ss2.4lvvt

had my sub system for a year now but always used stock cd mp3 player.. so when i got my jvc cd player, the sound got way better subs hit harder and in concequence started getting headlight dimming.. my alpine amp only required 8 guage wire (500w) so i upgraded to 4 guage which i was told was plenty for 500 watts rms and may be the problem im getting dimming with only 500watts.. so when i was installing the new 4 guage i noticed there is a ring (that the stock ground wire runs thru)with wires that attach to the main harness, which looks like a one of those amp meters, so i guess my question is should i run my ground thru that ring and maybe the car may charge higher to stop the dimming.. or would it hurt the car in some way.. i guess it can only charge so high but on my volt meter its pretty spiratic!, sometimes it will charge at 15v! then after a while of driving will charge at 14.4 or 14, then after a long long drive will only be charging at 13v.. so im thinking its regulating the power being generated for how much draw is on the system.. comments?

Spun

iTrader: (1)

Wheres your amp grounded to now?

First thing you want to do is upgrade the ground wire on the battery, while your at it sand the paint off the spot where the ground is connected to the car

You can try to complete the rest of the big 3 but if replacing the ground wire doesn't work, you might want to look into upgrading your battery, check the FAQ at the top of the section

Your system got louder with the new HU because the LOC you were using gives off a low preout voltage, unless you use a processor (360.1,REQ, Cleansweep) when you changed the HU over you at the least doubled you preout voltage, allowing your amp to put out more power.

brickloaf

he shouldnt have to do the big 3 with only 500 wt. id reccomend looking at a new battery....some people say capacitors work nicley for dimming issues tho.

ss2.4lvvt

the amp is grounded to the stock location where the battery is grounded to.. the stock wiring is bigger than the 4 guage wire im using for my amp.. so it doesnt seem like that needs to be upgraded.. i did try today to put the ground thru the same amp meter thing that the stock ground is thru and seems like the voltage recovers faster but still has that 1 volt drop when music is 17(on cd player) or more.. (max is set to 22 or 23).. when the car is charging at 13 it doesnt seem to drop at all but when its charging at 14.4 or more you see a bigger drop per bass hit.. i was looking at getting a cap, but dont wanna spend 100.00 on something that will "help" the dimming, id rather spend the money on the fix for it..

its not like the cars dying or anything just annoying if i wanna pump my music loud at night and have that small flicker in the lights..

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

run both wires straight to the battery and buy new battery terminals for both the pos and neg. if that doesn't do it a deep cycle higher amperage battery or capacitor might help the issue with dimming

oh ya and running the deck at absolute max isn't normally a good idea

ss2.4lvvt

ok i never worded that right.. first im not a noob at stereos.. im running the stock poineer door speakers thru the stock amp with the cd player... so the deck will go to 40 something or whatever but i put the volume to 22 where they were loud enough for my taste and them raised the gain on the amp till it mixed well with the highs.. the stock sub is taken out, and the alpine amp is only at 3/4 gain.. running a 500w alpine amp and two kenwood exelon 1000w 10" thin subs.. the ones with the cf cone..

but ill go out today and buy a couple of those battery terminals and see what that does..

ShadowSlayer666

Do you have another amp for comps up front too? If you had another amp also i could see you getting dimming, but if its only 500 watts i cant see that happening.

I would suggest the big 3 upgrade, and if that doesn't stop the dimming i would then get a larger battery.


haha i started writing my response while you were too. Never mind on the question on the front speakers.

Spun

iTrader: (1)

Your car is only built to take the amprage that it needs, anything above and beyond that puts a strain on the system, a 500 watt amp still draws like 40 amps give or take which is a big chunk of 105 amps.
IMO its never a bad idea to do the big 3, even if your only running a 250 watt amp, all its doing is reducing the stress on your stock electrical system, thus maybe saving your alt from future meltdowns
The way I look at car stereo is like this, its all about getting power to the amps, its the very first step, without it the amps cant play the subs so anything you can do to help the flow of power is always a good thing.

ss2.4lvvt

ok so i dug under my trunk mat and looked at the terminals.. theres no reason why they should be changed.. other than being not polished like the 15-20.00 terminals there doing the same thing.. umm.. the stock ground wire is actually bigger than the 4 guage wire im using for my amps, and is only a foot long.. theres no reason why that should put less power thru than the 4 guage wire im using.. my power wire to my amps and grounds might be a little over 1 foot long.. so there should be little to no resistance in that short run, i really dont think it has anything to do with my wiring..

while on just battery power the car will run for over an hour before it starts to dip below 12v's so my battery isnt the problem.. i went to a car stereo shop for some advice and he was a good guy and didnt try to sell me extra stuff like caps and batteries like a sales person would, he just told me that gm is bad for giving you just enough amps to run what the car has stock.. so i guess along with my extras running on the car like high wattage bulbs, guages, shift light, higher power cd player.. i think its taking that extra whats left and making the dimming.. he told me truthfully that the only way your gonna fix the problem is with a bigger alt.. he did say too that when you can fix up grounds and stuff it will help but hes worked on those cars and everything with 500w is where it needs to be..

so i will ground the amp directly to the battery and see what that does but other than that im not gonna worry about it too much.. cause im not buying an 600.00 alternator...

thanks for everyones replys though and all your help...

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

i know this is old but i never read up on it. since i cant see your install can ypu physiclly move the battery terminals at all right now?

gm did supply extra power but its at 13.8 not 14.4... dimming is caused by voltage drop and your already .8v lower then the "normal" voltage. Also your 12v battery should never be below 12v. i can almost guarantee your battery is at least some what fucked now, a lead acid battery isn't really meant to be completely drained at 12v your battery is completely drained lower and its fucked beyond belief