Holy Hell - 8 Volts?!?!

[nickk678 10+ year member]

EDIT - READ POST ABOUT 4 POSTS DOWN

Well, while my ZX650.4 is out for repair, I decided I'd put the ZX1000.1 back into the car and turn on the rear fill. Just a couple days ago, the 1000.1 would drop out of the music completely. Today I took a look at it. When I turn on the H/U, voltages all look fine (~14.5 volts at the amp). When I start to crank it, though (this isn't bass heavy music either), the amp completely shut off. I turned the radio back down and it came back on in protection mode. I checked the turn on voltage - 13.5 or so. I checked the power connections, a little over 8 volts!!! I turned off the head unit so the amp would shut off, and the power rose back to about 14.5 volts over 5 or 10 seconds (car was on the whole time I was checking this).

I just bought the car about 3-4 months ago, so I don't know how old the battery is. However, let me throw this at you too. The car is supposed to have a 110 amp alternator. Well, even when the radio is off, this will happen. Say I'm driving with my lights on and heat on. Every time I come to a stop (idle), the lights dim and I can hear the fan motor slow down.

I'm assuming the battery is bad (that is, if you think my wiring is ok) if it is dropping below 9 volts when the amp is barely pulling much, but what about the alternator?

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[jdawg 5,000+ posts]

sounds more like an alternator problem to me

 

[SRim23 5,000+ posts]

Well, while my ZX650.4 is out for repair, I decided I'd put the ZX1000.1 back into the car and turn on the rear fill. Just a couple days ago, the 1000.1 would drop out of the music completely. Today I took a look at it. When I turn on the H/U, voltages all look fine (~14.5 volts at the amp). When I start to crank it, though (this isn't bass heavy music either), the amp completely shut off. I turned the radio back down and it came back on in protection mode. I checked the turn on voltage - 13.5 or so. I checked the power connections, a little over 8 volts!!! I turned off the head unit so the amp would shut off, and the power rose back to about 14.5 volts over 5 or 10 seconds (car was on the whole time I was checking this).
I just bought the car about 3-4 months ago, so I don't know how old the battery is. However, let me throw this at you too. The car is supposed to have a 110 amp alternator. Well, even when the radio is off, this will happen. Say I'm driving with my lights on and heat on. Every time I come to a stop (idle), the lights dim and I can hear the fan motor slow down.

I'm assuming the battery is bad (that is, if you think my wiring is ok) if it is dropping below 9 volts when the amp is barely pulling much, but what about the alternator?

what car? i have a 2005 civic with a Stinger battery and even my fan slows down when i stop. also did that with my 2001 civic. i think its just something they do. but my volt meter on my nav doesnt ever drop below 13 volts.

 

[OneKrazyKeebler 10+ year member]

sounds more like an alternator problem to me

or possibly the battery not being able to hold that charge.

or possibly a wire not connected correctly and not letting the current flow where it needs to.

 

[ravendarat 10+ year member]

The battery might be ok if you STOP USING THE CAR RIGHT NOW, but if you continue to drain your battery down that far than your gonna cause irreversable damage. The Altenator sounds like the likely culprit here because if it was working fine with your stereo off your car wouldnt dip down that low, it just wouldnt start when you turned it off if the battery was bad. Replace the alt.

 

[nickk678 10+ year member]

Just did some more looking around. Ignore my first post.

I checked some more voltages. When I have the radio turned up, the voltage AT THE BATTERY is around 14. The voltages AT THE distro blocks (less than 8 inches away from amp) is 14 volts. The voltage AT THE zx1000.1's fuse is 14 volts. The voltage AT THE amp is under 8 volts. What the ****.

 

[joetama 5,000+ posts]

The battery might be ok if you STOP USING THE CAR RIGHT NOW, but if you continue to drain your battery down that far than your gonna cause irreversable damage. The Altenator sounds like the likely culprit here because if it was working fine with your stereo off your car wouldnt dip down that low, it just wouldnt start when you turned it off if the battery was bad. Replace the alt.

Sounds like it could be both battery and alt...

Because if this has been happening for a while, which I am sure it has the battery is likely damaged already.

Go to one of the big auto parts stores and have them check your alt, they will usually do it for free...

 

[joetama 5,000+ posts]

Just did some more looking around. Ignore my first post.
I checked some more voltages. When I have the radio turned up, the voltage AT THE BATTERY is around 14. The voltages AT THE distro blocks (less than 8 inches away from amp) is 14 volts. The voltage AT THE zx1000.1's fuse is 14 volts. The voltage AT THE amp is under 8 volts. What the ****.

Change the fuse in the distro block and check your wire....

If you are getting a really bad connection it could cause this to happen.....

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

Just did some more looking around. Ignore my first post.
I checked some more voltages. When I have the radio turned up, the voltage AT THE BATTERY is around 14. The voltages AT THE distro blocks (less than 8 inches away from amp) is 14 volts. The voltage AT THE zx1000.1's fuse is 14 volts. The voltage AT THE amp is under 8 volts. What the ****.

I had a similar problem a while back with my fuse holder -- my problem happened to be the inline fuse at the battery.

But for some reason there just wasn't a good connection there. I replaced the fuse more than once with no improvement.

Eventually I just replaced the old fuse holder (agu) with an ANL and haven't had any trouble since.

 

[nickk678 10+ year member]

So this sounds like a wiring problem then, eh?

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

if the car's running fine, and you have alt voltage everywhere but at the amp it can't be the electrical system.

 

[nickk678 10+ year member]

Posting to satisfy anyone's curiosity.

My zx650.4 came back from warranty repair today (which was top-notch, BTW. Kicker received it a week and 3 days ago, and it was back on my porch today, in working order!), so I decided to fix this voltage issue. I checked all my wiring and connections and all was well. The problem ended up at the 100A fuse that came with teh ZX1000.1. It was showing 12 volts on the battery side, and anywhere from 6-12 on the other side. I pulled it, cleaned it, and made sure everything was tightened down and re-installed it.

Working great now! Looks like I'm still going to have to get an alternator, though. The zx1000.1 jumps into protect when my Alpine hits about volume 18 (amp gain set at 5, no bass boost). Weak *** alternator FTL! If anyone knows of any local shops in MI around the Detroit area I could get a rewind/rebuild from, let me know.

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

just look in the yellow pages under auto electric or something similar.

It shouldn't be hard to find someone that will rewind them.

A few years ago I was in a similar situation -- the guy I talked with said they can usually up current output by 20% or so, and it was going to cost less than $100.