dimming lights, what first?

[angryeric116 10+ year member]

alright ive got my system done and installed, and its slammin

but

my lights and all that dim with the bass

so what comes first big 3?

or a batt/cap?

looking for a BUDGET solution, but im not a person who buys cheap shit

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[negativezeroz 5,000+ posts]

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124175 Good read. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif This is the "budget" solution. If you still have dimming problems then upgrade your battery. I'd only get a new alt as a last result.

Don't worry about a cap IMO.. No need. Really, it just puts more strain on your alt.

 

[angryeric116 10+ year member]

alright thanks for the help, just for my own knowledge, what do i need to look for in a aftermarket battery, under the hood, and in the trunk

 

[Patrick Simmons 10+ year member]

alright thanks for the help, just for my own knowledge, what do i need to look for in a aftermarket battery, under the hood, and in the trunk

Space and power needed would be 2 things I would look at and make sure the back one in dry cell. I would definately leave off the cap.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

To properly answer the question, you need to know the capacity of your stock alternator and the amount of current that your system regularly draws. If you are regularly exceeding the capacity of your alt, the battery will be a temp fix, and eventually you will kill the alt and the battery.

Any way you look at it, the "big 3" should be the first thing you do. From there you need to look at your alt. It is the source of all the current in the car. The battery stores some of the current but the primary duty of the battery is to start the car. Once the car is running, the battery pretty much sits idle idealy. If you exceed the capacity of the alt, the working voltage of the car's electrical system begins to drop until the battery begins to contribute from its current store at around 12.5V. The drop from the alts working voltage of 13.5-14.4V to the battery's discharge voltage is what causes your lights to dim. As soon as the demand on the alternator decreases back to a level within its capacity, the voltage will go back up. At this point the battery becomes a load on the alternator, since it is no longer fully charged. If you have another spike in demand before the battery is again fully charged, the battery contributes even more of its reserve and becomes even more of a load on the alt until full recharge. Basically if you keep going in this way you can get to a point that the battery is such an additional load on the alt that it is running at max capacity constantly and any additional demand from the stereo is digging the hole deeper. My basic point here is address the alt first and then worry about batteries.

 

[SAG3 5,000+ posts]

battery

big 3

alt

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124175 Good read. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif This is the "budget" solution. If you still have dimming problems then upgrade your battery. I'd only get a new alt as a last result.
Don't worry about a cap IMO.. No need. Really, it just puts more strain on your alt.

alt should come before battery because basically all your electrical devices are run off the alt basically. adding crap doesn't help unless you improve the source. i think helotaxi said something to that effect but i didn't read his post //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

 

[MikeyB 5,000+ posts]

Yeah the next step for you would be a battery, btw what amp alternator do you have? That would be the next thing that you would want to upgrade.

 

[Chevyaudio 5,000+ posts]

YOU NEED A NEW ALT FIRST. as Helotaxi and Icetee said adding an additional batteries is only like adding a band-aid to a broken arm...you need a HO alt.

 

[angryeric116 10+ year member]

i think my stock amp puts out around 80A

 

[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

i think my stock amp puts out around 80A

So does mine and I pulled 2K of a/b power on it with some dimming, but not bad. I went Big 3 plus additional 4 awg ground wires that dasy-chain through the engine bay. Then went with a battery. IMO, go battery first if you are still running your stock. You must have a Jap import of some kind??

**Edit** I see you have the luxery Nissan Sentra //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif My advice still stands.