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the radio is most likely 180/200/or 208 watts. Probably 208 if it's nice.
Just replace the belt? Any special tips for that?
yeah belt dressing also makes a HUGE mess.
Uh, how's 200 watts even possible? Remember that energy cannot be created nor destroyed, now let's move on:
10 Ampres (The radio and clock fuse rating in a civic.) @ 14 Volts (the average voltage of the car's electrical system with the alternator running properly) gives you 140 Watts of available power.
Out of the 140 Watts, you have the lights on the front of the stereo and the cd player motor, and the car's clock. Let's call this 0.5A, so that's 7 watts.
140 - 7 = 133 Watts left.
Now let's give your stereo the benefit of the doubt, and call it a Class B audio amp (Not the most efficent, but not the best sounding either, good compromise.) That'll have a theoretical maximum of 78.5% efficency.
133 * 0.785 = 104.405 Watts of Audio Energy.
That gives your cd player the maximum output of all channels as about 104 Watts. Divide that by the number of channels (4 in most cases) and that gives you 26 watts.
104.405 watts total output / 4 channels = 26.10125 Watts per channel RMS
So, as you see, 200 watts isn't possible from a head unit, much less, over 26.10125 (significant digit rounding makes it 26.1 W) watts.
Have a great day.
EDIT: I just realized that it'll probably be a Class D ampliflier in the head unit, so replace the 78.5 figure with 95. I also forgot the power lost in heating up the wiring too, so remember to figure that in. It's a rough estimate, but I'd leave the final figure at somewhere around 20 watts per channel maxumim. Remember that in reality, those head units never draw anywhere near the full 10 amps available.
A 200 watt pioneer has 22 watt RMS though
HM. Well, my belt does squeak. I don't know how to tell how worn it is. I'm pretty damn sure that's the stock belt, just like everything else on the fucking car was when I got it (ehem timing belt, headgasket....). I might just replace it, just for the sake of it.
If you have a repair manual they usually have pics in em of belts that need replaced, thatd be a good place to start. Otherwise, look for things like cracks, torn edges, or fraying edges. If non of that is goin on, just rub it down with some wax and youll be good to go.
I doubt that it's stock, but you might as well replace it
Although the belt can start to crack, that's not the only thing that can go wrong. What typically happens is that the "v"s or groove in the belt wear out and that's what causes the belt to start to squeak. And I've never heard of "waxing" a belt before.
Unless the belt is loose, just replace it, it's only like $8-12 bucks.
You can also use bar soap, or so I've been told.