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14V Systems?


nyryan2001

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Seems like everyone is trying to squeeze every bit of juice out of their electrical systems and battery reserves...and use up every inch of space to add more battery reserves for Amp hours or reserve capacity in batteries to their battery banks.

Has anyone considered doing a 14V setup for their "stereo" bank? 14V batteries and a 14V charger? if our engines charge at 14.4v.... and you top off with shore charging with a 14V charger, how could you go wrong?

We are talking like 20% or so more power output in many cases in your amps between 12.4ish and 14.4ish..... or if you are modest, you can play your systems "lighter" with the engine off with the same effort on the system.

The more extreme your setup and more wattage in your system, the more you have to gain by doing this. The only drawback I see is the upfront cost of getting the 14V batteries. But folks are jumping on the golf cart batteries and those arent cheap either. Folks want peak efficiency and certainly are willing to pay for it. Folks in the extreme car audio have been doing this for years.... 14V, 16V and even 18V setups to pull every watt they can out of their amps.

Systems would certainly perform much better even with the engines running, ie drop to 12.9 when the bass drops.... a lot less variance.... and with the increased output, you could in theory, play your systems some % lighter when floating. :whistle:

14V Battery

14v 15 amp charger

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ryan,

I haven't tried it in order to measure the results under various conditions nor have I heard good arguements either way to form my own opinion. I would consult with a true expert on this to find out more than just the surface appeal. Here are some of the considerations I would ask about:

For what industry applications were these batteries actually produced for in the first place.

We know that a standard fully charged 12V flooded battery rests at 12.7 volts (perhaps 12.8 on an AGM). I'm assuming since these batteries increase in 2 volt increments that they all use 2 volt cells in series. So a fully charged 14 volt battery might rest at 14.8 volts. A charge won't be applied until the charging source is higher than the battery charge. As measured at the battery terminals the voltage has dropped from the alternator output when normal vehicle equippment is engaged and certainly sags further with a large stereo. So can a standard alternator intended for a 12 volt system keep these batteries fully charged or will you get to a destination somewhat under-charged.

Certainly unregulated amplifiers produce a premium of output with higher voltage. Competition systems are all about short bursts rather than sustained performance. Do these competition systems usually run a separate alternator or a modified alternator.

With current draw voltage will drop so I would look at the ratio of lower voltage and higher amp/hours versus higher voltage and lower amp/hours in order to calculate what the remaining voltage would be after a certain duration of hard play at rest. The benefits may compress over time and use unless you have equal reserves in both.

With a higher voltage battery I would think you will be almost solely dependent shore charging for restoration. It would seem that a 15 amp AC charger could sufficiently service three 50 A/H batteries. Look at how much reserves you will need and how many chargers are required to properly desulphate and condition the batteries. The deeper the cycles the more likely you will under-charge relating to desulphation if you do not have adequate current capacity. Under-charging could rapidly lead to diminished battery reserves and nullify much of the added initial benefits.

David

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Thanks David, I actually Understood That...LOL Most of that stuff go's right over my head, My old 12v set up worked good, But I'm kinda hard on stuff, I Have VCI.....Volume Control Issues, So I think this New 6V system will work just Fine!!!

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Thanks David, I actually Understood That...LOL Most of that stuff go's right over my head, My old 12v set up worked good, But I'm kinda hard on stuff, I Have VCI.....Volume Control Issues, So I think this New 6V system will work just Fine!!!

Vince - everytime I see that Oregon helmet I just want to say thank for not playing Lache Seastrunk and allowing him to transfer to Baylor!!!!!

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We are talking like 20% or so more power output in many cases in your amps between 12.4ish and 14.4ish..... or if you are modest, you can play your systems "lighter" with the engine off with the same effort on the system.

While this is commonly done in car audio competition environments the results in a boat would be dubious at best. Definitely an interesting idea and I understand the allure and why you brought it up, but would consider the gains well beyond the point of diminishing returns. You need to separate the audibility from the increase. It takes quite some extra output to hear the difference, 20% really isn't all that much. Definitely something that you can measure, but measuring does nothing for your ears. Add to that there are cheaper ways of gaining that 20% I would avoid it. As for the playing the system lighter, if it has the same output it is doing the same amount of work. Sure it'll pull on your batteries less, but adding another 12v battery is rather cheap and will more than compensate for the potential gain.

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Vince - everytime I see that Oregon helmet I just want to say thank for not playing Lache Seastrunk and allowing him to transfer to Baylor!!!!!

You Crack me up...LOL it will be nice to see how well he does!!! I hope the best for him,
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