Rsemexant

Hope everyone had a good Hoilday!

So I'm working on my S6 and we are upgrading the bass to it. We installed a aftermarket sub and amp. We kept Bose for the inside speaker for now.

So I want to replace the factory battery with somthing stronger and can hold the the amp change and watts. But also looking for somthing that can still in the same spot as the factory battery. I need somthing that is big enough and can also be programmed into the car so I won't have issues later.

Also does anyone have the factory battery specs along with sizing information?

Any ideas?

DeerHunter

I looked into an aftermarket replacement battery fairly recently. While there are a lot of high-capacity/AGM options on the aftermarket that say they are compatible with the S6, none of them have the requisite manufacturer code and serial number that will allow successful registration with the ECU (done by either the dealer or if you have VCDS). Unless someone found out otherwise, it looks like we're stuck with OEM.

subterFUSE

What's wrong with the OEM battery?

I have a complete aftermarket stereo system which I compete with in sound quality competitions, including 7 class A and class AB amplifiers, with about 1900 Watts.

I'm running the OEM battery with no extra batteries, and no capacitors. My car is a 2013 model and I am still going strong on the original battery. It's performing beautifully.

Rsemexant

No issues at all? wow that's amazing setup you got there, just don't wanna drain too much battery from the car and start frying my alternator, so I want to get a better battery with higher amp and better crank- but I do have a cap in my system and I've seen power drop from 14+v to as low as 11.3-

subterFUSE

Absolutely no problems for me in 3 years, and 3 different stereo setups.

I have a volt meter in my rearview mirror and I have never seen my voltage drop that low, even when I have been at a car show playing the system all day long. When the engine is running, my voltage is always between 14.4 - 15.0 volts, depending on air temperature. Colder outside = higher voltage.

I don't run my system off the battery without the engine running unless I have my CTek charger connected. I use the CTek US Multi 25000 when I am at indoor car shows and we can't run the motor.


In my personal experience, capacitors are not really needed and they actually might harm the performance of the charging system rather than help it. My installer usually does not start installing capacitors until a system hits about 2000 watts. Over 2000, then he like to put in BatCaps. They are little batteries and capacitors in a single unit. But he wouldn't change out the battery on a car like ours. It's plenty good enough for a big stereo.


What kind of amp are you running that is so power hungry?
I'm running all Sinfoni amps, and they are either class A or class AB which means they are very high-current designs. I even had all of my amplifiers custom modified with higher performance rail capacitors, op amps, and had the bias adjusted on them. It's like getting an APR Stage 2 tune on them.
My subwoofer amp is class AB, and bridged down to 2 ohms mono. It's a power hog.

Rsemexant

Right now it's a Ken wood amp at 1800w with a single alpine type R- and that thing drops when it hit hard and that's what worries me- sometime to the point where the AMP would go into a safe mode. I was also thinking about leaving the batter and just adding another one and removing the cap, not sure if that would be a better choice either. Worried that it drops to low and a replacement battery or alternator is needed and of course the dealer won't replace cause because of the fast drain from the amp

subterFUSE

What gauge power cable did you run from the battery to your amp?

Is it good quality cable?

Where is it fused? What size fuse?

Where did you fix your ground to? Did you get a good, clean, bare-metal location?

Rsemexant

4 gauge cable- I wanna say it with a factory ground location- haven't looked at it in awhile - but I know for a fact I DIDNT create a ground location

subterFUSE

I will ask my installer tomorrow for some tips for you. He will know better as to what he did for my car. My initial reaction is that a single 4 gauge wire might not be enough for 1800 watts.

In my car, my installer ran two 4 gauge power cables off the battery because the brand of cable I am using, Straight Wire, does not make anything thicker than 4 Gauge. He would have used a single 1/0 gauge cable if they made it.

He has the power cable fused about 12" from the battery, and then it feeds into another fused distribution block that feeds out to the amps. My individual amps are then using 4 gauge or 8 gauge depending on the amp.

I'm not sure where he grounded it. He might very well have used the factory ground location in the tire well. I'll make sure and let you know.

Rsemexant

I agree on that too I'll look into switching to either 1/0 and see if that helps - - and thanks for the advice- same to your installer too

keep in mind the sub only uses about 800w of the 1800w (RMS)

When they installed your system did they replace the wiring in your doors back to the factory amp? Or used all factory wiring?