how much rms till i need to do big 3?

[BloodyGuts335i 10+ year member]

Its rather simple really.
Its a wire from Alternator Positive to Battery Positive (optional fuse) and wire from Battery Negative to Chassis and wire from Chassis to Engine Block.

You may leave all other wires in place and just add the new to those locations.

What are you actually gaining from doing this ???

 

[maseyferguson05 10+ year member]

You won't go threw alt's like crazy and your lights won't dim.

Now, what the hell do you do again?

 

[shaneb 10+ year member]

What are you actually gaining from doing this ???

The idea is that factory wiring is too small to handle the current draw we put on our systems, without creating resistance. Also you gain new wires, seeing as how a lot of factory wiring can be old.

At least on my 15yr old car

 

[theking 10+ year member]

before big 3 had drops to 11.8-12.2 now big 3 done drops to only 12.8 so right at or under a volt.

when i had just the 2 grounds done on the big 3 no alt to batt i picked up from 11.8-12.2 to 12.2-12.5 with just the grounds never dropped below 12.2 now with the alt to batt done doesnt drop below 12.5 with lights on no lights 12.8

 

[1rockford1 5,000+ posts]

1500 rms, its all about your alt and the stock wires u have etc. i seen some cars take 2000rms with a yellow top and get no dimming and allmost no volt drops.

 

[shaneb 10+ year member]

1500 rms, its all about your alt and the stock wires u have etc. i seen some cars take 2000rms with a yellow top and get no dimming and allmost no volt drops.

1 problem.

some amps are more efficient.

my class a/b could have a larger current draw than my class d. Thus less wattage with more amperage. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Really. The answer to his question is sooooo relative.

 

[1rockford1 5,000+ posts]

1 problem.some amps are more efficient.

my class a/b could have a larger current draw than my class d. Thus less wattage with more amperage. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Really. The answer to his question is sooooo relative.

bro we all can do this all night. i was just messin around i should of put a //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif some were in there i guess lol.I got bad drops with my last car even at 800 rms. then when i went to 2000 rms same thing it did not get much worse. just do the big 3

 

[shaneb 10+ year member]

bro we all can do this all night. i was just messin around i should of put a //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif some were in there i guess lol.I got bad drops with my last car even at 800 rms. then when i went to 2000 rms same thing it did not get much worse. just do the big 3

Lol. I'm too tired.

do whatever 1mtx says lol.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

 

[endofdays89 5,000+ posts]

bro we all can do this all night. i was just messin around i should of put a //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif some were in there i guess lol.I got bad drops with my last car even at 800 rms. then when i went to 2000 rms same thing it did not get much worse. just do the big 3

my car handles 1400 watts pretty well, the dimming is minimal on stock electrical.

 

[1rockford1 5,000+ posts]

Lol. I'm too tired.
do whatever 1mtx says lol.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

ahhahah, u just gota go with the flow every one. put your stuff in and go from there. there is only one way to know lol. be smart u dont wana try to run 3000 rms on like a 70 amp alt and a oem battery.

 

[1rockford1 5,000+ posts]

my car handles 1400 watts pretty well, the dimming is minimal on stock electrical.

some people get lucky like that.

 

[bones22 5,000+ posts]

I'm running 3000 rms in my Saleen ....and have no dimming even at full tilt...I'm running a DD M3 on a DD 3510 at 1ohm mono....no big three stock alt. and only 4ga wiring.....

exactly. it isnt NEEDED

it doesnt hurt to do it though. ive never done the big 3 in any of my installs. never had drops i had to worry about considering i had plenty of batt to back it up. all have been stock alts except the tahoe.

 

[1rockford1 5,000+ posts]

i can say this with my pos ford i had i would sit at 14.2 befor big 3 and drop down to 11.8 at idle at close 2 full tilt. with big 3 i seen allmost 15.0 volts , bass would hit guess what 12.1

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

It couldnt be a beefy alternator (I dont really know what the saleens use as far as alternators go)..?

Well, not sure about the specifics, but a lot of higher-end cars and "performance cars" have a bit beefier alt so it can "PROVIDE OPTIMUM POWER TO TEH SPARKZ". -shrug- The numbers give the designers a chubby.

What are you actually gaining from doing this ???

'The big 3' as it's been coined allows for a better flow of electricity into the circuit. It provides more surface area for the "power" to flow through.

The idea is that factory wiring is too small to handle the current draw we put on our systems, without creating resistance. Also you gain new wires, seeing as how a lot of factory wiring can be old.At least on my 15yr old car

This is wrong. The idea is that the factory wiring isn't the optimum size. Doing an over-sized Big 3 helps to make the whole electrical system more efficient and put less strain on the whole circuit,

1 problem.some amps are more efficient.

my class a/b could have a larger current draw than my class d. Thus less wattage with more amperage. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Really. The answer to his question is sooooo relative.

Efficiency is key. Most class D amps have around an 80% efficiency. I couldn't say what efficiency A/B's have. I'd say 40-50%. But, that's just a guess. When factoring in efficiency, it's quite easy.

Volts * Amperes * Efficiency (In Decimal) = True RMS.

For instance...

14 (volts) * 120 (amperes) * .8 (80% efficiency) = 1344 W-RMS.

That's about the RMS that said amp will give you.

So, in a sense, he is right.

But, if you can spare it, do it. Even if you don't have some "baggin' *** system." As I stated previously, it lowers the strain on the system so everything flows a lot more smoothly. Even on a car with out a system I'd do an 8 or 4-AWG 'Big 3' just to smooth things out. It puts less strain on the alternator, lengthening it's life, as well as the life of the battery.

 

[shaneb 10+ year member]

exactly. it isnt NEEDED it doesnt hurt to do it though. ive never done the big 3 in any of my installs. never had drops i had to worry about considering i had plenty of batt to back it up

on top of that, were talking a "smaller" gauge then the typical ca.com boner. but no one takes time to see what the current flow of that smaller gauge is over the what, 2 feet from battery to alternator, or battery to ground //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif