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Thread: Minimum setup required to run a DX-1600X?

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    Minimum setup required to run a DX-1600X?

    Can a few of you give me a little advice about what's needed to run a Texas Star DX-1600X? I'm in the Midwest and mostly pickup skip around here so there's no local presence for me to chat with about this question. I'm running a standard 2011 Chevy LT truck with dual batteries. Because it's the LT it has a slightly higher output alternator but it came with the truck. The second battery is an Optima red top with around 900 CCA and is on a battery separator with no reverse connection allowed back to the main battery. I don't want replace the alternator or spend a lot of money on the truck as I may only keep it another year or so. The golden question is, will running this TS amp let the smoke out of my truck's computer systems leaving me stranded somewhere? If I can't run this amp, what's the largest amp that you'd recommend I install? Thanks in advance for your opinions and past experience. Your advice is appreciated.

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    Think I read somewhere, where the TS 1600X pulls a Max of 120 amps...To get the most out of that 8-pill, you would also need a driver, maybe a 2-pill, so you would also need to figure that in as well...


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    The best information I could find said the DX-1600X pulls 120 amps max as well. My question is whether or not a standard higher output Chevy alternator and a second Optima Red Top battery is enough to drive this amp without screwing up the truck's computer systems or is something more required? I read somewhere that somebody was using the older version DX-1600 with a similar system and his auto's lights dimmed slightly on key-up. In other forums I've read some messages saying people have fried their truck's computer system by trying to draw to much from the system. I want to make sure a Chevy 1/2 truck electronics aren't damaged by using the setup I described at the beginning of this thread and was hoping someone knows at what point damage takes place and why it happens or were those people just not doing something else right?

    Another question I've had is reading specs on competition amps that say they require something like 85 amps continuous draw with 120 amps max. Does this really mean that just turning the amp on without keying up the radio is really drawing 85 amps? If not, I've not been able to determine from specs exactly what's using up 85 amps continuously if it's not being used?

    If you can answer these questions or maybe lead me to a link that better spells out what this means I'd appreciate it.

    Thanks for your help.

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    the difference between 1000 watts and 500 watts ain't worth the extra cost or effort IMO .
    get a TS 500v , easy install , no driver needed . it will be the rare day that the 1200 would be heard where the 500 wouldn't .
    gotta have a good antenna setup and coax to get the most from any radio/amp . whatcha running ?

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    Quote Originally Posted by FretnFish View Post
    The best information I could find said the DX-1600X pulls 120 amps max as well. My question is whether or not a standard higher output Chevy alternator and a second Optima Red Top battery is enough to drive this amp without screwing up the truck's computer systems or is something more required? I read somewhere that somebody was using the older version DX-1600 with a similar system and his auto's lights dimmed slightly on key-up. In other forums I've read some messages saying people have fried their truck's computer system by trying to draw to much from the system. I want to make sure a Chevy 1/2 truck electronics aren't damaged by using the setup I described at the beginning of this thread and was hoping someone knows at what point damage takes place and why it happens or were those people just not doing something else right?

    Another question I've had is reading specs on competition amps that say they require something like 85 amps continuous draw with 120 amps max. Does this really mean that just turning the amp on without keying up the radio is really drawing 85 amps? If not, I've not been able to determine from specs exactly what's using up 85 amps continuously if it's not being used?

    If you can answer these questions or maybe lead me to a link that better spells out what this means I'd appreciate it.

    Thanks for your help.
    I wouldn't be that concerned with blowing the ships computer...I run a 16 pill in my 97 Suburban and the Amp doesn't phase the computer at all...It did mess with some of the trucks sensors at first, but after running a few ground straps, that problem went away...

    You can make that Amp work with the stock alternator and battery, you'll just have to add one or two more battery's in the mix as a battery bank for the box. Like I was telling someone in another posts, I have a 2x6 Davemade in my work van and also a full size refrigerator which is hooked to a power inverter, all ran off the stock 130 amp alternator....I also have a battery bank of 4 Walmart car battery's in line and the lights don't dim or anything...I've been running this set up for almost 10 years, and only had to replace the battery's once...

    One thing to remember when adding a bunch of battery's, is they can and will emit battery acid gas...most noticeable in the Summer months when it starts heating up...So they really need to be stored in a well vented area and not just stuck in the back seat! plus they can catch fire and or blow up if you have several hooked together, and something falls on the top of the battery's terminals...


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    Thanks for the information. The 500v is a nice solution and something that's worked well with a 102" whip but not so much with a magna mount. Can you say repairs are in order?

    As for multiple batteries the problem is spare space so maybe the solution is to buy the largest battery freaking battery that will fit in the opening under the hood without hitting the radiator fan. Having battery gases emitted inside a vehicle isn't good for man or metal. That's why the SAE says all flammable and dangerous pieces parts must be outside the cab. Another thought is this. It's not the length of a key down that's the issue, it's the strength of the signal for noncompetition purposes. So, what about using a large farad capacitor or set of farad's in parallel? Any experience using these and any suggestions as to which ones work best? Just a thought.

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    Quote Originally Posted by FretnFish View Post
    Thanks for the information. The 500v is a nice solution and something that's worked well with a 102" whip but not so much with a magna mount. Can you say repairs are in order?

    As for multiple batteries the problem is spare space so maybe the solution is to buy the largest battery freaking battery that will fit in the opening under the hood without hitting the radiator fan. Having battery gases emitted inside a vehicle isn't good for man or metal. That's why the SAE says all flammable and dangerous pieces parts must be outside the cab. Another thought is this. It's not the length of a key down that's the issue, it's the strength of the signal for noncompetition purposes. So, what about using a large farad capacitor or set of farad's in parallel? Any experience using these and any suggestions as to which ones work best? Just a thought.
    Problem with farad caps, is as soon as you key the Mic, they are spent untill you let off the key so they can recover...The most you will get out of a Cap is a split-second of "BOOM", then nothing...In a Car Stereo they work, because every time the base go's "Boom" it's usually just for a second, then backs off, and the Cap recovers...Not the same thing as holding down the key on a Mic...

    As for a larger battery, you would be better off looking for a Higher Amp alternator. There's plenty of company's now building 200 - 300 amp alternators in stock cases so they just drop right in your existing bracket...

    Not sure what your getting at with the TS 500 you had not working well with a magnet mount antenna...I ran a TS 500V with a Wilson 5000 magnet mount antenna for several years with no problems...I later bit-the-bullet and started drilling holes in the roof tho for a permanent mount and got away from the Wilson brand altogether.


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    Jesse,

    I've been doing more research and the Texas Star DX-1600X only comes with the DEI 2SC2879 transistors now. After reading your reply and doing more reading the XForce 10, 12, or 16 pill looks interesting and can be ordered with the Toshiba 2SC2879 Red Dots. Researching higher output alternators the DC Power Engineering website has a dual XP type alternator kit that puts out 370 amps. I'm told with that alternator a 10 pill would need a single battery, a 12 pill would need 2 batteries, and a 16 pill would need 3 batteries all as close to the amplifier as possible. Since you have a Suburban an you also mentioned you have 4 Walmart batteries can I ask where you safely mounted these batteries and how you did it? I've also read somewhere that a single 8D Lead-Acid battery is equal to 3 semi batteries but the ones I've found are beasts weighing around 180 lbs. and being 10" x 10.5" x 20". The extra alternator is about $1100, an 8D battery anywhere from $220 to $600, and the amps running from $1500 to $2000.

    Obviously the main question is how to deal with the batteries necessary for a larger amp? Exactly how do you vent the battery fumes outside the cab area of a Suburban? I don't see there being enough room under the hood to mount that many batteries or even mount an 8D Lead-Acid battery. Since there's no room under the hood, did you mount everything in a sealed box in the back of the Suburban? Are you using a motor maul in addition to a high output alternator? If you have everything in back of the Suburban, did you put the batteries in a box and then put a blower on it to pressurize it and vent the fumes outside the Suburban? If there are any other details you can share with us about how you did your setup without frying the trucks electronics and keeping yourself and anyone else traveling in your Suburban safe, please do share it with us and thanks again for your experience and advice.

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    The 4 batterys I have hooked up now are in the back of my work van...It's a Box-type van sorta like a U-Haul truck, and has vents in the back so any fumes can vent out and not create a problem...

    Now on my Suburban, I built a battery box out of 1/2 inch wood that would hold 3 regular size car battery's. Then using 2" PVC pipes I made two vent pipes going out the floor of the Suburban, and had one elbow PVC pointing to the front of the truck, and another pointing to the back...The theory was that while traveling down the road fresh air would be forced into the box, then out the other pipe which faced to the back. Box had a lid on it with weather stripping so it was air tight...

    The 2" PVC pipe is connected to a plastic electrical box connected to the side of the box and ran threw the floor.


    Under the truck looking up you see where the pipes come out and one faces to the front of the truck, the other to the back.

    (that bar running between the two PVC pipes is the tail pipe)

    This worked very well, and I never did smell any battery fumes, plus the batterys are sealed inside the box which is also bolted to the floor, so in the event of the truck somehow ending up "upside-down" the battery's are going nowhere...

    Downside is...you have to drill two 2" holes in the floor-board! (I used drill bits that are usually used for drilling door knob holes in wood...)


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    These are 3 300 amp Iraggi alternators I had mounted in the Suburban.



    I later replaced the alternators with 3 220 amp alternators because the 300 amper's didn't have very many amps out at idle...

    I will say this...I would think twice about running a 16 pill amp. Once you get over something like a 8-pill, you run into all kinds of headaches...Mainly electrical...Took me months before I could get the 16 pill to work in the truck without killing the engine or having the wipers take off on their own every time I keyed the Mic!

    Never fried anything like the computer or anything else, but RF out of the Amp would get into everything until I got everything grounded good...When you get into Amps running over a couple thousand watts, everything has to be perfect...

    When I was running a 8 pill, and driver box, all I had to do was run one extra alternator and a extra battery in the back, and had no other problems...But the 16 pill is a monster! All your wiring needs to be over-sized (I mean like your charge wires from the alternators to your battery's need to be the size of your thumb "02 welding cable" or larger, and if you want to add fuse's, finding ones large enough to work, get real expencive, real quick!)


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