Hey guys, I had a little incident the other day with my car.
So I just put in my Sony Xplod 800w amp and 2 10' Rockford P1's in my trunk. I was in my car listening to music for about an hour to an hour and a half with my battery off, when suddenly my ipod connection to my headunit stopped playing and it wouldn't play music from my ipod anymore. I don't know why but I tried turning on my car and it wouldn't start. My headunit and my headlights still worked but my car wouldnt start. When I turned the key in the ignition all the way I would hear this sound: trrrrrrrr trrrrrrr trrrrrrr. I thought my starter blew so I got my car towed to my house. I got in my car and noticed tat my battery died. I boosted my car and it suddenly started. I drove it to the shop just incase and they told me there was nothing wrong with the starter or the battery, they charged my battery for me however.

What did I do wrong and what can I do from preventing this to happen ever again? Should I not be listening to music with the car turned off?

 

yes when playing your system turn on the car if you are going to play it for more than a hour and you can buy a possitive digital gauge for your battery so you can see when to turn back on the car before the battery dies

 

I disconnected the fuse and I'm really contemplating taking the entire system out. I don't want this to happen again and kill my battery. Any more feedback guys?

 

you dont have to take it out the reason for the battery to bie is because you were playing it with car off for a long time so the altenator cant recharge you battery when the car is off,her click or copy this link and buy this so you will no when to start the car before the battery dies if the gauge goes below 10.5 volt u need to start the car for 15min the turn it off http://shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQ_nkw...romZR40QQ_mdoZ

 

Where do I install that voltmeter?

 

On the battery terminal.

Rion - STOP posting ebay links.

 

Jobi - this is why I posted in your other thread that I would hook your remote/amp turn on wire from your amp to your ignition fuse. When you do this you will have 2 options when your car is off
1) turn key to "on" radio plays but aftermarket system (subs, amp) won't come on.
2) turn key to "acc" radio plays and aftermarket system will play.

^ I have done this and is currently what I am doing


If you don't want to run the wire to your ignition, but to run it to your radio fuse then do this

run wire from your amp to a toggle switch then from that switch run it into your radio fuse. At this point you will always have the option to turn the speakers on and off.

^ I haven't done this, but should work

 

Both will work, but are a ghetto way of doing it. If you have a beefed up system, you should know that you simply can't run it without your car running.

Start your car every 10-15 minutes for a few minutes to let the alternator charge the battery back up. Simple, and doesn't require additional wiring.

 

might be ghetto; however it gives you the option of when to turn the subs on and off. I sometimes will be changing the oil or working on my car and want just the radio not subs so I flip the key to "on" and don't have to worry about running the battery down.

 

So, at what total wattage (speakers, amp, subs) should a person start thinking about getting a better battery and/or alternator for a 97 max??

 

Battery can be done at any time. But alternators and second batteries are not necessary unless the system is serious - even those people with serious systems on this board are not running HO alts or second batteries.