
anyone can go to college a breeze through, and yes most people should never put a second battery in their car... in fact most that win comps have only 1 battery
BUT they do have upgraded wires and alternators
160.1 decibels is pretty loud but i have personally seen a few more than that lol

what a person NEEDS in their new civic IS an upgraded alternator, because its never gonna handle another 40-80 amps when it can only produce enough amps for the current needs of the car (which in our case is about 120 amps)
also on TOP of that, if your car has a 90 amp alternator as does my gfs, and you add an 80 amp system, think about the wear and tear to an alternator which is always FULLY taxed???
our civic comes with a 120 amp alternator
anyone putting a medium end system in can expect at least 80 amps of draw from their new system. (again depending on what items are being used)
if your car is putting out 120 to start with, u can almost expect it to be using 3/4s of that ALREADY!!!!

and the alternator puts out at around 14.4 on most vehicles (14.6 on mine)
and your battery stores at 12 volts.... so do the math and ull see that dipping down into your battery means extra strain for your WHOLE system it just CANT handle.

unless your putting in 1 150 RMS sub and keeping stock speakers and headunit, expect there to be strain to a system at full blast.... as for me i drive around with the system loud because thats how i like my music... ill be deaf by the time im 30 but thats my choice

also i never ASKED for your credentials, i just asked you to not give advice when u cant get you "what ive done" story straight.....

:yeahthat:

people WILL most likely need 4 gauge wire, some 1/0 2 gauge is perfect for most

 

WHAT IS A CAPACITOR GOOD FOR?

1. Audio Jewelry- impress chicks with large cylindrical shiny thingy
2. Extra weight in winter time
3. A very POOR... BUT expensive distribution block
4. A projectile in the event of a crash
5. Rolling pin--for cooking purposes
6. A neat thing to tell your friend, "..Hey man, lick the top of this..


WHY?? READ:


WHY DO PEOPLE BUY CAPACITORS?

The number 1 reason would have to be because their lights dim when their
system is playing HARD. In car audio, we are told that a capacitor is
designed to prevent the voltage drop associated with your lights dimming.
The number2 reason is that it is rumored to 'improve' sound quality or
'stiffen' the power supply/source.

WHY DO MY LIGHTS DIM?

Headlights brightness is in direct proportion to the source voltage. For
instance, if your car is running, system voltage is ~12.5 -14.4 VOLTS. Your
lights will be much brighter than when your car is turned off--where battery
voltage is ~12V. Most car alternators put out between 75 to 120 amps of
current. When this current draw threshold of the charging system is
exceeded, system voltage will drop as power demands are now shared by the
alternator and the storage devices (battery & cap). We are using battery
reserves beyond this point until the demand lessens

When playing your system really hard. Your lights dim because your
alternator can't keep up it's charging voltage (around 13.5V) and therefore,
demand exceeds output. When this happens, your electronic devices are
dipping into the power storage of the battery. Since the battery stores
power at ~ 12-12.5V, there is a 1.3 to 1.8V drop in voltage available. This
in turn is why your lights dim down.

HOW MUCH POWER DOES A CAPACITOR STORE?

1 Farad = 100 joules or 100W/second
850cca battery = ~2,200,000 farads

For storage purposes, you'd need ~2,200 1 Farad capacitors to equal the energy of your battery.

Due to its impedence (ESR & ESL), a cap's energy is only 50% available. What's worse, is that in order for a 1 Farad cap to discharge, first the alternator output must have maxed out, and the voltage must have dropped around 1.5 volts. But I thought a cap was supposed to prevent that (voltage drop)!!!!!????? Yep, you got the point.


IF A BATTERY = 2,200 CAPS, THEN WHY BUY A (PUNY) CAP?

My question exactly. Marketing is the reason why people buy caps. In many cases, upgrading wiring will help your system get the maximum transfer of current. Once that has been reached, adding a capacitor may have a minor effect on your system. 50W over the course of a second is not a lot of power considering an amplifier may draw 2000W to put out 1400 watts. Let's look at the situation from a resources standpoint.

These were copied from other forum..

 

if i could rep, i would rep you, thank you so much for the install! i know there is another one out there, but your location for the power cable seems more accessible to drill.

 

Didn't have to drill at all just cut slit in rubber grommet.

 

Hey thanks man i wanted to run mine on the driver side currently its on the passenger

 

I drilled a hole through my firewall. I wish I could've saw this post beforehand I used another guy's post to run my power cable from engine bay to trunk =(. I couldn't get a grommet to coat the hole because our cars have double firewall one inside the interior and another going through the engine bay. So drilling through this took some extra muscle LOL. Is it safe to have no grommet there? Since I don't want to remove any wires and the time it took me to pull that wire from the very bottom where I drilled a hole can I just improvise and use something like duck tape to coat the hole? What kind of issues can I run into since there is no coating around the hole?

 

no, its not safe to not have a grommet b/c the sharp edge of the hole will wear the coating off the wire and cause it to short out, or even cause a fire. the grommet keeps this from happening b/c it keeps the sharp edge from cutting into the wire coating. If you cant find a grommet to fit, find you local communications shop (like places that sells $ installs 2 way commercial radios, police radio's and lights and stuff) and talk to the install manager or the guys in the shop, they will normally have a grommet that will fit (i know I used to work at one, they should have like 10-20 diff types of grommets to fit all size holes and all thickness of firewalls)

 

hmm thanks..yeah it's pretty dangerous I can see that. I'm gonna try to do a custom coating then so my wire doesn't get bruised up.

 

I changed my mind I'll run the wire like this guy did through that rubber grommet. What sucks is now I have 2 holes there where my passengers footwell is but I will try to wrap that up with duck tape and that should do the trick.

 

Alright! I was able to fit the grommet that came with my wiring kit and wrapped the power cable going through the engine bay with wire looms. From there I taped them with electrical tape and used zip ties. Now it makes my wiring look like factory =) It's so cool how a simple protection like wire looms makes a cleaner install. As for the rest in the interior I coated the BIG hole with duct tape and even wrapped the power cable with duct tape for superior protection.

Now I can rest assured everything won't short circuit or catch on fire. Thanks for the help.

 

MAN!!!!
I wish I knew this sooner. I drilled through the frame. broke 4 drill bits. had to make the hole the size of a quarter to run my 0 guage

 

0 guage requires a BIG drill bit LOL. how did you break your drill bits? Maybe your drill bits are not correctly mounted on your power drill. Go buy titanium drill bits they are the strongest available. May cost a little more but well worth it =)

 

i still think its funny that everyone is running 0 gauge wire and not even using enough power through there system to warrant 0 gauge wire. I ran a 2nd battery on my old bass comp truck with 2000 watts pushing 2 18's and a 400X4 amp and i didnt even have to run 0 gauge wire. I was running 2 gauge to the 2nd batt and 4 gauge wire to the amps, and this was dong by the shop who owned/designed the old stroker van that one the loudest vehicle for 2 straight years (infact my 2nd battery was out of that van). I'm not saying that you sould not do it, I'm just saying its a little overkill unless you are setting up high power audio comp systems.

 

This is the way I ran my 4ga wire, A 0/1 should be able to do the same except where I went through the plastic in the engine compartment, you might have to drill,

Step 1,

Open engine compartment and remove side trim on the driverside.

Step 2

Under the driverside dash on the side of the car is a plug, pull out the plug and run your wire through it into the sealed fender of your car, push as much wire through as you can untill you can reach it from the engine compartment, you may need a hanger or grab tool to get the wire. Make sure you cut a hole in the plug and run the wire through it (use a grommet if your wiring kit had one) then replace the plug, nothing worse than a draft.

Step 3

Remove clip over your trunk lock, and remove the panels, be carful of the center pillar, inside it is the airbag sensor(not that you could set it off but if you damage it it might not work when you want it) and remove your rear panels, now you can either pull the seat out or just push the wire through the space into the trunk.

there is a space to run the wire when this is removed,

And voila Power to the trunk, with no drilling, or altering of any metal or material in your car except the plug.

This is what you get after all the work lol.

I hope this helps, if any of the pics need to be better just ask I'll go out and take some more with panels off etc.

I hope this post isn't too long. sorry if it is

I had this posted Before and people keep askin about it so I figured I'd start a new thread with just this post, If the moderators want to add it to the DIY go to it:wave:

I gotta say man that is one clean a$s install bro! If you didn't know our stock premium radios are made by Clarion I just saw the sticker yesterday haha. I don't have a stock radio on anymore I upgraded to a Pioneer AVH-4000, but yeah your subs match up with the head unit =)

 

I got mine through after putting muscle once or twice. Don't be afraid to push the drill bit because the car has dual firewalls one in the interior one in the engine bay. It will also start smoking due to the friction, but don't be afraid of that haha.

 

ohhh i know lol. i had a friend on the other side sqirting water as i drilled. there was alot of sparks when i did it lol

 

Oh no I didn't see sparks when I did it hmm interesting haha.

 

lol i was scared the firewall was going to catch on fire lol

 

Rest assured it will never do that. Just basic science right there when metal to metal make contact is such a big force that sparks are produced. As long as you got your system running and everything is good thats all that counts.