Dimming headlights with no voltage drop?

[maximamike2539 10+ year member]

Hi, so I just got a 1200 watt mono block and a 400 watt 4 channel 1600 total rms installed in my 2017 nissan versa. It's sounds amazing but the only problem I am having is dimming headlights and dash lights and a little rpm drop when I turn my bass knob up past half. It sounds beautiful with no distortion and my voltage with car running and system at the level I normally play it at is 13.7 to 14.0 volts. I'm not understanding how I'm getting light dimming with my volts staying pretty steady?? My alternator is a 110 amp..

Can anyone shed some light here

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[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

Hi, so I just got a 1200 watt mono block and a 400 watt 4 channel 1600 total rms installed in my 2017 nissan versa. It's sounds amazing but the only problem I am having is dimming headlights and dash lights and a little rpm drop when I turn my bass knob up past half. It sounds beautiful with no distortion and my voltage with car running and system at the level I normally play it at is 13.7 to 14.0 volts. I'm not understanding how I'm getting light dimming with my volts staying pretty steady?? My alternator is a 110 amp.. Can anyone shed some light here

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anytime u go over 1100-1200rms u need big 3 wires done and 2-0ga power wire, even then 110amp alt may not be enough, agm battery under hood can help.... my alt 125 i have no problem but i have 900rms total..

 

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

Halogen headlights are very sensitive to voltage drop. Do the big 3 and buy a relay harness for your headlights. From the factory the power runs from the battery, to the headlight switch, and the back to the headlights through small wire. Causing voltage drop. The relay harness will make a big difference.

 

[maximamike2539 10+ year member]

anytime u go over 1100-1200rms u need big 3 wires done and 2-0ga power wire, even then 110amp alt may not be enough, agm battery under hood can help.... my alt 125 i have no problem but i have 900rms total..

I have zero gauge power wire but I have to do the big 3 still.. I'm gonna work on getting an xs battery soon but I just didn't understand how my lights would dim if my voltage was good? From my understanding the lights dim when the voltage drops too low.. am I missing something here??
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[Mayhem]

What type of meter are you using to test your voltage?

Some meters don't have a fast enough refresh rate to accurately see how fast your voltage is actually moving.

My rinky dink CT sounds meter will read 14.3 but when the bass does a little hit ill drop to 13.4 then back to 14+ on my other meter and my CT meter never even moved .1v during that time. Its just not fast enough.

Why you are having RPM drop is unknown to me... I've never had rpm drop from bass or from pulls of current.. Or at least I don't notice it if that even does happen.

I will add that my headlights will dim even at the slightest bit of voltage drop. If you want to fix this you will need HIDs (i think).

 

[maximamike2539 10+ year member]

Halogen headlights are very sensitive to voltage drop. Do the big 3 and buy a relay harness for your headlights. From the factory the power runs from the battery, to the headlight switch, and the back to the headlights through small wire. Causing voltage drop. The relay harness will make a big difference.

Where can I get a relay harness? Or would throwing some leds get rid of it all together? But then I still have the problem of the dash lights dimming a little. I'll work on the big 3 and post back.

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[maximamike2539 10+ year member]

What type of meter are you using to test your voltage? Some meters don't have a fast enough refresh rate to accurately see how fast your voltage is actually moving.

My rinky dink CT sounds meter will read 14.3 but when the bass does a little hit ill drop to 13.4 then back to 14+ on my other meter and my CT meter never even moved .1v during that time. Its just not fast enough.

Why you are having RPM drop is unknown to me... I've never had rpm drop from bass or from pulls of current.. Or at least I don't notice it if that even does happen.

I will add that my headlights will dim even at the slightest bit of voltage drop. If you want to fix this you will need HIDs (i think).

I'm using a cheap one from harbor freight.. lol but it does fluctuate but stays between 13.70 and 14.08 volts. It is constantly fluctuating while the music is playing
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[maximamike2539 10+ year member]

I'm using a cheap one from harbor freight.. lol but it does fluctuate but stays between 13.70 and 14.08 volts. It is constantly fluctuating while the music is playing
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Multimeter not like a volt meter for in car viewing I'm actually out of the car probing the battery terminals
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[Mayhem]

even with .3v drop my headlights will dim. Even if it goes from 15.1 - 14.8.

Thats pretty darn good voltage for a 12v system and it will still make some flickers.

 

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

Do not throw HIDs or LED in your headlights. They are halogen based reflector headlights. If you throw HIDs or LEDs in them the focal point will be off and you will pretty much just be scattering light into the trees and other drivers faces. The only proper way is a projector retrofit.

You can get a headlight relay harness from https://www.theretrofitsource.com/ or ebay/ amazon.

I would recommend TRS. I buy 90% of all my headlight parts from them.

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

go to advance have them do a load test cause my battery problem was amps not volts 850cca batt tested at like 530 or so.. if they test it while u playing stereo and it shows low volts of amps get advance brand agm battery (u can order it on website save like 25% and they'll install it)

 

[maximamike2539 10+ year member]

even with .3v drop my headlights will dim. Even if it goes from 15.1 - 14.8.
Thats pretty darn good voltage for a 12v system and it will still make some flickers.

So is this more of a inconvenience or is it going to over tax my alternator or battery or amps? Will an xs battery up front help? My stock battery is like a **** power wheels battery lol. Not really but smallest battery I've ever seen with small amount of cranking amps. I already talked with mechman but they can't make an alternator for my ride due to new technology they are using in newer cars... at least that's what the tech told me over phone.
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[maximamike2539 10+ year member]

Do not throw HIDs or LED in your headlights. They are halogen based reflector headlights. If you throw HIDs or LEDs in them the focal point will be off and you will pretty much just be scattering light into the trees and other drivers faces. The only proper way is a projector retrofit.
You can get a headlight relay harness from https://www.theretrofitsource.com/ or ebay/ amazon.

I would recommend TRS. I buy 90% of all my headlight parts from them.

I'm gonna look into this. That site didn't have it for my car
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[maximamike2539 10+ year member]

go to advance have them do a load test cause my battery problem was amps not volts 850cca batt tested at like 530 or so.. if they test it while u playing stereo and it shows low volts of amps get advance brand agm battery (u can order it on website save like 25% and they'll install it)

Yeah my cca on my battery is like 350.. tiny car with a small battery
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[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

Yeah my cca on my battery is like 350.. tiny car with a small battery
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holy crap my lawn mower batt is 350 lol.. go to advance website check price of agm for your car.. u may need bigger alt..