Optima installed...STill have MAD dimming.
10-15-2006, 08:51 PM
#1
Optima installed...STill have MAD dimming.
Aight folks if you remember from my last thread I had/ still have crazy dimming issues.
SInce last thread I've completly finish the big 3 with all 0 guage power wire from knukonceptz.com. Their Kollossus or w/e cable the thickest you can buy 2.89US/Foot.
Anyways. I bought a Optima last weekend. Before installing it i read voltage it read 12.7V my stock read 12.4V unlplugged. Installed it in place of my motomaster elminator 630CCA. (optima d34 750CCA)
So I'm like hell ya the optima gonna fix my dimming or improve it atleast.
Nope didn't help my dimming one farking bit. Voltage still drops to 12.5ish V on the heavy bass notes.
WTF is left to do ?
My guess is run a dedicated 0 guage grounf from the - from battery under hood to the amps.....
If that don't help i'm going to pull my hair out. The 180 amp alternator, optima battery, big 3 all useless ahhhhhhhhhhhh wat a waste of money........
SInce last thread I've completly finish the big 3 with all 0 guage power wire from knukonceptz.com. Their Kollossus or w/e cable the thickest you can buy 2.89US/Foot.
Anyways. I bought a Optima last weekend. Before installing it i read voltage it read 12.7V my stock read 12.4V unlplugged. Installed it in place of my motomaster elminator 630CCA. (optima d34 750CCA)
So I'm like hell ya the optima gonna fix my dimming or improve it atleast.
Nope didn't help my dimming one farking bit. Voltage still drops to 12.5ish V on the heavy bass notes.
WTF is left to do ?
My guess is run a dedicated 0 guage grounf from the - from battery under hood to the amps.....
If that don't help i'm going to pull my hair out. The 180 amp alternator, optima battery, big 3 all useless ahhhhhhhhhhhh wat a waste of money........
10-15-2006, 09:23 PM
#3
500 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 756
Voltage still drops to 12.5ish V on the heavy bass notes.
Not to sound preachy, but I'm gonna run down the list for you, check off each one.
1) Are the stock battery cables clean, tight, & corrosion free?
2) Is the alternator charging correctly? Is the belt tight and not slipping? ~14.5 volts engine running, no accessories on. Turn the headlights on, does it drop a tenth or two (it should)? Turn everything on, except the stereo, like headlights, rear defrost, A/C, heated seats, etc. etc. The volts should not go below 14.0v. When bass causes it to drop to 12.5v, is it at idle speed? What if you have someone hold the engine at 2000rpm, does it cure the problem? If yes, your alternator isn't spinning fast enough, you need to make sure the belt isn't slipping, or a smaller pulley.
3) Big 3, is actually much more than three for high current systems. ALL these should be upgraded from stock.
a) Positive, from alternator output to battery.
b) Positive, from battery to amplifiers.
c) Negative, from battery to alternator (or good engine ground, close to the alternator, or both).
d) Negative, from battery, to vehicle frame. The inside wheelwell, or rad support commonly mistaken & used for this, is NOT the frame, it is the body.
e) Negative, from battery to vehicle body.
f) Negative, from engine to frame.
g) Negative, from frame to amplifiers.
h) Negative, at rear/in the trunk, from vehicle frame to vehicle body.
If all that doesn't help a lot, then yes do:
i) Run a negative cable from the battery all the way to back, ground to the frame, and then ground the amps to the same spot. Also, the sheet metal in the trunk of a vehicle is NOT a good ground, you want thick steel, go for the frame.
4) Do you have a capacitor? Is it hooked up correctly?
10-15-2006, 11:31 PM
#5
50 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 357
now that i was reading the post a little more is this on idle or max rpm's?
my alternator runs at 80 on idle and at 2200 its at 170 amps so i would actually do the grounds then if that doesnt work get a DMM play your music rev the car and see what your getting still.
my alternator runs at 80 on idle and at 2200 its at 170 amps so i would actually do the grounds then if that doesnt work get a DMM play your music rev the car and see what your getting still.
10-16-2006, 07:12 AM
#6
Originally Posted by GrizZz
Something ain't right then. You're missing something, or a component has failed...
Not to sound preachy, but I'm gonna run down the list for you, check off each one.
1) Are the stock battery cables clean, tight, & corrosion free?
2) Is the alternator charging correctly? Is the belt tight and not slipping? ~14.5 volts engine running, no accessories on. Turn the headlights on, does it drop a tenth or two (it should)? Turn everything on, except the stereo, like headlights, rear defrost, A/C, heated seats, etc. etc. The volts should not go below 14.0v. When bass causes it to drop to 12.5v, is it at idle speed? What if you have someone hold the engine at 2000rpm, does it cure the problem? If yes, your alternator isn't spinning fast enough, you need to make sure the belt isn't slipping, or a smaller pulley.
3) Big 3, is actually much more than three for high current systems. ALL these should be upgraded from stock.
a) Positive, from alternator output to battery.
b) Positive, from battery to amplifiers.
c) Negative, from battery to alternator (or good engine ground, close to the alternator, or both).
d) Negative, from battery, to vehicle frame. The inside wheelwell, or rad support commonly mistaken & used for this, is NOT the frame, it is the body.
e) Negative, from battery to vehicle body.
f) Negative, from engine to frame.
g) Negative, from frame to amplifiers.
h) Negative, at rear/in the trunk, from vehicle frame to vehicle body.
If all that doesn't help a lot, then yes do:
i) Run a negative cable from the battery all the way to back, ground to the frame, and then ground the amps to the same spot. Also, the sheet metal in the trunk of a vehicle is NOT a good ground, you want thick steel, go for the frame.
4) Do you have a capacitor? Is it hooked up correctly?
Not to sound preachy, but I'm gonna run down the list for you, check off each one.
1) Are the stock battery cables clean, tight, & corrosion free?
2) Is the alternator charging correctly? Is the belt tight and not slipping? ~14.5 volts engine running, no accessories on. Turn the headlights on, does it drop a tenth or two (it should)? Turn everything on, except the stereo, like headlights, rear defrost, A/C, heated seats, etc. etc. The volts should not go below 14.0v. When bass causes it to drop to 12.5v, is it at idle speed? What if you have someone hold the engine at 2000rpm, does it cure the problem? If yes, your alternator isn't spinning fast enough, you need to make sure the belt isn't slipping, or a smaller pulley.
3) Big 3, is actually much more than three for high current systems. ALL these should be upgraded from stock.
a) Positive, from alternator output to battery.
b) Positive, from battery to amplifiers.
c) Negative, from battery to alternator (or good engine ground, close to the alternator, or both).
d) Negative, from battery, to vehicle frame. The inside wheelwell, or rad support commonly mistaken & used for this, is NOT the frame, it is the body.
e) Negative, from battery to vehicle body.
f) Negative, from engine to frame.
g) Negative, from frame to amplifiers.
h) Negative, at rear/in the trunk, from vehicle frame to vehicle body.
If all that doesn't help a lot, then yes do:
i) Run a negative cable from the battery all the way to back, ground to the frame, and then ground the amps to the same spot. Also, the sheet metal in the trunk of a vehicle is NOT a good ground, you want thick steel, go for the frame.
4) Do you have a capacitor? Is it hooked up correctly?
2) Not sure if belt is tight or not. Had it installed at a mechanic and they checked it after and said its perfectly fine. I know for a fact when I rev the engine everything stays up nice and bright except on really heavy bass notes. For example no music on nothing but headlights rev engine from idle lights get brighter. Now this indicates something.
Somone else has told me that aftermarket high output alts are not as good as stock alts as the aftermarket ideal IDLE is a bit above 1K rpm my stock idle is a little bit less. 800-900RPM.
3) WOW i dont think i can afford to all the other wones with 0 guage power wire thats gonna break the BANK.......I have A,B,C,D,E,G, the rest I'm not 100% sure about.
and for H i think that is my problem I use to have a 5 farad cap and it was grounded to the rear right wheel well and ya it was good with the cap. Now its grounded to somethign that I'm sure is kinda like sheet metal maybe not. But it is sanded like a ****.
Reason the wheel well is not used atm is i deadened over it. So i'm going to have to remove the deadening or something.
4) Had the 5 Farad sold it for 140BUX and put in extra 60 to get yellow top. Lotta people reccomened this to me.
I really will re do the ground at the rear of the trunk first and then attack the couple I'm missing in the front. Thanks.
will post back when done.
10-16-2006, 12:14 PM
#7
500 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 756
1) K, stock terminals aren't used, that's fine, as long as you didn't disable the stock wires. The stock wires should still be used, you ADD cabling, not disable stock cabling.
2) (motor off) If you can get your hand on the alternator fan (some are internal and you can't), give it a push with your thumb. If you can turn the alternator, and not the engine, your belt is slipping. If you can't get at the alternator fan, try grabbing the belt itself and pulling it along... if you can move it without turning the engine, it's slipping. Yes, a smaller pulley will help the problem at idle, at a cost of hp loss, and possible auto tranny shift points could go awry. Experiment, use whatever size works best.
Do not use the wheel well only. It is vehicle body, and you'll be pulling all the power through the spot welds of your body parts (not a good idea). You can use the wheel well too, but you want frame, hard steel, thick stuff. Common practice is to ground the amps to the thin metal (wheel well), and then run another cable from the other side, under the car, to the frame. Then you only need a piece less than a foot long. In unibody cars this can really suck, and I recommend you run a full length ground from the front to the back for a unibody.
I wasn't recommending you get a cap, I was just insuring that if you do have one, it is installed properlly. A cap is the least of your worries, proper cabling and the Optima, all installed correctly, will make a cap seem redundant.
2) (motor off) If you can get your hand on the alternator fan (some are internal and you can't), give it a push with your thumb. If you can turn the alternator, and not the engine, your belt is slipping. If you can't get at the alternator fan, try grabbing the belt itself and pulling it along... if you can move it without turning the engine, it's slipping. Yes, a smaller pulley will help the problem at idle, at a cost of hp loss, and possible auto tranny shift points could go awry. Experiment, use whatever size works best.
Do not use the wheel well only. It is vehicle body, and you'll be pulling all the power through the spot welds of your body parts (not a good idea). You can use the wheel well too, but you want frame, hard steel, thick stuff. Common practice is to ground the amps to the thin metal (wheel well), and then run another cable from the other side, under the car, to the frame. Then you only need a piece less than a foot long. In unibody cars this can really suck, and I recommend you run a full length ground from the front to the back for a unibody.
I wasn't recommending you get a cap, I was just insuring that if you do have one, it is installed properlly. A cap is the least of your worries, proper cabling and the Optima, all installed correctly, will make a cap seem redundant.
07-15-2007, 08:26 PM
#8
didn't want to bring this back from the dead but finally found the issue.
my high output alt just blew on Saturday. Now all mechanics being closed and since the last little while i been doing stuff myself with the car.
Swapped back in the stock alternator and TORQUED it to SPEC for the TENSION..........
and all i can say is the mother ****ing mechanic who installed my new alternator belt 2 months ago (and the one who installed the alt 2 year ago)
NEVER ****ING put the CORRECT tension on the belt.
I will never trust a mechanic again ****ing douche bags all they use is air tools.
My problems with the dimming are now solved........
my high output alt just blew on Saturday. Now all mechanics being closed and since the last little while i been doing stuff myself with the car.
Swapped back in the stock alternator and TORQUED it to SPEC for the TENSION..........
and all i can say is the mother ****ing mechanic who installed my new alternator belt 2 months ago (and the one who installed the alt 2 year ago)
NEVER ****ING put the CORRECT tension on the belt.
I will never trust a mechanic again ****ing douche bags all they use is air tools.
My problems with the dimming are now solved........
07-15-2007, 09:04 PM
#10
Originally Posted by Toddyboy
Awesome new buddy a job well done is a job done by yourself im glad is all good now boom away
