would a 1000 watt amp drain my battery

[apr95]

Hi I'm wanting to put a sub In my car but I'm worried about it draining my battery

 

[R3k1355]

Well you can get high capacity batteries for car audio, might be able to get uprated alternators as well.
I'm not sure what the stock alternator can put out tho, might be alrite?

or just fit a smaller amp?

 

[Dan FR]

When the engine is running, all of the power is drawn from the alternator, so as long as it's working and charging properly, you wont get a flat battery

 

[GlanzaV]

Hi I'm wanting to put a sub In my car but I'm worried about it draining my battery

Hello, not exactly my area of expertise, but a 1000W Amplifier will draw ~70Amps - Just doing a quick google returned that the Ibiza Alternator outputs 90Amps. You'll also have your bulbs, and other ancilliaries to power... so yeah. It migght end up drawing more than the alternator supplies.


[edit]
Not sure a Capacitor would help the battery drain if the total consumption is less than what the alternator provides - It just acts as a buffer so there's a stable supply IIRC
[/edit]

 

[Dan FR]

It can not draw more than what the alternator will provide. Your 1000W amplifier is likely to be a 1000w peak figure anyway, and in the real world will be more like a 400w amplifier. Even then it depends on how much power is available from the charging system. The battery does not come in to it until the engine is switched off.

It will not discharge the battery whilst the engine is running.

A single/basic sub and amp setup will be fine anyway so don't worry

 

[Gilly_TDI]

It can not draw more than what the alternator will provide. Your 1000W amplifier is likely to be a 1000w peak figure anyway, and in the real world will be more like a 400w amplifier. Even then it depends on how much power is available from the charging system. The battery does not come in to it until the engine is switched off.

It will not discharge the battery whilst the engine is running.

A single/basic sub and amp setup will be fine anyway so don't worry

If its a vibe/fly/insert generic cheap shite here, It'll will probably be closer to a 10th of the max figure.

I'm running 250wrms into a Fi 8'' sub and its fine, no dimming what so ever.

A power cap actually places another load on the charging circuit and makes matters worse.

My MK4 FR's idle current with the AC on and radio is only about 20 amps so there is quite a lot of headroom on the alternator for other stuff.

 

[samussamus1]

I'm currently running 3000w and its fine.

The Amplifier wont drain the battery when the car is running, you would need a seriously big amp to do that. It wont drain the battery when the car is off either as long as its wired up correctly.

 

[Dan FR]

Unless you have a 250A alternator you will not be running 3000W when the car is running, despite what your amp says.

You can not drain the battery whilst the car is running, as long as the alternator is charging properly. The battery will only drain when the amp is being used with the engine switched off (obviously). Provided it is wired correctly it will switch off with the headunit and wont cause any additional current draw or cause overnight flat battery etc.