Slimsta

SQmonster - where in coquitlam do you have it?
lpchouinard - never tried with the car off. the lights dim just a little bit when bass note hits, it's not a huge problem to me, in fact, i dont care if they dim, all im worried about is the car not turning on one day cuz the batt is dead.
DaVibe - i just bought this brand new 2010 civic like half a year ago.. so i dont think so.


that's weird, is 0 gauge that special or something? lol i bet im not the only one around here that has that problem :/

lpchouinard

car off "Alt to Battery+" and "Engine to Battery-" serve no purpose.

If light dim with the "Battery- to Chassis" car off, then there's another problem that the big3 won't resolve(bad battery, bad ground...)

Also on all car i worked on the Alt wire size was always sufficient for the amp the alt can put out. IMO the most important part are the ground, on my van i used to have the BIG3 and removed the "Alt to Battery+" after a few weeks since it didn't help on the voltage drop but the 2 ground did.

lpchouinard

oh btw newer Honda have what they call a ELD(Electrical Load Detector), so basicly if the ELD doesn't know your system is pulling current it doesn't tell the Alt regulator to produce more power. So with this you might end up with voltage below 12v... TY Honda

Tony Dehnke

LP... do you know when Honda started putting that in? Good to know.. I know alot of newer vehicles not kick the alternator in until RPM's increase when started.

lpchouinard

I shouldn't have said "newer", it's been there for a long while (90's). Google honda ELD and you will find many discussion on the subject.

Slimsta

so you want me to connect the batt negative to the frame of the car (any metal) then turn the key just so the electricity in the car go (engine still off) and turn on the headlights with some music with bass and see if the lights dim?
they wont dim unless i got up with the volume. the lights are fine when my volume is 13/40 but when its 20+/40 then this is when i notice the lights dim (and it also depends on the song's bass too)

tpcustomauto

ask your self what is the point of the big three well it's to reduce the resistance that is what will give you more power so why just do the ground no point the only way this will make a difference is if you have a bad ground to begin with. it dosen't sound to me that you even need this if the lights don't always dim don't worry also you said your car is a 2010 so you probly have the original battery in it change it to an optima yellow top

jalat

iTrader: (6)

What size of wiring is used right now?

You dont have a strong electrical to start with... lets face it, its a honda.

You will always have some kind of light dimmage with your system, unless you stay above 13V at all times which I highly doubt you do.

I would do the BIG 3 as it can do nothing but benefit your system. If push comes to shove, put an extra batt in the trunk and double up your grounds.

JohnVroom

not exactly it MIGHT lower the resistance but it WILL allow more current to flow...but it wont make more power. The point of the big3 is to increase wire gauge to allow more current flow to allow a stock electrical system to perform as well as it can into a heavier than stock load. It cannot compensate for a crappy alternator, battery or voltage regulator nor can it make a huge *** power draw anything other than a huge *** power draw that the stock system was never designed to feed.


while I disagree with this comment electrically the fresh battery may be part of or even the entire solution IF it is larger (more CCA) than stock... and this is where I usually recommend a second battery. Frankly at the 1000 watt point it shouldnt be doing drastic light dimming but it should be precievable.

And for the record the 4 gauge big 3 would do, but you might want to upgrade so I would lean to the larger cable... and for goodness sake take up MR2NR's deal, he probably has a 'going out of business' deal you wouldn't believe

tpcustomauto

exactly what I ment just worded different