Battery relocation [Merged 3-8]

[TRBOBLU]

EDIT: beat to the punch.

Its ok we still love you

 

[Andrew7DG]

I followed the basic guide to relocating the battery in the back of the car

http://www.geocities.com/dan0myte/mods/battery.html

However it seems that I am loosing power everytime I am starting the car, almost like the battery isn't holding a charge

I did replace the alternator thinking that was the problem (still starting hard)

I tried to make sure that the car is well grounded (grounded it in two places, one is by the spare tire bolt and the other is under the car bolted to the frame)

The positive cable is connected at where the old terminal use to be (used a bolt to tie them together) ran through the fire wall to a fuse, then fuse to battery.

I took off the old negative cable that connected the fire wall to terminal and took the cable that goes to the starter and grounded it to the old firewall location.

What else can I make sure that I have proper connection?

 

[pooker]

Sounds like your pulling power from somewhere, just a shot in the dark but you wouldn't still happen to have an old audio system or something of that sort still hooked up through power and ground?

 

[Talesin]

Make sure that you got both of the cables that used to go to the positive post. What gauge wire did you use for the relocation? Make sure your terminations on that are solid, including taking a wire brush to the old positive terminal ends.. you want shiny metal, no corroded crap. Coat it with some vaseline or anticorrosive spray (or a bit of Coke, works too). Also, make certain that your fuse (I used a circuit breaker instead) mount point isn't letting it nudge up against the body.

Did you remember to get the paint off from under your grounding points? Wire brush, or a dremel wheel to take it down to bare chassis metal? I had flaky problems until I remembered to do that part, on my relocation.

 

[Andrew7DG]

Don't have an audio system in the car. I took it out and the plug doesn't have terminals that can ground out

I used 4 guage wire for the positive and negative

I am also using an acid free/sealed battery and it doesn't have any of the corrosive problems like the other batteries sees. Otherwise I would need a sealed box to put the battery in

The negative cable that was grounded underneith the car, I took all of the paint off so that bare metal was touching. I was going to repaint/seal that connection when this all worked so it doesn't rust.

I am using a breaker 150A

I will double check to make sure that the bolt hasn't come loose on the positive side but I am pretty sure I got that right

thanks for the replys!

If I figure out what is wrong I will post what fixed it.
I believe I did everything right for this mod though...

 

[InfiniteGSX]

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Well I don't know if I've shown any of you my work with carputers. But For my brother my shop (well pretty much just me) did a special install in his FFE Semi Truck. It was loaded with a full ATX x64 Gamming System, Cobra Inverter, 5 Batteries (well 4 were originally the trucks), and a very nice Icolator to keep the Computer battery system away from the Trucks's battery system. Well My brother doesn't work for FFE any more. He works as a daytime driver for Werner so there is no use for his truck to be setup as a home for him.

So all those nice 0gauge wireing we used is going into the Eclipse! My Redtop just died so I just pulled a Waranty and I'm about to go pick up the new Battery. I'm going to be using a NOCO Battery Isolator to split the charging voltage to the two batteries. I'm going to relocate my ECU in the spot where the battery was... and in the spot of the ECU... I'm going to install a Slimline Battery. The slimline will only be used for engine related operations. The Optima Redtop (which will eventually be replaced by a Yellowtop Deep Cycle) will be signaling out the show off stuff. Mainly the Audio... The x64 watercooled computer I have built up and waiting to be placed in the trunk and just other little odds and ends.

This in my opinion is a high performance electrical system! That way I can jam the music all day long, completely kill the battery... and turn the key and the car will start right up. It will not even touch the engines battery power.

Photos will be placed here once the install begins! I just gotta clean up some of the car before I start... I hate working in a dirty environment!

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[InfiniteGSX]

The BATTERY is here! And it fits beautifully where I want it! I'm mounting it where the stock CD Changer went...
On the Forums FAQ, it says that the redtops leak hydrogen gas... but I spoke to Interstate batteries about them and they said that they are completely sealed.... So who knows... I'm still going to make a case for it... with a Plexiglass window.

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[InfiniteGSX]

So far its just a mock up, I got some more cutting to do to make sure that I can fit the top lid. I also have to worry about some kind of tie down. I wanted the Optima tie downs cause I thought I'd have more room... but I don't. The battery barely has enough room to the cables in the front.

When the peice is sanded down and painted black, you shouldn't notice the hole. The cables also have to be swapped around. Cause the ground of the battery is going to be directly bolted to the body of the car... I'm going to sand an area down so it gets 100% ground. And the positive cable is short and the ground is long... It has to be long enough for the positive to reach right behind the seat while also being tucked into the body panels nicely hiden and clamped down. Cause thats where the Isolator is going, in that panel in the middle of the rear tires... I'll get pictures of that tomorrow.

 

[VPrime]

I got a carputer in my talon.. Just an amd athlon 2200... I am always worried about draining my battery, this would be a nice solution... But how does the 2nd battery charge? Does it use the stock alternator? Wouldn't this really over run the alternator and cause it to die sooner?

 

[InfiniteGSX]

Well I'm not exactly too sure it will hurt the alternator. Everything I've read on doing what I'm doing says nothing on it. But I am going to upgrade the Alternator. How the second battery charges is all in the Isolator.

What I'm doing is completely dismanteling some of the harness, and ditching the charge wire. The two white wires that go from the alternator to the Alternator fuse. Then I am using some very very hard 0-4ga. wire to run differen't sets of wires. From the Alt, a big wire will go into the cab, down the driverside door under the carpet, very well hiden, I'll show pictures of this, And then into the Isolator... There it splits into two sections, Battery 1 and Battery 2. Then another wire will go from the Battery 1 Terminal the same route the charge wire came from... but to the Alternator Fuse Uplink. And that way things still run the exact same as they did before and I'll keep the Slimline charged, But the Slimline battery will not be drained by an audio system. So if I kill the Redtop by jamming music... The car will still charge. The Isolator Isolates the voltage into two seperate charge links... and they aren't able to backup!

Since the Alternator has a fuse on it for the rest of the system... I'll also install a Fuse link inside the trunk next to the Isolator for the 2nd Battery. Just for protection.

VPrime, Are you on MP3Car? I used to be but there's no reason for me to be there really... I work with Ben at HybridMobile to build his Mobile Media Center Software, AKA iMedia. I just need to buy a new touchscreen... I had a used Lilli and it didn't last long... But I got it for free. I already have a faceplate built that looks stock for the touchscreen in the center of the dash. It looks soo hot... I wonder if I have photos of it somewhere. I'll locate the photos now.

I got a carputer in my talon.. Just an amd athlon 2200...

You should see my system... AMD x64 X2... 2x1gb of PQI TURBO Memory... Seagate Baracuda 360gb 7400.2 HD! I'm setup! And its being watercooled the second it is put into its new case for the car.

 

[InfiniteGSX]

Well it looks like I won't be using the NOCO Isolator. My brother offered his. Its a Schottky Diode Isolator. Which from what he says, it has absolutely NO voltage drop compared to the NOCO High Performance Isolator I was going to use. From last time I saw it, it was smaller then the NOCO, but he says its larger... So hopefully its not too big, cause the NOCO is already pressing the size of the area I chose for the Isolator to be positioned. I'll get more news on this as soon as possible!

 

[VPrime]

Yes I am on MP3car.com(same name) I dont post much there any more. I think my last post was my Iphone Skin for road Runner..

compared you yours my carputer is sad..
I have an amd athlon 2200, 1gb of SD ram(or was it 512? cant remember), Cheat Ati rage 3d (or tnt2 cant remember which i put in) video card, 10gb hard drive, Also a TV tuner which I Still have to add

Watercooling sounds interesting, But For a daily driver I would be to scared to even bother, just one more thing to go wrong

Any ways plesse keep this updated would like to see how this goes!

 

[InfiniteGSX]

Yeah, Sorry. I would have more updates but I got sick. Might have to go to the hospital...

I had a Shuttle XPC Before this with an AMD Athlon XP 1800+, 512mb of memory and an 80gb hd. All my systems have onboard sound and video...

My newest system has 7.1 Digitial. Both video is an nVidia Chipset. But I haven't done much gamming on it.

I'll have more to show tomorrow when I actually get the new Isolator and get all the wireing done.

 

[InfiniteGSX]

I already have a faceplate built that looks stock for the touchscreen in the center of the dash. It looks soo hot... I wonder if I have photos of it somewhere. I'll locate the photos now.

Here, I wasn't even looking for it and I found it.

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[bostonhatcher]

You're gonna go through alternators like a baby does diapers.

 

[InfiniteGSX]

You're gonna go through alternators like a baby does diapers.

Nah... Only if I constantly keep killing the battery...

 

[bostonhatcher]

Nah... Only if I constantly keep killing the battery...

Yea cause then you're alternator would work way too hard for the first 15 mins. of driving to get your charge up.

I've seen a lot of cars with just sound systems go through an alternator about once a year. I couldn't imagine one alternator to charge two batteries.

 

[bostonhatcher]

Heat is electric hardware's worst enemy. Run out your battery, start your car up, and put your hand around your alternator. It'll run hotter than a prom date and that's why it'll go out every so often.

 

[InfiniteGSX]

Just letting you know, this isn't the first install I've done! The Alternator wont work harder... But the charge will be split into two. And Thats another reason why people with upgraded sound systems... ya know.. they upgrade their alternators!

Original Alternator in a 420A Non Turbo Eclipse is 90 Amps. 75 Amps for a 4G63 Model.
I'm installing a 160-200 Amp High Output Alternator, Which is exactly 20 Amps short of double the power Minimum! One thing I know more then anything, is charging systems! Every vehicle I've owned has had an upgraded and fully built charging system. I have been through every single kind of charging issue you could possibly imagine! So trust me on this one, I know what I'm doing!

*Edit*
BTW, I just noticed... My brothers FFE Truck, which ran 4 OEM Deep Cycle Batteries... Its alternator was 160-180 Amps!

 

[95CarbonEclipse]

^^^Well stated... I've seen some killer setups, but have never seen anyone try to run 2 alternators. Infinite is right... Alt. Upgrade is the key and is essential.

 

[InfiniteGSX]

Actually, I have seen people run TWO HO Alternators. Like this hummer.... I belive he's running 4 Optima Yellowtops and a Jackhammer... Also there's that Pimp My Ride Episode that they installed 4 Yellowtops and a Jackhammer. They had to be running 2 HO Alternators.

The good thing about our cars is that all the alternators are almost identical... with rare differences of maybe a little wider or thinner base. Or different pulley, or different main plug. I could easily rig my Honda's Alternator to fit my Dodge Motor in my DSM Easily! I used to test alternators for a living!

So far I know of a company that makes a 200Amp Alternator for the 420A and the 4G63... but they are going to look it up right now to check on the price. And some specs.

 

[RipperXX]

Well whats the name of said company? I am not looking for a 200amp alt. But I would like something more than my 65/75 amp 1g alt

 

[InfiniteGSX]

Well whats the name of said company? I am not looking for a 200amp alt. But I would like something more than my 65/75 amp 1g alt

There are a few companies. The one I'm going with most likely is Excessive Amperage. I also found HO.

There are a few others also....

 

[VPrime]

You screen bezel looks really nice.. I used a lilliput Eby-701 screen and it just happened to fit with no modding. I just fiberglassed it in place

 

[InfiniteGSX]

Thats pretty much the same screen mine is in that picture. Except the board is damaged so I need a new screen... Badly!