2400 watt peak aftermarket amplifier, do I have enough power?

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Birde17020

New member
Joined
May 7, 2020
Messages
4
Where can I tap power for a big amp.
I have 2 12" type r shallow running on exile audio 800.4
For this power I tapped in to the DC 12v output before the 12v battery. In the rear of my Rex....

Can I upgrade my amp to 2400w from 800w?
Should I put a 10 farad cap before my amp?
Should I add a second battery coming off the 12v DC post?
I don't want to burn anything out...
 
From the BMW i3 Worldwide FB group: "The onboard DC-DC converter is rated for 2500W". Sounds like a 2400W peak amp would need to be supplemented in some way.
 
If you had anywhere near 2400W of continuous audio output, you'd quickly have bleeding ears and major other issues! Peak power listings are really misleading. Being able to reproduce something like a drum beat or a cymbal crash is one thing, but to have anything close to a continuous 2400W output is not something you'd ever want in an enclosed space. Most speakers don't have a chance of reproducing that at those levels, either. What you want is something with enough power to handle your expected dynamics without distortion. 2400W at 12vdc is 200-amps - these things typically come with something like maybe a 20A fuse and maybe 10g wire, if that, so that should tell you something.

Look at the amp's circuit breaker or internal fuse, and plan accordingly.
 
Is it safe to add agm battery in back?
I have read posts that say do not add a second battery but I was not clear if that's only after the 1st 12v battery
 
You'll want to pull directly off of the DC-DC converter output...none of the other existing 12VDC wiring is anywhere near large enough to handle that kind of load. What does the instructions suggest for the main power wiring connection?
 
1/0-gauge power and ground leads recommended

Should I drop an agm battery, farad cap or just leave it connected to DC post?
 
I don't know, sorry. One other poster here attached his directly to the DC-DC converter output under the rear seat. The cabling to the battery is probably not big enough to both handle the car's normal 12vdc needs and power that amp. TO minimize voltage drop, you want to be close to the source. If you wanted to run the thing without the car being in READY mode, some more power would probably be required, but I have no idea how the car would respond to having a second battery there in parallel...it could get really messy if one were partly discharged and the system kept dumping in power, the already fully charged one, or even a differently sized one or age, could be damaged by having that power trying to be dumped into it.

The electrical system of an EV is a lot different than a typical ICE, so I'd tread softly. Hopefully, you'll find someone that knows, has done it successfully, and will offer some sort of guarantee...could get really expensive if you bricked your car.

I typically use about 200-300 Whr per mile, so if you used this a lot at high power, you could start to seriously take a hit on your available range.
 
I was also looking at a 2000w package from Skar audio, they use 4 gauge wire. Local car audio shop said they wouldn't touch the I3 since it's carbon fiber.

I'm just going to do it myself but I'm not sure the DC-DC can actually handle 1500W RMS

https://www.skaraudio.com/collections/evl-series-loaded-bass-packages/products/evl-1x10d2-rp-1500-1d-skar4anl-ofc

Package for reference^^^
 
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