Electrical help

Showtime197

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hey i have a 06 cobalt ls. im running two 1500w 12" type r's, a 2700 w jbl amp, a jensen flipout and now 6000k HID headlights. my lights are flickering,and my batt doesnt seem to be workin very well. i was wondering what recommendations everyone had for me to do to give enough power to everything without damaging my car. i was recommended a high output alternator?
 

outtamymind

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do you have a capacitor in your system OP. that should help alot with the flickering. aslo you might want to look into getting your alternator checked out as that could be also starting to fail.
 

YelloEye

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caps wont help you here bud, get an optima yellow top or equivalent. I had the same problem with mine and that helped immensely.
 

Showtime197

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i went to optimas website and it doesnt even show cobalt for battery fitting..
 

newfiedan

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Capacitors are really not that effective for helping with a constant drain on the system, they do help maintain a constant voltage at the amp for short bursts but with high draw situations the cap becomes an effective paperweight. Upgrade the factory ground, the engine ground, then the battery. The reason your electrical is dying out is that the typical lead acid battery does not handle vibration well, and with a set of good subs in the trunk you can kill one in pretty short order. Upgrade to a gel cell battery like the optima or for the ultimate in vibration resistance a dry cell battery (the dry cell is very costly though). Once the new battery is installed have the system load tested to see if the alternator is working well, with a bad battery you can also burn up an alternator pretty quickly. In case your wondering I am a very well qualified audio guy and have well over 15 years of automotive mechanical experience so I know what I am talking about here.
 

Showtime197

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Capacitors are really not that effective for helping with a constant drain on the system, they do help maintain a constant voltage at the amp for short bursts but with high draw situations the cap becomes an effective paperweight. Upgrade the factory ground, the engine ground, then the battery. The reason your electrical is dying out is that the typical lead acid battery does not handle vibration well, and with a set of good subs in the trunk you can kill one in pretty short order. Upgrade to a gel cell battery like the optima or for the ultimate in vibration resistance a dry cell battery (the dry cell is very costly though). Once the new battery is installed have the system load tested to see if the alternator is working well, with a bad battery you can also burn up an alternator pretty quickly. In case your wondering I am a very well qualified audio guy and have well over 15 years of automotive mechanical experience so I know what I am talking about here.

didnt know about the vibration effecting the battery, thats good to know. any recommendation for which optima battery to get?
 

Black_Dub

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you can check your own battery and alternator with the proper tools ( multi-meter) simply place the lead off the multimeter onto ur batter leads wit the car shut off and the output should be at or about 12.6v then once thas takin care of turn the car on and do the same thing the output now should read 13+volts which will let you know your alternator is pushing out enough voltage to keep your battery charged...
 

Showtime197

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ive been told that i shouldnt use optima bc cobalt needs a special battery due to trunk placement, that the optima can overheat and blow??
 

YelloEye

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ive been told that i shouldnt use optima bc cobalt needs a special battery due to trunk placement, that the optima can overheat and blow??

Never heard that and havent had a problem with mine in the year that I've had it installed.
 

Black_Dub

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i was wondering about the optima battery too... if anything place the battery up top in the trunk in a custom enclosure so u can keep the trunk finesse lol...you can always extend the terminal wires im sure....

---------- Post added at 02:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:10 PM ----------

Never heard that and havent had a problem with mine in the year that I've had it installed.

did you mount your battery underneath? if so which optima battery did you get....i plan on putting a new battery and alternator in before i install my new JL's
 

YelloEye

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did you mount your battery underneath? if so which optima battery did you get....i plan on putting a new battery and alternator in before i install my new JL's

Yeah I have had an optima red top and yellow top (not at the same time) mounted in the stock location. I was very disappointed in the red top as my headlights still dimmed bad running my 2 12" pioneer premiers with a lightning audio 1000w RMS amp.

I'll check next time my trunk is empty, some time this weekend, and let you know which one it is. I havnt seen a HO alternator that fits our cars but there is a couple how-to articles on fitting an extra alternator if you want to go that route.
 

Black_Dub

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Yeah I have had an optima red top and yellow top (not at the same time) mounted in the stock location. I was very disappointed in the red top as my headlights still dimmed bad running my 2 12" pioneer premiers with a lightning audio 1000w RMS amp.

I'll check next time my trunk is empty, some time this weekend, and let you know which one it is. I havnt seen a HO alternator that fits our cars but there is a couple how-to articles on fitting an extra alternator if you want to go that route.

im thinkin about just getting a new stock alternator...not really lookin to add a 2nd lol... maybe you know about mufflers? im lookin to replace mine with an aftermarket to give my baby a nice growl not ready to dish out for a full exhaust just yet (money's tight)..i dont want the muffler to sound annoying just aggressive lol
 

Showtime197

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im thinkin about just getting a new stock alternator...not really lookin to add a 2nd lol... maybe you know about mufflers? im lookin to replace mine with an aftermarket to give my baby a nice growl not ready to dish out for a full exhaust just yet (money's tight)..i dont want the muffler to sound annoying just aggressive lol

i installed a magnaflow muffler on mine and it sounds real nice, good growl but not all loud and doushebaggy haha
 

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