How do I check my voltage

[GlocksRock 10+ year member]

My car is a 2002 Honda Civic EX, it has no voltmeter on the dash, or anywhere else in the system. I never really worried about voltage drop before, since I never had amps that drew a lot of current and I have 4 guage wire from my battery to my system. I recently upgraded my amps to a elemental designs nine.1 and a nine.4. I noticed some dimming but figured that was due to me still having the original battery that came with the car, so I got an optima yellow top and the dimming has ceased. I was thinking about doing the big 3, but don't want to if it's not needed, but I won't know if it's needed until I can test the voltage. What is the best/easiest way to check my voltage? Can I use a multimeter, and if so, how do I go about using that to check the voltage? If I do decide to upgrade the big 3, would 4 guage wire be sufficient for that upgrade, or would it be best to use 2 or 0/1 guage? I don't plan to upgrade the main power wire in my car at all, as I will most likely not use amps that are more powerful in this car, even if I do replace them with something else in the future.

Click to read more...

 

[99grandprixGT 5,000+ posts]

ya take a multimeter set it to volts and touch the leads to the + and - of your battery. do that with the car on at idle and than turn on your system and measure it again while its playing and you will see the numbers changing. and for the big three if you need to buy new wire you might as well go with 1/0 the first time.

 

[kovemaster559 5,000+ posts]

get the + wire and connect it to the - wire. it should magicly apper in smoke

 

[GlocksRock 10+ year member]

ya take a multimeter set it to volts and touch the leads to the + and - of your battery. do that with the car on at idle and than turn on your system and measure it again while its playing and you will see the numbers changing. and for the big three if you need to buy new wire you might as well go with 1/0 the first time.

Thanks, but I'm not going to upgrade my main power wire in this car, so since the main power wire is 4 gauge, will 4 gauge be sufficient for the big 3? I don't want to spend any more than I have to on this, so by keeping the gauge lower, it will cost me less for the wire and terminals.

 

[kovemaster559 5,000+ posts]

4 ga will work if in the FUTURE you qould like to upgrade all you have to do is add more kinda like deadner

 

[GlocksRock 10+ year member]

Thanks. If I upgrade my main power wire, it won't be until I get a different car, and then I would redo the big 3 in the new car with the bigger wire. I guess I need to get a multimeter now.

 

[kovemaster559 5,000+ posts]

Thanks. If I upgrade my main power wire, it won't be until I get a different car, and then I would redo the big 3 in the new car with the bigger wire. I guess I need to get a multimeter now.

harbor freight

 

[iamamp3pimp 5,000+ posts]

harbor freight

or walmart

 

[kovemaster559 5,000+ posts]

or walmart

ahhhhhhhhhhhhh yesssssssssss young one, the magical store where they sell just about everything but high line car audio and bricks of cocaine.

 

[GlocksRock 10+ year member]

I'm in no big rush... I bought one on ebay... saves my lazy *** a trip to the store lol. Now after looking at it, I have no idea how to use it... what setting do I put it on when testing my car battery?

 

[redfred18t 10+ year member]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhh yesssssssssss young one, the magical store where they sell just about everything but high line car audio and bricks of cocaine.

pretty sure I saw the latter for sale

 

[99grandprixGT 5,000+ posts]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhh yesssssssssss young one, the magical store where they sell just about everything but high line car audio and bricks of cocaine.

youve never been behind the store?