help me fix my voltage drop

[skittlesRgood 10+ year member]

so... i have a 250amp mechman alt, big 3 in 1/0, one run of 1/0 + from the stock batt up front to a yellowtop and batcap 800 in the back, both trunk batts grounded to chassis. one + 1/0 wire from yellowtop to distro block, three 4awg going out of that, two of those go to my sub amp, one goes to 4 channel. same thing with the - run.

im still getting enough voltage drop to turn my sub amp off. im thinking maybe its at my distro block. i can put another 1/0 into the block but if i do that do i need to run another + from front to back? or can i just add a + and - from the yellowtop to the distros? or do you think i would just get a better result from running a ground from front to back?

running close to 3k watts. i think i have enough wire for another run but i would rather not because i would have to drill a hole in the firewall. but i will do it if i must.

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[SiLkK 10+ year member]

Hmmm wish I could help but I don't know much about this. I'm sure someone here will know what's up with that.

 

[alvitae 10+ year member]

Have you looked into getting a MLA module?

 

[atlninja82 10+ year member]

try gettin rid of the 4 awg. if your amp doesnt have 1/0 inputs get wire reducers and run 1/0 into them. other than that make sure your grounds are solid.

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

I don't think that your car's charging system has anything to do with this. With what you have listed, you shouldn't have any issues, let alone have your amp turn off. I'd assume there's a bad connection somewhere that's causing your problem. Or, just to be sure, clamp a dmm on your amp while you're plaing it hard, and see if the amp is actually seeing a low voltage...but it'd have to be below 10V or so for it to turn off.

 

[skittlesRgood 10+ year member]

i think my sub amp is turning off around 11v. ill check over everything. my dad said my solder joints might ****. ill pull out the dmm and test all my connections.

if i run 1/0 to the amp i have the same question. do i need to make more power and ground runs to the front?

what is a MLA module?

 

[skittlesRgood 10+ year member]

found the mla module. wish they had more info on it though. its just an alt regulator rite?

 

[skittlesRgood 10+ year member]

haha some guy at a shop that barely speaks english told me i need a cap. also said i need an isolator... dont think thats my problem lol.

bump still looking for a bad connection. any other ideas?

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

Go buy a $5 dollar DMM from Harbor Freights, and test all your connections. Stop being lazy.

See if it's your distro, if not, make sure that your amp grounds are tight... and make sure they're tight on the terminal connected to the amp. That happened to me. Amp shut off 'cause of crappy connection to the ground at the terminal.

 

[skittlesRgood 10+ year member]

actualy i got one and it didnt work. but i have a plug in one ive been using. just havnt had the time to run over every wire. gone through about half, mostly grounds. havnt found it yet.

 

[skittlesRgood 10+ year member]

i found a bad connection but its cutting out at the same point. i cranked it up and i saw down to 8.?? volts. i did get the amp to work well enough to blow two 100amp fuses. but still really bad voltage drops and still goes into protect. maybe i need that MLA module.

you guys dont think another 1/0 run would do anything?

 

[Simek4life 10+ year member]

another run of 1/0 may help a bit. But your electrical seems pretty darn strong. Check connections with dmm

 

[Jeremy M 10+ year member]

maybe a battery is bad...try by passing the distro block.

u should really check ur resting voltage on those batteries in the back....if they read fine, check ur voltage at the distro.

i'm betting it's the distro or a bad battery

 

[Jeremy M 10+ year member]

maybe a battery is bad...try by passing the distro block.
u should really check ur resting voltage on those batteries in the back....if they read fine, check ur voltage at the distro.

i'm betting it's the distro or a bad battery

good 1/0ga is good for like 3400 watts or some **** usually....what are u running ur subs at? 2ohms?

 

[skittlesRgood 10+ year member]

i was just thinking a bad battery too. if you just take off one of the wires from a battery will it drain?

i was checking voltage at the amp... so i should check it before the distro now?