Big three installed, no gains, and check engine light is now on..

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Even at 1ohm it should be fine.

 

[MrAcd]

Im sorry for the incorrect info, they are in fact SVC 4 ohm subs. I have the amp under the driver seat, the ground is around 8 inches away and grounded to the seat belt bolt, which was a huge bolt, with lots of metal to grab to. Spent a good 10 minutes making that ground clean.

Should i do my test at the batteries instead of at the amp. I did do a test at the battery at idle and it gave the same voltage as the amp before and after. If i test the battery while playing music and it drops below 13v or so i know its a problem under the hood, if it only drops at the amp its a problem with the amp wiring, right?

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Im sorry for the incorrect info, they are in fact SVC 4 ohm subs. I have the amp under the driver seat, the ground is around 8 inches away and grounded to the seat belt bolt, which was a huge bolt, with lots of metal to grab to. Spent a good 10 minutes making that ground clean.
Should i do my test at the batteries instead of at the amp. I did do a test at the battery at idle and it gave the same voltage as the amp before and after. If i test the battery while playing music and it drops below 13v or so i know its a problem under the hood, if it only drops at the amp its a problem with the amp wiring, right?

Get it off the seat bolt.

 

[Brian21699]

Give it a true chassis ground, no matter how long it has to be. If you can't get a good chassis ground buy a run and run it directly to your battery.

 

[MrAcd]

Its on the seat belt bolt but, that seat belt bolt seemed like a really soild ground, at least half inch thick bolt. Put a dremel tool to it and sandpaper and cleaned off everything, it was the best ground for under the seat.

 

[bbeljefe]

Seat belts aren't bolted to the frame, unless you're talking about a unibody vehicle. Also, seat bolts have thread locking compound on them AND paint inside the female portion. They are notoriously poor grounding points.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Its on the seat belt bolt but, that seat belt bolt seemed like a really soild ground, at least half inch thick bolt. Put a dremel tool to it and sandpaper and cleaned off everything, it was the best ground for under the seat.

Those rarely work. To much stuff in the way. You want the best possible return to source. The path of least resistance.

 

[The Camry]

From what i know. If you take a multimeter and put the negative to where you want your ground to be and put the positive to the negative on the car battery. It should be a direct short or pretty **** close. something like .5ohms or less. Thats how i test for good grounds.

chances are your probes arent gonna be long enough to go to the ground you are testing and the ground to the battery so just wrap some speaker wire to the ground on the battery and run the wire long enough that it reaches your probe. Just an easy way to extend your ground real quick.

 

[MrAcd]

Okay, so i have the seat bolt, as another ground. Should i go for something like maybe an external ground or something?

 

[MrAcd]

My probes are actually probably long enough, the battery is located close to the firewall on the driver side, and the amp is only right under the seat. Tomorrow i will for sure check my ground and check the resistance.

 

[C1500martin 10+ year member]

Okay, so i have the seat bolt, as another ground. Should i go for something like maybe an external ground or something?

Just drill a hole in the floor and nut and bolt your ground. Nothing some carpet wont cover up if thats what your worried about in the future. Plus no one will look under the truck floor

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

I've always used seat bolts or seatbelt bolts when feasible. I'm not sure why people don't like them since they're generally well reinforced vs just bolting through nearby, thinner sheet metal.

Also I don't know why there's 2 pages of ******** here.

OP, your battery rests at 12.4 or so and your alternator charges at 14.2-14.4. If you're dropping below 14, then you're simply using more current than your alternator can provide and drawing from the battery. Anything above 12V is fine for running an amp.

Adding more wire or moving around connections will not magically make your alternator deliver more power. Buying a larger alternator is likely the only thing that will help your voltage stay higher than your battery's resting voltage when you play music, though I'd consider it a poor investment for such a small amp.

 

[mazdakid 5,000+ posts]

How high do you have the gain turned up?

 

[Bass Addict 10+ year member]

I've always used seat bolts or seatbelt bolts when feasible. I'm not sure why people don't like them since they're generally well reinforced vs just bolting through nearby, thinner sheet metal.
Also I don't know why there's 2 pages of ******** here.

OP, your battery rests at 12.4 or so and your alternator charges at 14.2-14.4. If you're dropping below 14, then you're simply using more current than your alternator can provide and drawing from the battery. Anything above 12V is fine for running an amp.

Adding more wire or moving around connections will not magically make your alternator deliver more power. Buying a larger alternator is likely the only thing that will help your voltage stay higher than your battery's resting voltage when you play music, though I'd consider it a poor investment for such a small amp.

ive never once had a problem using seat belt bolts either and totally agree that its better than thin metal.

 

[massivespl]

Seat belt bolt grounds svck for most vehicles