here's the setup:
2 18" CompVRs
2 JBL 1200.1 amps
2 1 Farad digital caps
1 Yellow top for the well
1 Reg wet cell for the motor
1/0 for batteries and gonna make ground and alt wire out of it also
1 lifetime AutoZone Alternator

I get the whole isolator system, with the alt. only pushing one battery till it gets full then switching to the other one. So it doesn't strain the alt. till it burns out. And the batteries staying seperate so you can play with power off and still have your main battery fully charged. (I've read about every post on them.)

What I need to know is will 1 yellow top be enough to push my amps at 2 ohms each (around 1300 to 1400 watts each)? If not I might as well get a multiple battery isolator, right? So I can add another yellow top and have 1 amp off each battery.

Also I noticed there a lot of different sizes of isolators amps wize. Should I just get a high 150 or 200 amp rated one that way I know it'll be fine? I really don't wanna waste the cash on another alternator when I paid a good 130 bucks for this one and I can pretty much burn it out as many times as I want.

I guess mainly I'm asking what's the specs (brand, hooks, amps) on they one's isolators you guys are running?

 

NeverMind, I'll just keep on talking to myself. I bought a 200 amp continous and 300 amp peak Pac solenoid type isolator. I also ordered a bunch of plat 1/0 terminal hook ups, rings, and 2 big fuse sets with acouple fuses for each. I'm suppose to go in next week on Tuesday for the custom box and the install. So hopefully if all goes well I can get some pics out to you guys in acouple weeks

 

I am putting in a 800 watt amp with 2 10s. I don't crank my system up... will I need an isolator?

 

i have two 12 type rs with two sony 760 watt amps, that dont ever push 760 cuz its crap, but i have both of them and they are almost full blast and i am doing fine with a stock taurus alt and batt. its been a good 6-7 months now so i am not worried. unless you are pushing serious power like chris aka fireturd350 is then i wouldnt worry about it. is your amp setup to push 800watts or is that what the box says?

 

I kind of doubt it like petey (spartyon) says. I've seen amps that size and bigger before ran off the regular car battery. The main thing is to have a good battery and make sure all your wiring is up to par. If you notice 1/2 of the posts about power on this board they say upgrade the ground wiring and the alt. wiring. That should be enough to set off a flag about the OEM wiring. I noticed in one of the pics on someone's post the OEM wiring was even bare in places... not good ;-)

The only reason you would need an isolator is if you had to run a dual battery or more system. My JBLs say they push 1200 (more like 1300+ each) and they draw 114 amps of current max. So with 2 amps my size that's 228 amps Max draw (in theory). A 800 watt amp should only take say around 70 to 80 (bp600.1 takes 57 max I think) Now the difference in the setups is a lot more clear once you start comparing the maximum draw numbers.

You have a 228 max draw for 2 amps compared to a 80 max off 1 amp.

Course I'm just talking out my *** cause I really don't have any clue on this stuff.