Anyone had the need to add a second battery yet? i just install a new deck and two 10s with 1200w amp and my lights dance to the beat. i have had more in other cars and this has not happed so maybe my battery is just getting old not sure. any have a picture of a second battery set up i would like to see.

 

Get your battery load tested. The problem with adding another battery is the question of the alternator keeping up.

 

If you do a search, you'll probably find threads related to this topic. I remember several owners installed second batteries and provided brief "how-to's" with pictures.

 

Thanks I will look around

 

Yeah i did hear stuff about that

 

A second battery will not prevent that flicker. The alternator is what is providing energy once the car is started. A second battery will give you a longer runtime for the stereo with the engine NOT running, and actually adds more of a load once the engine is running. What you may need is a capacitor. A capacitor charges and discharges very rapidly giving the amplifier what amounts to a constant voltage. The alternator's output (controlled by the rectifier) is dependent on it's load. Long sub frequencies use a lot of power and tax the alternator. Something else you may want to consider is increasing the gauge of your wires.

 

See:
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show...00&postcount=8

 

The reason the HHR and many other late model cars are exhibiting the lights dimming when you add a bunch of electrical accesories is that in the name of fuel economy the alternator output is now controlled by the computer. The electrical output can vary between something like 10 to 14 volts depending on engine RPM's, load, etc. Some people have gone to two alternator set ups with one being non-computer controlled but this can create an issue with the computer without the proper tuning. Here is some info on the system-it's called Regulated Voltage Control.

http://ryangottlieb.com/rvc.pdf

 

Damn computers...............

 

An old post from ChevyMgr dealing with this issue:

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show...36&postcount=9