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jandetuning
08-09-2003, 10:58 PM
I purchased an Optima Yellow Top deep cycle battery for my car, because the stock battery was insufficient for my stereo system. They advertise the new Group 51 as being made for Honda and other compact applications. I purchased it not realizing the terminals are on opposite sides as our stock battery. If you are looking to purchase one for your EP, you will need to relocate your positive and negative terminals. Here are a few pics of the install:

Pre installation with aftermarket battery terminals and stereo power wire:


http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid73/p633c9af445ab4dc132b17cbd338e39c9/fb6e978d.jpg

jandetuning
08-09-2003, 11:02 PM
The starter supply wire will need to be lengthened. The stock wire is a coarse braid copper wire that is about a 6 gauge. I soldered on a one foot length of fine braid audio grade cable, and heat shrinked the connection.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid73/p0bee7fffcd75dcc661260f0cbb7cf048/fb6e9775.jpg

jandetuning
08-09-2003, 11:09 PM
The feed from the fuse box is a coarse braid wire that is approximately an 8 gauge. I removed the terminal from the fusebox and soldered in a piece of audio grade fine braid 8 gauge.

The Optima is a great upgrade from the stock battery. My car starts up a little faster, and there is a noticeable improvement in my stereo system. I have much more engine off play time now, and even if the Optima goes below 11 volts, if I wait a couple of minutes, it recovers enough to start the car.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid73/pccbe04dd8f329dda408f6e00fa6311ec/fb6e9763.jpg :cool:

PhatBox
08-19-2003, 02:21 PM
I bought the Optima 51R. It has the correct terminals so that you do not need to relocate the wiring. You couldve saved yourself some time and just bought the Reverse (R) terminal battery. Good job on the soldering tho.

BlackNRedSi
08-21-2003, 12:27 PM
what was wrong with the stock battery? what are you running in your car? did you get a cap first before you went out and got a new battery?

Eric

PhatBox
08-21-2003, 03:23 PM
I think that the current draw from both my amps is around 150A continuous. Since everything else in the car (lights, ac, plugs, etc) draw much less than this, I was pretty much forced to upgrade my battery. Although caps help with quick drains, if your average draw is more, a higher current battery is needed. I am basically trying to lengthen the life of my alternator.

BlackNRedSi
08-21-2003, 03:31 PM
good idea....guess i will check mine sooner or later...what was the price for that battery?

jandetuning
08-21-2003, 04:56 PM
Originally posted by PhatBox
I bought the Optima 51R. It has the correct terminals so that you do not need to relocate the wiring. You couldve saved yourself some time and just bought the Reverse (R) terminal battery. Good job on the soldering tho.

Thanks. It sucks that I was unaware of the 51R, as it was not listed in the literature or the Optima website when I purchased my battery.

jandetuning
08-21-2003, 05:02 PM
Originally posted by BlackNRedSi
what was wrong with the stock battery? what are you running in your car? did you get a cap first before you went out and got a new battery?

Eric

The stock battery would only last about a minute with my stereo cranked. The Optima has about twice the reserve, and is deep cycle to handle the abuse. I have a Phoenix Gold ZPA0.5 at a 2 ohm bridge running two PPI Pro 10s. For the front stage I have a PG ZPA0.3 running a 4 ohm stereo load. I have a 2 farad cap, but that only helps the transients, it cannot boost the voltage above what the battery supplies when the engine is off.


Originally posted by BlackNRedSi
good idea....guess i will check mine sooner or later...what was the price for that battery?


Eric
I got mine for $115 shipped.


Originally posted by PhatBox
I think that the current draw from both my amps is around 150A continuous. Since everything else in the car (lights, ac, plugs, etc) draw much less than this, I was pretty much forced to upgrade my battery. Although caps help with quick drains, if your average draw is more, a higher current battery is needed. I am basically trying to lengthen the life of my alternator.




Which amplifiers do you have? The only time you would see a continuous draw is if you were playing a sine wave for tuning or dB Drag competition purposes. I would assume the Average draw from your amps is 15-25 amps, and peaks of 120- 150 amps for a few hundred miliseconds at most, assuming typical musical program.



Old pic before the cosmetics were finished:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid74/p53b7813d0bb0f3cf23d3f4fcdeb38878/fb66d7c9.jpg

BlackNRedSi
08-21-2003, 05:08 PM
have any recent pictures? i havent seen any of your photos of your system...i love looking @ fresh new systems in the ep on this site!

BlackNRedSi
08-21-2003, 05:23 PM
jandetuning

do you think ima need one of these batteries for my system...

here are some photos

Thanks for the help

Eric

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid73/p251b7a339bb748a82068472897c9b952/fb73c22b.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid75/pdc0d14b4dfebdf80fc246f8c70d61d2b/fb52668a.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid75/pae600588f8f678467945eaf7f2daa5f6/fb526688.jpg

Boston Acoustic Z series up front components
Boston Acoustic Pro Series in the back
with Infity rear tweeters....


any suggestions will help

jandetuning
08-21-2003, 05:33 PM
Sweet! I have seen your install on this site before, but I couldn't remember who it belonged to.

Is that a 12W7 JL? Also, do you know if the amp you are running it with is Class D?

Honestly, if you don't listen to your stereo with the engine off much, you probably do not need the battery. If you don't have a capacitor now, and have the room for it, I would spend the $100 on that. The returns would be far greater.

I will post a few current pics of my system tonight.

BlackNRedSi
08-21-2003, 06:03 PM
jandetuning check your PMs

jandetuning
08-21-2003, 06:07 PM
Originally posted by BlackNRedSi
jandetuning check your PMs

My response is on it's way to you. The message has a 1000 character limit, so if you have any more ? let me know.