you should be able to play music for 20 minutes without it hurting the battery, otherwise you might have a bad alternator. Or are you running thousands of watts off that battery without the engine running?
it seems like u have a huge music system that drains a "new battery" quickly
why do u need to listen to music when the engine is not running ??
actually yep a larger battery will give you more minutes or hours to play the music when your engine is not running
but I think u already know that when the engine is running the battery is charging
Touch the battery terminals with an inexpensive multi-tester (volt meter) set @ 20 volts with the engine running. If the volt meter reads between 13.5 - 14.2 volts *with every electrical accessory on, the alternator is charging properly.
sounds like an alternator problem...
No, buying a better battery won't improve the problem. Actually, the battery only is supposed to power the car for a few seconds while starting. Then the alternator starts putting electricity INTO the battery. The only other time the battery would be used is if the engine was off and you were running electrical things, like headlights or the radio, etc.
So if your car is running while the battery is running down, then most likely the alternator is going bad. And if you do replace the alternator with one of O Reilly's rebuilt units, make sure your battery is mostly charged up rather than dead so you don't over stress the new alternator. These rebuilt alternators don't seem to be a robust as a new OEM part, but they do come with a lifetime warranty. O Reilly can charge up your battery for you for free if you would like.
I have a 1986 Buick century limited 3.8l. I had bought a $100 battery from oriley's auto parts. It works fine just when I have my music playing I think it drains the battery. If I buy a better battery (I know there's better ones out there) will it improve anything? Will it stop my lights from dimming and my interior light from dimming?
