Question, I have a 2010 Camry SE 2.5 4cyclinder (unfortunately), but I currently have a Kenwood 1800 watt amp, and two 12inch subs,…now I have the stock radio in which I plan on upgrading later on but now I am having an issue where my lights are dimming when my system is in use, but I am trying to resolve the issue but I am not sure whether I should go with this 6 farad capacitor (I know for every 1000watts=1 farad) or a battery (do I have to have a battery with matching voltage?) to prevent my head lights from dimming? Oh and should I upgrade my OEM 100amp alternator as well?
colonel:
Your 1800 watt amp will draw up to 140 amps. As you’ve seen, when that happens, your alternator is producing all it can, and you’re drawing off your battery - both at the same time.
As a result:
- 1: Your system voltage drops, as witnessed by the lights dimming.
- 2: It's causing your alternator to produce full current for long periods of time. Alternators do not like this, and it shortens their life considerably.
- 3: Your battery is being drained as you're driving down the road. When you stop the car, don't be surprised if it won't restart.
My son had the same problem with the Impla I gave him. He needed to get both a super battery and a heavy duty police type alternator.
I would upgrade everything. You’re putting a helluva strain on the car’s electrical system. The capacitor will help with high instantaneous demands, a higher capacity battery will help keep everything going, and you’ll need a higher amp alternator to keep up with the drain. If you’ve spent this much already on your audio system, why cheap out on the rest?
I hope you don’t live in my neighborhood…
@Oblivion,Amen,Colonel had your hearing checked lately? But seriously the Guys gave good advice,upgrade the electrical system to at least Police standards-Kevin
@Docnick, @oblivion and @JoeMario,…Thanks a mill on the info guys, so pretty much invest in upgrading the alternator, now as for the battery should I add a second battery that has the same voltage/amps, or get heavy duty battery?
@oblivion, why would you say that? lmao
@kmccune, my hearing is fine trust me if you had the standard sound system that comes with the 2010 camry, anything other than the radio has poor audio, and no bass at all,…trust me its sad very sad lol
Down grade the amp and the two subs. Unless you are trying to make sound for the neighborhood, all you will get is added volume and not true low frequency sound in a car which is too difficult an environment to do justice to real low frequencies. Any volume past 90 db at one meter for sustained periods, which is possible in a car, gives you a lifetime of hearing lost.
Quality small woofers are all that’s needed in a car. Wattage past 100 per channel is more then enough, a waste of money and a definite potential damage to hearing. Get a sound pressure meter and check it out. We are doing a disservice advising drivers how better to blow their cilia to heck. Hearing loss is gradual, painless and PERMANENT.
But, I expect my advice to fall on deaf ears
The organ of corti,is a delicate instrument,if you have to shout to make conversation,its too loud.A larger battery is stop gap unless you charge it everytime you come home Electricity is like anything else its not magic ,a State Troopers car has an electrical system that would handle that or even an ambulance look and see what they have or even ask a dealer what the pursuit package has in it,that should get you enough amps-Kevin
One farad does not = 1000 watts. Who ever told you that does not know anything about electricity or electronics. One farad is one coulomb of electrons or 1 amp for one second. The capacitor only provides current for transient high volume, low frequency passages to keep the amplifier from clipping the signal.
Actually, a farad is one amp-second or coulomb per volt.
To charge a one farad capacitor up to 12 volts requires 12 coulombs of charge.
The energy stored in a capacitor = farads X volts squared/2
At twelve volts, a one farad capacitor stores 72 joules (watt seconds) of energy.
I really don’t get the appeal of a window shaking car stero system. They are like jacked up monster trucks, the only people who are impressed by them are other people who drive them. To the rest of us, they silly useless vehicles.
I’VE GOT TO AGREE WITH EVERYONE. Oh excuse me for yelling. Once your hearing goes, it won’t come back. I don’t know if for me it was the loud dances, Army, couple years in the can plant, or the diesel, but I now much prefer written communications rather than verbal.
Upgrading the alternator might be a trick. The stock alternator is shown to be a 100 amp unit and the rated amperage is not what an alternator will continuously sustain without going up in a cloud of smoke or possibly flames at some point.
Bing
6:43PM
I’VE GOT TO AGREE WITH EVERYONE. Oh excuse me for yelling. Once your hearing goes, it won’t come back. I don’t know if for me it was the loud dances, Army, couple years in the can plant, or the diesel, but I now much prefer written communications rather than verbal.
Most people with hearing damage can hear you talk, they just can’t understand what you say or they mishear a lot of words. Dog can sound like fog or hog or jog or log. The high frequency end of the hearing spectrum is what lets you distinguish the consonants in speech.
Instead of having them speak louder, try having them whisper the sentence to you. When you whisper, you exaggerate the consonants and ironically, a lot of hard of hearing people can understand whispering better than shouting.
Unless you are in some kind of competition where you go around showing off how much bass your ghetto system can make, rip that #$%t out of your car and donate it to a shooting range for target practice.
You are not cool having some super powered ghetto stereo system, and the looks you get are most likely ones of disgust.
My neighbor’s step son had his old Civic setup with so much junk, his little girl had to scrunch up against the side of the car just to fit in in the back. I could hear his $%^t can rattling several blocks away. The guy has had his stereo systems stolen like 5 or 6 different times. My neighbor makes him mad because he makes his step son turn the radio off when he’s riding with him. The little girl is 5 years old and already has permanent hearing problems because of his ghetto stereo.
I don’t think you’re going to find a “persuit package” or police alternator for the Toyota. If you have room for a second battery, that might be the better option, but you will still need to charge it. You may have to shell out some bucks for a custom alternator for your application if you want to do it right. Otherwise I would buy a battery charger and plug it in every night.
I think you can do better than 100 watts, but don’t see why you would need 1,000 unless you enter contests. You put a system like yours in a car, you’re begging someone to steal it. When I was younger I wouldn’t have listened to anyone about hearing loss either–and I would probably have had a system like yours if they existed then. I have some high frequency hearing loss from working in a noisy environment for a decade or so. It does creep up on you. We won’t talk about my liver 
Seriously though, these days when I hear someone with a stereo like yours cruising down my street, especially late at night, the first thought that enters my head is. “What trash. I wonder how many child support payments he missed to put a $1,000 stereo in his $500 car.” I’m not saying this applies to you. Hopefully you’re respectful of people–a lot of people like quiet, and in the case of my gf, she works very early and has to get to bed by 8:30 some nights. Again, not meaning any disrespect, but this is how a lot of people with systems like yours are perceived by others.
Unless I’m missing something from others’ comments, getting a larger battery isn’t going to solve your problem. You first need an alternator that can “comfortably” supply all the power demanded by your booster amp.
Having said that, all the replies on protecting your ears are very real. If you continue to blast that 1800 watt system, the day will come when you will say to yourself “I wished I took those comments seriously.”
I hear you @Bing…well almost. When a couple of positions opened up for pilot training on the base I was stationed, I applied. I was the leading candidate for the positions but was deficient in one area. In some frequencies I had hearing lost. Not great, but more then enough to wash me out. They even tried to partition for an exemption because of my scores otherwise. But no luck. I attribute it to the years in college I spent summer months working around the machinery at the local paper mill. Great money; but it has cost me dearly ever since. So, this and other occupations can be denied to our youth if we support, condone or aid this additional onslaught of hearing lost. I will never, and have not with my own, put a youngster or child in this environment or support my kids or grandchildren in adding this equipment to their cars. They are doomed for life.
Some kids suffer dramatically for this unknown cause, in academics and just don’t know why. A real shame…the rest of their life is dropped down a notch because the world they live in profitzes on their abuse in many ways…and this is just another.
@keith 1 farad does not equal 1000 watts, but the recommendation is to have a capacitor that has 1 farad for every 1000 watts in the system.
I agree with the others - OP needs a high-output alternator.
I also agree about the hearing loss. Yeah, Toyota stock sound systems suck, but there is a wide field between crappy stock Toyota and “They can hear this 10 miles away.”
There is a company that makes the heavy duty 270 amp alternator used by most emergency vehicles and they make a model for almost every vehicle out there. Cost is around $800. BTW, it that 1800 watts peak, peak to peak or RMS? Class D or class AB, BTW, class D is not digital, the d stands for duration as in PDM (pulse duration modulation), it should stand for distortion because that is what it does the most of.
1800 watts in a car stereo is severe overkill unless it is for show only. As mentioned, you’d be better off using less power more efficiently to produce quality sound over sheer volume.
The little girl is 5 years old and already has permanent hearing problems because of his ghetto stereo.
I’m usually against the nanny state but this is bordering on criminal. Young parents that have no business raising kids when they can’t make adult decisions regarding their child’s health and welfare. To permanently affect their health at such a young age when they can’t know better or do anything about it…you wouldn’t like my version of justice…