dimming of the lights = annoying!!
07-03-2007, 08:48 PM
#1
0 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 9
dimming of the lights = annoying!!
ok. so i was finally excited to have finally rebuilt my stereo after selling off half of it months ago. noowww, i imagine i could take a bit of time and figure this out, cuz its most likely a simple screw up on my installation, but i do enjoy the different feedbacks and suggestions so this is why i am posting.
my lights are dimming, i need this to stop, its too hard on the electrical for my car. i'll go through my stereo and hopefully i don't leave anything out.
i run a 2 guage dual amp kit (splits to 4 guage into each amp), the kit is fused with 250 amp ANL fuse. i just bought a new battery to replace my older one and the dimming was happening on both batteries. i switched to a dry cell (similar to the yellow tops by optima). i have the biggest altenator you can get for my car (i don't know the amps off it though).
i have two ten inch 4 ohm dual voice coil subs (eclipse SW6000) and they run into a rockford fosgate P6001BD amp. that amplifier is cap'd with a 4 farad capacitor.
i'm running my pioneer premier 6x9's off my old amp which is the P2002. that amp is not cap'd (doesn't need it, not pushing that much power out of it to the pioneers)
my front speakers run off the deck, they are clarion 6.5 component speaker system.
and my deck is the pioneer premier DEH-860MP.
what can i do to stop the dimming of the lights?!?!?!
i changed one of the small grounds off my battery to some 4 guage wire i had left over from my install. and the first suggestion i will make to myself is to go around and check my amplifier grounds to make sure they are not too long and are grounded to a good solid location.
what do others think?
all criticizism and comments are gladly welcomed, and hopefully a solution can be found.
thanks everybody for taking the time read this long winded thread, i appreciate it!
btw if it matters or not, everything is hooked into a 99 malibu.
KH.
my lights are dimming, i need this to stop, its too hard on the electrical for my car. i'll go through my stereo and hopefully i don't leave anything out.
i run a 2 guage dual amp kit (splits to 4 guage into each amp), the kit is fused with 250 amp ANL fuse. i just bought a new battery to replace my older one and the dimming was happening on both batteries. i switched to a dry cell (similar to the yellow tops by optima). i have the biggest altenator you can get for my car (i don't know the amps off it though).
i have two ten inch 4 ohm dual voice coil subs (eclipse SW6000) and they run into a rockford fosgate P6001BD amp. that amplifier is cap'd with a 4 farad capacitor.
i'm running my pioneer premier 6x9's off my old amp which is the P2002. that amp is not cap'd (doesn't need it, not pushing that much power out of it to the pioneers)
my front speakers run off the deck, they are clarion 6.5 component speaker system.
and my deck is the pioneer premier DEH-860MP.
what can i do to stop the dimming of the lights?!?!?!
i changed one of the small grounds off my battery to some 4 guage wire i had left over from my install. and the first suggestion i will make to myself is to go around and check my amplifier grounds to make sure they are not too long and are grounded to a good solid location.
what do others think?
all criticizism and comments are gladly welcomed, and hopefully a solution can be found.
thanks everybody for taking the time read this long winded thread, i appreciate it!
btw if it matters or not, everything is hooked into a 99 malibu.
KH.
07-03-2007, 09:30 PM
#2
what are your total RMS watts? check out the cable selecter sticky thead to make sure you are using the right size cable
add a good cap to both amps.
do the big three under the hood
as you said check your grounds i dont see why you would be having power trobles with that setup as long as you have installed and redone your electrical properly.
add a good cap to both amps.
do the big three under the hood
as you said check your grounds i dont see why you would be having power trobles with that setup as long as you have installed and redone your electrical properly.
07-04-2007, 07:37 AM
#3
Ground from Battery to Chassis should be 0 ga.
Ground from Engine or Alt to Chassis should be 0 ga.
Power from Alt to Battery should be 0 ga.
Those 3 will stop you from choking your electrical system, then you can get full voltage to your stereo, which, hopefully will stop you from draining the electrical your car needs for lights etc.
On another note, 250 amp fuse is too big for 2 ga. wire. 200 max. (and if it shorts, it takes a lot less to start a fire).
But, I suspect the malibu has the standard GM/Delco 105 amp alt. And, since your car needs 35 amps to run ignitian ,lights, a/c, etc., And another 15 to rechage the battery, you have 55 amps available for the stereo. Obviously you can go higher for peaks, or for playing loud, but then you're drawing off the battery, not the alt., which will soon have to recharge.
I'm driving my 6th chevy. In 3 different cavaliers, all 105 amp alt, I replaced the alt 2 times.
Ground from Engine or Alt to Chassis should be 0 ga.
Power from Alt to Battery should be 0 ga.
Those 3 will stop you from choking your electrical system, then you can get full voltage to your stereo, which, hopefully will stop you from draining the electrical your car needs for lights etc.
On another note, 250 amp fuse is too big for 2 ga. wire. 200 max. (and if it shorts, it takes a lot less to start a fire).
But, I suspect the malibu has the standard GM/Delco 105 amp alt. And, since your car needs 35 amps to run ignitian ,lights, a/c, etc., And another 15 to rechage the battery, you have 55 amps available for the stereo. Obviously you can go higher for peaks, or for playing loud, but then you're drawing off the battery, not the alt., which will soon have to recharge.
I'm driving my 6th chevy. In 3 different cavaliers, all 105 amp alt, I replaced the alt 2 times.
07-04-2007, 02:51 PM
#5
0 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 9
i'll begin checking these things out with the grounds.
to the side note...the 250 amp fuse was the one that came with my install kit....unless i am mistaken and it is actually a 200...but i could have swore it was a 250...
on my own side note, i know my cap reads at the highest level i've played it...it would read 40 amps (thats the guage comin off the cap...it displays both volts and amperes).
question though. with changing the ground from my alt to the chassis....where is that ground.....i went lookin for a spot where a ground comes off the alt...and i can't seem to find one. my alt bolts onto the bracket coming off the engine, and i just always assumed that that was where it grounded...
ohh for the guy whose lights went brighter.... doesn't that mean your pushing another power source into your electrical system....so it'll run everything at a higher voltage...which to me isn't too good of a thing, u'll burn everything out...thats kinda my thoughts on it....
to the side note...the 250 amp fuse was the one that came with my install kit....unless i am mistaken and it is actually a 200...but i could have swore it was a 250...
on my own side note, i know my cap reads at the highest level i've played it...it would read 40 amps (thats the guage comin off the cap...it displays both volts and amperes).
question though. with changing the ground from my alt to the chassis....where is that ground.....i went lookin for a spot where a ground comes off the alt...and i can't seem to find one. my alt bolts onto the bracket coming off the engine, and i just always assumed that that was where it grounded...
ohh for the guy whose lights went brighter.... doesn't that mean your pushing another power source into your electrical system....so it'll run everything at a higher voltage...which to me isn't too good of a thing, u'll burn everything out...thats kinda my thoughts on it....
07-05-2007, 06:24 PM
#7
0 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 9
ok, so some new stuff on this. i moved my one amp and the cap to a new location, and did new grounds etc, etc... and so i was finally able to take a look at the readouts on my cap when the system is playin full out, n holy crap, i didn't realize it, but the readout on the hardest bass hits is 106 amps!
so i'm kinda wondering if they make a bigger alternator that will fit on my car???
what else can i do in order to help out this huge power drain?
well...i'm lookin into wiring the subs to 4 ohm instead of 2....and so run them off just the one speaker output on the amp. and i've played around with the settings on the deck, and the gain on the amp, but i want the hard hit of the bass...if i move the setting around too much i'm not happy with the amount of bass coming off.
basically is there something i can do to keep them at 2 ohms....
thanks,
so i'm kinda wondering if they make a bigger alternator that will fit on my car???
what else can i do in order to help out this huge power drain?
well...i'm lookin into wiring the subs to 4 ohm instead of 2....and so run them off just the one speaker output on the amp. and i've played around with the settings on the deck, and the gain on the amp, but i want the hard hit of the bass...if i move the setting around too much i'm not happy with the amount of bass coming off.
basically is there something i can do to keep them at 2 ohms....
thanks,
07-10-2007, 03:45 PM
#9
0 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 9
k, so i haven't fixed the problem yet, but i am thinking more and more that maybe my capacitor is faulty.....but i don't quite know how to check it to see if it is working properly or not??
and actually...106 amps is going to be quite normal if i run 2 ohms. i found out that at full boar (assuming a 14.4V output) my amp can push about 150 amps with the wattage (just over 2000 watts). i run 13.9V output, and i don't play 2000 watts, so the 106 amps, is probably a close answer.
anyways if the caps fried, then i am kind of toying around with the idea of putting in another dry cell batt, and hooking up an isolator and run the system off the second batt or i may price out a new cap
and actually...106 amps is going to be quite normal if i run 2 ohms. i found out that at full boar (assuming a 14.4V output) my amp can push about 150 amps with the wattage (just over 2000 watts). i run 13.9V output, and i don't play 2000 watts, so the 106 amps, is probably a close answer.
anyways if the caps fried, then i am kind of toying around with the idea of putting in another dry cell batt, and hooking up an isolator and run the system off the second batt or i may price out a new cap
07-11-2007, 03:08 AM
#10
500 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 633
Your alternator is grounded to your engine and I'm assuming your amps are grounded to the chasis. What I did was run a ground from an alt. bolt to a spot on the front shock tower, it was short and sweet. Also ground your engine to your neg. battery. Use 1/0 wire as said before, don't be shy about using welding cable, I won't tell anybody. As far as spending money on a cap, look into finding an alternator shop that can rewind your alt. to a higher amperage. I myself have not looked into it, from what I hear most shops will/can only get maybe 20+ more amps out of your original alt. I've heard some people jokingly (or maybe not) suggest finding an alternator from a big diesel truck. Consider this, if you get another cap you will have to feed it power from your alt/battery, when it depletes you will have to feed it again, if you have two batteries your same alternator will have more to charge. Speaking from logic, lower the resistance of your electrical system to provide less of a voltage drop and find some way of providing more amperage to your system to take away some of that starvation. Feed the needy
