T-Roy31

Okay, well finally I'm somewhat back in the car audio game... Picked up my equipment last night from a buddy (had a similar setup at one point except I had a Type R and not an X, the box was mine also.)

Anyway, MRD M1005 amp, Type X 12, 3cubes tuned to 30hz.

Now, the car is an '85 Nissan 200sx... I don't have the amp quite tuned yet, but as it is, I'm getting major voltage drops. Like down to 10v on some bass notes according to the amp and back up to 14 when its turned down, not to mention my dash voltage gauge goes crazy!

The alternator is something like 60amps, and I don't think I can get one any higher than that. The battery is just a cheap one whatever it is... I'm planning on taking the car into work today and putting it on the AVR machine to test the charging system.

Now, I've thought about the big 3, but seems kinda difficult to do on this car lol. The positive cable goes from the battery to the starter, on the batt terminal there is a little block that attaches to it with a few wires (small gauge wires) going to various things. One of them being the alternator... Would it be wise to leave this alone, or should I maybe run a bigger (separate) cable from the battery to alt.?

Also, the neg from the batt goes to the battery tray underneath, and then from there to somewhere under the motor. Can I add another ground from the shock tower per say to the negative and expect some results?

Aaand lastly I guess, should I upgrade my battery? This one seems pretty old and tired. It works well for starting the car and what not no problem, but yeah.
What about one of these? http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84552444330 3178&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474396672453&bmUID= 1222025984460&deptid=1408474396672395&ctgrid=14084 74396672400&subctgrid=1408474396672453
(Motomaster Spiral Grid battery)
I've priced it out and it's about $200!

Anyone have some tips, pointers? I've been away from the car audio thing for a while...

avidedtr

iTrader: (11)

Start with a good battery. Optima Red Tops work well try costco -even walmart has them on sale often. you can probably get a higher output alt for your car.

Big 3 is a MUST - I was a pain in the *** on my car but I did it!

T-Roy31

Thanks for the reply... Went in and put the AVR on the battery and alternator, alternator passed, but the battery failed with like 429cca... So I bought that a new one, that motomaster spiral cell one. Didn't have the money on me otherwise I would have went to Wal-Mart and bought an Optima. At C-Tire I was able to put it on an invoice and pay for it later... Anyway, solved a HUGE portion of my problem.

It was like $160 or something, and it's 770cca... But yeah, put it in and noticed a big difference in loudness along with voltage! Still drops, but it's a far cry from what it was. Can't believe how much louder it is now..

I think I'm going to go out here right away and see what I can do as far as the Big 3 goes. Got a couple ring terminals and some 4gauge laying around, might make another ground, or maybe alternator to battery for now.

danyman

iTrader: (1)

Big 3 should be with the biggest wire you can get. 0 gauge would be better than 4. do overkill lol. btw just run the wire from the alt to the battery. add on to it, dont remove ( might save you later if something goes wrong with the upgrade ) soooo should be easier for ya instead of fishing all of the wires that are in there.

T-Roy31

Nah, I was gonna leave em on there anyway and just add to it. I would go bigger but it's so hard to find ring terminals to fit that around here. Ended up using some left over Stinger 4 gauge... I got the Alt to batt + done, got the neg - to chassis cable made up, just have to undo a shock tower bolt tomorrow and put it on. Then I guess all that's left is just engine to chassis.

I'm thinking the 4 gauge is a good improvement over the stock lol, considering the Alt wire that comes factory is about 12 gauge or so.

Guess it wasn't so bad after all... I'll have to see what can of improvement I can expect when I go for a drive tomorrow after I'm all said and done.

BTW, what's the best place to ground from the Engine to Chassis?

danyman

iTrader: (1)

somewhere on the block to the a bolt on the frame

T-Roy31

Hahah yeah I guess I could have figured that out... Just meant like where would be easiest? But I guess I'd have to answer that myself too because all vehicles are different lol.

danyman

iTrader: (1)

yup lol

evernine

if your experiencing this big of a voltage drop, id definitly consider putting in a capacitor. ya, now you have a spiral cell battery in but your putting so much strain on the battery and the amp, if you put in a capacitor it will not put the strain on the battery because the cap. is storing power from the battery so you put the strain on the cap which is what it is ment for.

danyman

iTrader: (1)

voltage drop means your out of amperage. get a bigger alt. and since the current alt. is around 60amps. well its small that it seems to be the problem. a cap will just reenforce the voltage but its still missing amperage to supply the amp