Big 3 Dissapointment

[budahbuddy803 10+ year member]

Well i was really looking forward to upgrading the electrical. With lights, AC, stereo, and brakes on the voltage would drop SOMETIMES (at full tint with heavy bass lines) down to like 11.8v. That would be rare, but it would commonly drop to 12.0-12.5v. I expected after the big three to drop no lower than 13v.

Well, i bought some welding cable to upgrade my big 3 with. The wire i used was fantastic. It was very flexible and seems to do the exact same thing as normal 1 awg at about half the cost.

Only problem, i do not know if it was because of the cable or because i expected too much, is that i notice very little to no improvement on constant voltage.

For long drawn out bass lines it tends to keep a steady voltage, but for short little bumps all the lights still dim the same and i still get voltage drops down into the 12v's. I was kind of expecting it not to drop down any lower than 13v so i am dissapointed in the $30 i spent and the hour or two i spent putting it all in.

I am running what i have in my signature or stock everything except for the big three..... actually big four:

1.) Alt. (+) to Battery (+)

2.) Battery (-) to Engine

3.) Battery (-) to Chassis

4.) Engine Block to Chassis

Do i seriously need to get a bigger alt. or should i upgrade the battery first in order to stay about 13v?

Click to read more...

 

[benchambers80]

overdrawing your alternator.

 

[dumpin907 10+ year member]

get a better batt like a kinetik and run 0 ga for power/ground

 

[grassroots 10+ year member]

upgrade your battery... big 3 is very overrated and i honestly can't find a reason ever to upgrade those wires unless you have a HO alt installed anyways...

 

[budahbuddy803 10+ year member]

overdrawing your alternator.

This means i need a bigger alt.??

get a better batt like a kinetik and run 0 ga for power/ground

Well, i have a run of 1ga. for power and ground and then both go into distribution blocks because the amps only accept 4ga.

As for the battery idea, i would like to know which one is more crucial in my circumstance, the alt. or battery. It is possible i get a new bigger battery and still have problems because the stock alt. cannot keep up.... Thanks for the ideas though hahaha/

 

[Matt2105 10+ year member]

Add a batt.

 

[budahbuddy803 10+ year member]

upgrade your battery... big 3 is very overrated and i honestly can't find a reason ever to upgrade those wires unless you have a HO alt installed anyways...

yeah, well now i would say it is WAY over hyped. I see little to no improvement what so ever. haha i might as well have gone out and bought a 5farad cap..//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

But Battery before alternator?

 

[billjones42 10+ year member]

If your alternator isn't putting out enough juice, letting that juice flow freer by doing the big 3 isn't going to help. It only really helps when your alt is putting out enough juice but it's hampered by the size of the wires. Get a bigger alt.

 

[budahbuddy803 10+ year member]

OK if i knew how to start a poll i would because i am kind of confused. Most people have said upgrade battery under the hood.

Which is most useful?

1.) Kinetic HC1400 under the hood

2.) HO alternator

3.) Kinetic HC600 in the trunk

 

[sqhertz 5,000+ posts]

i wouldnt say way over hyped , but it is overhyped to a point..

my fiances car doesnt dim much at all pulling ~60 amps with the big 3 done in 4g , while mine does with just a battery - to chassis with my kx550.3. i need to get the rest of it done...

i think you just expected too much.

 

[revrider1 5,000+ posts]

Id get a bigger underhood battery before anything...

 

[budahbuddy803 10+ year member]

can anyone help me out on how to start up a poll?

 

[99grandprixGT 5,000+ posts]

can anyone help me out on how to start up a poll?

go to make a new thread, than under the button to sumbit thread, and where you type in stuff it will have a box to click to add a poll.

 

[budahbuddy803 10+ year member]

go to make a new thread, than under the button to sumbit thread, and where you type in stuff it will have a box to click to add a poll.

haha well i have gotten that far, i just need to know how to edit or basically create the poll options. If you check the box to add a poll it doesnt automatically know what i want in my poll, so how do i get to those options?

 

[SethPhillips 5,000+ posts]

i dont think it's over rated.

just people expect it to fix all the problems. which in some case's it does, some it does not.

i just did it to my g/f car and she only has a MTX 600d running one 10'' off a stock batt. i noticed a little bit of a diffrence, i plan on swapping her batt out for a yellow top ( just something better then stock )