3 red tops, dimming headlights

Kryptonitewhite
10+ year member

CarAudio.com Elite
OK, we JUST got the car a few weeks ago and started installing the system. it's not done yet by a long shot. I do not have the big 3 done yet. I do not have a HO alt. however, I used to run 1 red top under the hood and 1 stinger spv70 in the back without big 3 or HO alt in an Olds Cutlass and Dodge Intrepid with ZERO problems. the systems in those were WAY louder and hit much much harder than this one, plus I had a kicker 350.4 and 200.2 in those as well. when I ran the lanzar in it, it was at 1 ohm , now only 2 ohm, and before that an inefficient Audiobahn A1500HCT that popped 100amp fuses left and right till I just ran the power wire strait to the battery no fuse.

this one is totally not ready... single 2 ohm coil on a Lanzar OPTI2000D...and it clips very easily. I can hear clipping and I back it off. Sometimes the sub starts to stink a little. The amp is rated 1100 RMS @ 2ohms, but I am going to guess I'm doing no more than 900. We first put 1 redtop under the hood and hooked up 1 of the 5 in back. With 2 hooked up, no big 3 or HO alt, I STILL should not get any headlight dimming even "full tilt" at 2 ohm, but I cant do that or I clip and cook. But we keep it real, real low because of that..and it still dims! Hooked up a second in back and took the extra 3 batteries completely out for now. Same problem... solid grounds for both of them.

What gives? 10 amp draw per battery, so 20 extra amps now from the 2 in back . Just guessing no more than 50 amps for the amp (probobly much less) so yeah yeah, maybe up to 70 amps in addition to normal current draw, but still... i never had that with my intrepid or cutlass!

OLDs... 1 red top, 1 stinger spv 70, 1 Audiobahn A1500HCT 1 Kicker KX350.4... no big 3, no HO alt! (had that worthless cap in there for a while, oooh... 1 farad... I'd take 1 battery over 100 farads any day of the week)

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/553176

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INTREP... lanzar opti 1ohm, kicker 350.4 and 200.2... red top and yellow top, no big 3, no HO, NO DIM!

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even ran a XX-Colossus I bought Hexi... but it was damaged, clipped at low power, not near as loud as the other 2 amps... current draw minimal

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used to use 8 guage power wire and distro blocks for speaker wire for very low resistance

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you sure all the batts are good?
thats what I have been wondering, I bought all 6 brand new 3 years ago. 4 of them have never been used till now, 2 of them I used a little under the hood. So 4 unused, 2 barely used. Sitting for 3 years shouldn't do anything, would it?

I have a DMM, but I am assuming they will show a 12.4 volt charge... "good" or "bad"... right? No real load on them....

 
check them with the DMM. but if you havent charged them in the 3 years (installed in a vehicle, or on a batt charger) i would assume they need a good charge before you use them

ive heard they could still be dead or depleted and still show a "good" charge (~12.5v).

 
check them with the DMM. but if you havent charged them in the 3 years (installed in a vehicle, or on a batt charger) i would assume they need a good charge before you use them
ive heard they could still be dead or depleted and still show a "good" charge (~12.5v).
the 3 in-car i let charge after I hooked them up while we finished the install, cuz I guessed the same.

just took DMM to 3 batts in the house... 1 unused, and the 2 used. The unused was 12.04, 1 used was 12.36, and the other was 12.42

I think youre right, just cuz they say 12V+ doesn't mean they are "good" //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 
you have a shitty alt, adding batteries isnt going to fix that, adding batteries is just going to make alt work harder to try and keep up

A battery showing 12.00 volts open circuit voltage(ocv) is dead, a battery showing 12.66 OCV is full charge FYI

 
charge that one battery thats at 12 volts

but personally i think optimas are crap for the price. Much better for same price or less. That stinger spv70 is one of the best batts out there for the price. Optimas are hard to charge and bring back to life

 
you have a shitty alt, adding batteries isnt going to fix that, adding batteries is just going to make alt work harder to try and keep up
A battery showing 12.00 volts open circuit voltage(ocv) is dead, a battery showing 12.66 OCV is full charge FYI
went outside and checked other 3:

under the hood (after opening the circuit breaker connecting it to the back 2, so independant) 12.02 (DEAD?!?!?! it starts the car! ****!)

and rear 2 connected both @ 12.42

so I have 2 brand new at 12.02, 2 new at 12.42, and 2 used at 12.42

 
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Kryptonitewhite

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