Chance to see if big 3 actually helps dimming

[MkKin420 10+ year member]

So at the moment I am not running anything big, got a stock size duralast, no big 3 upgrades at the moment.

My factory ground to chassis is absolutely too small to handle even the factory electrical. This wire is seriously like 8 gauge, and thats a generous guess, it could be smaller.

Anyway, I have noticed that when I break, lights on and off, my voltage will quickly drop a volt or two then regain itself. I am thinking that it is the quick load presented by the break lights/ regular lights (when its on) that is causing.

Could this be because the wire is of insufficient size to handle the current, therefor causing an increase of the resistance of the wire when placed under a load?

The drop in voltage and dimming is very brief and only happens when I press the breaks, but, it happens anytime, lights on or off and with or without the stereo.

I understand that this wire needs to be upgraded asap.

I am going to be doing the big 3 with 1/0 gauge as soon as I can, and hopefully this will make a difference.

I am very interested in what people have to say about this topic. I mean, I see all these threads were people ask, if I do the big 3 will it stop my dimming, voltage drop, ect.

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[kush-divinity 10+ year member]

Yeah, you will see a big improvement. You also need a larger alternator, but I think the big 3 should come first, becuase it's free. I did mine with scraps.

If you are experiencing dimming on a fully stock car....????? Maybe your alt is about to take a shit on you??????

 

[loopkiller 10+ year member]

I take it that the car you are talking about is not the car in your sig? In the car in your post above, does it have any audio in it yet? If so, what other than stock electronics are running in the vehicle? If the car is 100% stock, you should not be seeing voltage drops like that with a good alt and battery.

 

[Bass Addict 10+ year member]

if nothing else,at least make sure batt to chassis ground is as big as ur amp ground

 

[MkKin420 10+ year member]

Alright, first yes it is the car in the sig, at the moment I have a stock 105 amp napa alt installed only 6 months old and a 4 month old duralast gold, I have the alt as in the sig that will be going in within the next couple weeks to even a month or two, once I find some one to install it and get some cash together to pay for the labor to get it installed, I got all the 1/0 i need for the big 3, I got the cash for the batt so Im going to go order it today up at az and will be putting that in as soon as I get it. At the moment I am only running a single 12 off a 2 channel crunch amp, nothing special, but the voltage drop happens any time no matter what. As soon as the weather stops dippin below 30 I'm going to install everything else, amp, subs, ect, if I haven't already.

I just finished crimping/soldering the terminals on the 1/0 ground wires, I gotta pick up a fuse and find a ring terminal to best fit the bolt on the alt.

 

[loopkiller 10+ year member]

I would say that there is something really wrong with either your current alt or wiring if it dims without the audio running. I would have the electrical tested at Autozone or wherever you have local to you. I suspect that you might have a bad alt.

 

[MkKin420 10+ year member]

I would say that there is something really wrong with either your current alt or wiring if it dims without the audio running. I would have the electrical tested at Autozone or wherever you have local to you. I suspect that you might have a bad alt.

I have been planning on getting rid of it any way and adding 1/0 to the 3 main power wires. I have a brand new alternator, one in the sig, that I need to get put in. The alternator works fine, I'm thinking it is just shitty *** factory ground. All of the lights in the car are grounded to the frame, and the only ground to frame is very shitty, I am hopefully going to get outside tomorow and just add a quick 4 guage on and see if its better. Alternator has been tested and it sits around 14.4v on average.

 

[chereck04 10+ year member]

I don't know if it will be true in your case or not, but just upgrading the two grounds of the big 3 helped much more than the alt wire.

 

[loopkiller 10+ year member]

I have been planning on getting rid of it any way and adding 1/0 to the 3 main power wires. I have a brand new alternator, one in the sig, that I need to get put in. The alternator works fine, I'm thinking it is just shitty *** factory ground. All of the lights in the car are grounded to the frame, and the only ground to frame is very shitty, I am hopefully going to get outside tomorow and just add a quick 4 guage on and see if its better. Alternator has been tested and it sits around 14.4v on average.

I don't know if it will be true in your case or not, but just upgrading the two grounds of the big 3 helped much more than the alt wire.

This guy has some great advice for you there ^^^

Give this a shot and let us know how it goes.

 

[mcsoul 10+ year member]

if nothing else,at least make sure batt to chassis ground is as big as ur amp ground

That's all I have. I figure my stock alternator should never push or pull

over 130a. I'm posting this in case I need a correction by someone:laugh:

 

[loopkiller 10+ year member]

That's all I have. I figure my stock alternator should never push or pullover 130a. I'm posting this in case I need a correction by someone:laugh:

The conventional thinking is that the bigger the wire, the less resistance, in turn keeps your voltage higher. Even if you only have a 130A alt and already have 4 awg wire, you may see (and I emphasize may) a minor increase in voltage by upgrading to 1/0. This will only be under full load conditions. You would never see a difference at lower draws.

The higher the current, the higher the resistance.

 

[oni 10+ year member]

The conventional thinking is that the bigger the wire, the less resistance, in turn keeps your voltage higher. Even if you only have a 130A alt and already have 4 awg wire, you may see (and I emphasize may) a minor increase in voltage by upgrading to 1/0. This will only be under full load conditions. You would never see a difference at lower draws.
The higher the current, the higher the resistance.

Yes because the stock Alt + to Batt + has to be large enough to handle the alt at full load. Otherwise car companies would be getting sued left and right for lighting people's cars on fire. That is why the Big 2 is stressed to be done first. At least that's how I always heard it.

 

[vandiar2 10+ year member]

good luck bro