Electrical help! I'm "shockingly" in over my head.

Discussion in 'General Car Audio Discussions' started by Sound, Mar 17, 2010.

  1. Sound

    Sound Full Member

    I'm going to be putting a 2400 watt system into a 2004 US Honda Civic Coupe. My question is this. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to keep a stock electrical system, also, due to my lovely Honda ELD I'm pretty sure I can not upgrade my stock alternator (though if anyone has a solution that I don't know about to fit a HO alternator or something else on to a civic without running into problems with the ELD, then by all means, I'm more then willing to see the light). What can I do before I start putting this system in to make sure I've got enough power and I'm not "starving my amps"...? (Also, can I damage my system or amps by running them "starving" before I upgrade the electrical? Or should I make all the necessary upgrades before I put it all in?)
    (if you need it, my amps are 1 Alpine PDX 4.100 and 2 Alpine PDX 1.1000, all really efficient amps.)
     
  2. cccullen

    cccullen Full Member

    check out this link:

    http://www.civicforums.com/forums/21-i-c-e-electrical/309526-high-output-alternator-help.html

    Also, if you do some searching there is a way to bypass your ELD so you will be able to install a HO alternator. From what i read briefly about ELD's is that it just constantly makes sure you get 12V (only giving power as needed) just check into the honda civic forums, i'm sure they will have instructions on how to do it there. a lot of people have been changing their alternators on their civics like yours so I'm sure it's not going to be difficult to do.

    with regards to wiring... you'll have to go with at least 1/0ga. wires for that kind of wattage and you will have to add an extra battery as well if you dont want to have voltage fluctuations.

    I wouldn't suggest that you hook up your gear without doing some electrical upgrades.. if you want to hold off on the alternator then you can upgrade to the big 3 and buy an extra battery to see how that works for ya. I would suggest changing that 70amp alternator though.
     
  3. Sound

    Sound Full Member

    That is what the ELD does, but because the amps run straight to the battery and not through the ELD, your ELD has no idea your amps are leaching your battery, so it doesn't let your alternator give your battery the charge it needs, and before you know it, dead battery. (Or at least, that's the impression I've been under after reading up. I do not claim to know what the heck I'm talking about, lol.)

    I had read of a few ways to bypass the ELD, some on that site, but none that let me upgrade the alternator without throwing a code and messing up the whole car. I'd been browsing that site for a while now as well though, and I haven't found any really concrete answers for my question. Thank you though, I will keep tearing through that forums archive.

    Yeah, I've read that post a couple of times. While there are a lot of good ideas, no one has really set forth with a good way to disable/bypass the ELD without taking a huge risk of messing something up. Again, I'm going to keep searching everything I can find, but I figured it was time to ask the questions while I kept searching for the answers. Thank you though! I really do appreciate the help, I need all of it that I can get. :p
     
  4. cccullen

    cccullen Full Member

    I'll keep on searching as well and i'll let you know if i find anything worth mentioning.

    there has to be a way.
     
  5. Sound

    Sound Full Member

    Thanks! I appreciate it!
    My thoughts exactly, even though I feel like I've been banging my head on a brick wall, there's gotta be some way to make this work.
     
  6. Sound

    Sound Full Member

    Another option. I just found out I have the ability to make my 2400 watt system a mere 1400 watt system, but make a good deal of moola in the process.
    Would I still be needing to make the same upgrades to my electrical if I put in a 1400 watt system instead?
    (I'm not ruling out the 2400 watt system yet, just going over all of my options.)
     
  7. Sound

    Sound Full Member

    ... ...bump?
     
  8. fstrfvo

    fstrfvo Full Member

    get it hooked up first BEFORE you spend $$$ on upgrades that you might not need.
     
  9. cccullen

    cccullen Full Member

    you would still have to go with at least 1/0 Ga wires and the big three upgrade.. hook it up and just see. I'm sure you will have voltage drops though. only one way to find out though, just hook it up and see.
     
  10. Sound

    Sound Full Member

    That's what I was going to do, but I was worried that if I did that I was going to break something... which I'm still not sure if I'll break something or not...?
     
  11. cccullen

    cccullen Full Member

    you won't break anything for sure. just keep a close eye on your voltage when you have the system up and running.
     
  12. Sound

    Sound Full Member

    Awesome, will do! Just one thing... how do I check keep an eye on my voltage again?
     
  13. cccullen

    cccullen Full Member

    just invest in a volt meter for your car. they're pretty cheap. i have one that plugs right into where the lighter goes.
     
  14. pedro quiroga

    pedro quiroga Well-Known Member

    mutimeter works too.
     
  15. Sound

    Sound Full Member

    There's no two ways about it, after talking with my installer we've decided to put in only one amp and one sub, which leads me to the question, what kind of upgrades do I need to make when running only a 1400watt system?
     
  16. Sound

    Sound Full Member

    Also, any idea of I would run into any problems running a 1700watt system?
     
  17. cccullen

    cccullen Full Member

    I was running about a 1400 watt system (maybe a little more) on a expedition with a 130amp alternator, the big three upgrade with all 1/0 ga wires and i still had dimming. I think your best bet is to go with 1/0 ga wires and the big three first, if you still have voltage drops and/or dimming then an extra battery is in order
     
  18. Sound

    Sound Full Member

    Sounds like a plan.
    I was reading up on "batcaps" though, and someone on another forum recommended them to me. have you heard of these, do you recommend them?