it had to be 2 alternators there would have been to much power drop otherwise, plus i just thought if im doin it im gonna do it big, so i did.

 

Looks the biz mate mind you, god knows where the shoppings gonna go now tho
Hows the fuel compsumption now then

 

(You could..) wire it in parallel to the battery in the front of the car, and use an active switching unit that costs about £9 to relay the alternator, can't remember the name at the minute will find out.

(The active switch is so...) When the car is cranking, the battery in the rear isn't being drawn from (it works by detecting the input voltage (most alternator's put out ~13.8V). When the car is running, the battery in the back and the battery in the front are both being charged off the alternator.

P.s is that a lead-acid battery? I think (will check) that there is a risk that when they are charging give off hydrogen or some other not-so-good-in-a-confined-space gas... if this is a concern you could look into batteries that use an Absorbent Glass Mat, one manufacturer being Optima....


EDIT: Best I could find google'ing I'll try find out the make of the one that goes for about £9...

 

would the second alternator still be needed or is what your talkin about just using the original one. the problem im havin is on the impreza alternator they have a plug on the underside of them and its that what im not sure about, i was wonderin if i could piggy back the second one off the original one or would this cause problems, i no this plug is somethin to do with lettin the alternator send charge to the battery but thats about all i no. cheers scott

 

yes im with you now a split carge system, i did look into that but with the amount of ice i was runnin i needed the most amount of power as possible and a completly seperate chargin system was the best way for it, but now ive hit a bit of a problem but im sure i'll get ronud it.

 

Yes it runs off the original alternator. But you don't have to mess with the alternator as you actually wire it into the old battery.

Remember that 2 batteries in parallel effectively create a single battery with double the life. So if you want to run the amp's for a while with the ignition off, you'd be better off with 2 batteries in parallel as opposed to one which chrages off a 2nd alternator.

If your really concerned about power, go for something with a high AH, for example Optima's yellow top 75AH 12v (around £250).

Manufacturer "Ring" Product "Smartcom"

 

cheers mate. i think im gonna stick to alternator as ive already fitted it and messed about findin a belt to fit all thats left to do with it is work out that plug that im havin the problem with.

 

Excellent work, looks fantastic

Tony.

Ps is the spare wheel now a can of 'get you home foam'?

 

it sure is

 

Looks the nuts mate!!

I 'm after a slightly more subtle install myself- hit a wall though!!

The batoning you put in on the actual boot floor did you secure it down at all or is it just held in place by the weight! i dont want to drill though really.

I'm basically just having a boot shaped mdf sheet cut into 4 pieces (so it comes out for the spare) flat on the boot floor- with 2 amps on 2 pieces and a subbox on another. But the actual boot floor is uneven so cant just lay the mdf onto it

Any help gratefully received

Trevor

 

You can use silicon glue from a builders merchants etc, the weight of the install plus the silicon will stop it from moving completely when it has set, in fact you may even have trouble removing it when you want to if you use too much.
I have seen silicon stick so well in some installs that when you try to prise MDF away from what it has been stuck too it tears the MDF apart

 

You could use something like liquid nails if it's a permanent job, silicon if it's a long term temp job (ie will be removed when car is sold) or velcro for occasional removal. The thing to remember is that most people who do boot builds/installs will have used some sort of sound deadening material in the boot and you don't really want to have bits of it ripped off everytime you remove the false floor.

 

all of mine comes out for access to the spare but i changed my mind at the last minute and decided on a split charge system so the spare battery and power cap are now where the spare used to be.

 

yes mate its just held in place by the weight plus its all cut really tight so its jamed in place. if you need any more advice just get intouch with me and i will help as much as i can. scott