Car + Audio Questions

[Azure Reaver]

Wasn't sure where to put this, but I have an amp in my car with very high output/voltage. It's starting to cause problems of killing my battery, (so my dad thinks). My cousin and brother did it themselves of course. But my dad mentioned some kind of adaptor to help take some of the energy off the battery?? I just need some help so I can look into it so I can use it. The amps were a gift from my brother and cousin so... I'd like to not have to get rid of it. Any kind of help would be great. Thanks.

Some info on my car if it helps:

White Ford Focus 07 Hatchback
Battery was replaced about a week and a half ago.

If any other info is needed for you to help, let me know.

[Azure Reaver]

Bump~!

[Azure Reaver]

Bump~!

[Tapil]

Do not bump here! The regulars will come and eat you alive! This is a slow moving thread.

Anyways my car is equiped with two 2000 wat amps - the battery does not die!

Now if you have replaced the battery in your car and your battery is about to die again, the 1st thing that pops up in my mind is:

1: Your alternator - this is a belt driven turbine-like thing that recharges your battery after it has started your car. If this thing was too weak for your amp, or if the alternator was going bad then this would be your problem ((nearly any car repair shop can test your alt for you for free and right there on the spot))

2: Rem wire! - When your car is off and you have removed the key's from the ignition, go to the back and look at your amp. Does it turn off or are all the led's still on? This could kill your battery if your REM wire was not hooked up correctly

::Edit::
Do you listen to music with the car off? This will suck the life out of your battery fast.

[Azure Reaver]

Tapil

Do not bump here! The regulars will come and eat you alive! This is a slow moving thread.

Anyways my car is equiped with two 2000 wat amps - the battery does not die!

Now if you have replaced the battery in your car and your battery is about to die again, the 1st thing that pops up in my mind is:

1: Your alternator - this is a belt driven turbine-like thing that recharges your battery after it has started your car. If this thing was too weak for your amp, or if the alternator was going bad then this would be your problem ((nearly any car repair shop can test your alt for you for free and right there on the spot))

2: Rem wire! - When your car is off and you have removed the key's from the ignition, go to the back and look at your amp. Does it turn off or are all the led's still on? This could kill your battery if your REM wire was not hooked up correctly

::Edit::
Do you listen to music with the car off? This will suck the life out of your battery fast.

I actually went to a "Audio Express". The man told me my amp is 1000 watts and that will only kill my car if the amps are on through out a night, about 9 hours I guess. He also said that my amp was receiving the positive energy to turn on, and the negative energy to turn off, so it doesn't remain on.

I did get my Alternator checked, it's fine from what AutoZone says.

RemWires? Never heard of 'em. The guy from Audio Express told me to have my Ground Wires checked out.

Yes I have listened to my amps with the car off.

[Tapil]

Azure Reaver

I actually went to a "Audio Express". The man told me my amp is 1000 watts and that will only kill my car if the amps are on through out a night, about 9 hours I guess. He also said that my amp was receiving the positive energy to turn on, and the negative energy to turn off, so it doesn't remain on.

I did get my Alternator checked, it's fine from what AutoZone says.

RemWires? Never heard of 'em. The guy from Audio Express told me to have my Ground Wires checked out.

Yes I have listened to my amps with the car off.

Remember you are drawing LOADs of power, keep your car on when you are listening to the radio

Rem - Remote wire (most of the time its a thin blue wire) This wire tells the amp to cut on or off when your keys are turned to the "on" position in your car.

If your alternator is fine and this audio store says your amp is hooked up right. the only thing i can guess is there is a short somewhere or you are listening to the radio with the car off alot

You did say you went and double checked to see if your amp was actually off when the car was off right? If your ground has come (weak/lose or undone) it can force your amp to ground through the REM wire and never turn off.

[trezoid]

Better question, what kind of output do you have (subs, speakers?)

If you're playing loud music and you start noticing your headlights dimming in time with the bass hits, it's a sure-fire sign that you need a back up battery for them. This takes the load off your cars battery (except for the trickle to actually charge them) and puts it on a battery designed to take those kinds of surge hits.

[Saruwatari Kooji]

Considering that the Ford Focus doesn't require all that beefy of a battery for normal use, I'd say the battery is simply too weak to handle powering a 1000 watt sound system...trezoid's suggestion of a backup battery is possibly the best route to go. Hell, a buddy of mine has a older model Ford Ranger with a fairly decent battery and his system can make his lights flicker a bit.

I wish I could see your set up...I've seen way too many people bridge the remote wire simply because it's "easier"(Even "pros" at various car stereo places). If that is the case, then no, your system is not powering down properly when the car is turned off.

I would love to help more, but without either tons of pictures of your setup(including detailed pics of all the wiring) or an actual physical examination of your set up those are really the only suggestions I can think of.

[Azure Reaver]

Saruwatari Kooji

Considering that the Ford Focus doesn't require all that beefy of a battery for normal use, I'd say the battery is simply too weak to handle powering a 1000 watt sound system...trezoid's suggestion of a backup battery is possibly the best route to go. Hell, a buddy of mine has a older model Ford Ranger with a fairly decent battery and his system can make his lights flicker a bit.

I wish I could see your set up...I've seen way too many people bridge the remote wire simply because it's "easier"(Even "pros" at various car stereo places). If that is the case, then no, your system is not powering down properly when the car is turned off.

I would love to help more, but without either tons of pictures of your setup(including detailed pics of all the wiring) or an actual physical examination of your set up those are really the only suggestions I can think of.

This is the only picture I have of the Amps/Subs.

http://i49.tinypic.com/30uv78z.jpg

If it helps you, my cousin went through the passenger side, (instead of the driver side, where my battery is), so the big red wire that hooks to the positive side of my battery is seen when you open the door. It was a ghetto job indeed. They've always worked, with no problems, but the Audio Express rep did say he did it the lazy way.

I'll have to take more pics later, as for how to wires are hooked up, that one will be tough.

[Azure Reaver]

trezoid

Better question, what kind of output do you have (subs, speakers?)

If you're playing loud music and you start noticing your headlights dimming in time with the bass hits, it's a sure-fire sign that you need a back up battery for them. This takes the load off your cars battery (except for the trickle to actually charge them) and puts it on a battery designed to take those kinds of surge hits.

Subs.

I have not noticed anything with my lights at all. The Audio Express rep didn't say I needed an adaptor or whatever it is that helps take some of the voltage off.

A problem that I do notice, is that in the trunk of my car, there's a rug that covers my spare tire. Because the Subs/Box are heavy, it makes it slide around when I turn. So that really worries me.

[Azure Reaver]

Tapil

Azure Reaver

I actually went to a "Audio Express". The man told me my amp is 1000 watts and that will only kill my car if the amps are on through out a night, about 9 hours I guess. He also said that my amp was receiving the positive energy to turn on, and the negative energy to turn off, so it doesn't remain on.

I did get my Alternator checked, it's fine from what AutoZone says.

RemWires? Never heard of 'em. The guy from Audio Express told me to have my Ground Wires checked out.

Yes I have listened to my amps with the car off.

Remember you are drawing LOADs of power, keep your car on when you are listening to the radio

Rem - Remote wire (most of the time its a thin blue wire) This wire tells the amp to cut on or off when your keys are turned to the "on" position in your car.

If your alternator is fine and this audio store says your amp is hooked up right. the only thing i can guess is there is a short somewhere or you are listening to the radio with the car off alot

You did say you went and double checked to see if your amp was actually off when the car was off right? If your ground has come (weak/lose or undone) it can force your amp to ground through the REM wire and never turn off.

Yes, he double checked to make sure it got the Positive/Negative energies to turn on and off. He said it was hooked up fine, just in a lazy manner.

He never mentioned anything about the REM Wire I don't think. All I know is that one of my Subs DOES NOT WORK. I realize that's kinda bad, but I don't have the money atm, to replace them.. They were hand-me-downs and a gift at the same time. Either way, I will replace them one way or another, just they aren't a huge priority.

Saturday I will have the ground wire in my engine checked, seeing if it's connected. If not then that's my problem.

Though, today, my neighbor did work on my amp. He messed with some wires and I saw wires spark twice. Idk if it was his fault or my cousins. Audio Express rep did not spark s**t. Lol...

Crazy stuff happens with amps..

[Tapil]

There are numerous things for me to list off here - but seeing as your not able to unhook the amp/change wires around yourself it makes things extremely difficult.

Really your cousin should be in here so we could ask him what he did/did not do.

The one sub that does not work is mostlikly unhooked from within the box.

Ill tell you what the problem is NOT: a need for a more powerful battery, or a need for a damn capacitor.

Get your cousin in here, or take 100's of pictures of everywire everywhere and make sure I can see the words/symbols on the amp lol

Headlight dimming is a weak ALTERNATOR (not that this is your problem but just to clear up confusion from above)