I would assume it were my battery..

[Tone415 10+ year member]

My lights dim horribly with only about 200-300 rms.. Before they would barley dim off 1000-1200 rms.. i have 0g wiring.. big 3 done. and i bought brand new a regular battery earlier this year. I don't listen to the music with the car off nor do i have any accessories that are on while the car is off. Why are they dimming so bad of so little power?

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[Johnny Law.Lulz 5,000+ posts]

Loose wire somewhere maybe ?

 

[Tone415 10+ year member]

Loose wire somewhere maybe ?

nah i checked every wire I've ever touched..

 

[blgaudio 10+ year member]

Check your battery cable ends, make sure there getting a good connection, also I would do a check on the alternator, most auto parts chains will do a full electrical check for free.

 

[Stalin-ohaulic]

I don't really see how it could be your battery. With such a small current draw, your battery really is not part of the equation. I would check your amp's grounding location out first. Big 3 or not, with such a small draw you shouldn't get horrible dimming unless it's your ground.

 

[michaellane 5,000+ posts]

had the same thing happen to me. went out side and filled off the connections til they were shiny. put them back on the battery and bam all good

 

[Blue_C1500 10+ year member]

Yeah, it's either your battery terminals or a bad battery. Make sure your terminals are clean and tight first, then check your voltage with the car idling and make sure it's at least above ~13.5V. If this all checks out it's probably your battery, so you'll need to have it load tested.

 

[Stalin-ohaulic]

Yeah, it's either your battery terminals or a bad battery. Make sure your terminals are clean and tight first, then check your voltage with the car idling and make sure it's at least above ~13.5V. If this all checks out it's probably your battery, so you'll need to have it load tested.

Why would it be his battery and not his alternator? Do you think maybe the battery is just drawing tons of current? I suppose he could start his vehicle and disconnect the negative battery lead to find out. If the voltage raises when he does this it proves the battery theory. If it stays low it disproves it.

 

[PIITB Wut Wut 10+ year member]

yeah if the alty cant keep up then thats a Huge issue...

otherwise wiring issue somwhere.

 

[Blue_C1500 10+ year member]

Why would it be his battery and not his alternator? Do you think maybe the battery is just drawing tons of current? I suppose he could start his vehicle and disconnect the negative battery lead to find out. If the voltage raises when he does this it proves the battery theory. If it stays low it disproves it.

It could be his alternator that's what he'd be checking when he made sure his voltage was over 13.5, but to me it sounds like his battery can't supply the load his amp is putting on electrical system.

 

[Blue_C1500 10+ year member]

yeah if the alty cant keep up then thats a Huge issue...otherwise wiring issue somwhere.

Well, he said that it would barely dim off of 1200 watts before so I'm assuming that his alt was keeping up before this issue arose. His alt is obviously still working some or by now his car wouldn't even start. That's why I recommended him checking what he could before paying someone else to load test his battery. My girlfriend has been driving around with an alt that only charges 12.5 volts at an idle for a few months now and the only way it's noticable is it spins a little slow on start up. She doesn't have a 1200 watt stereo though. If she did she'd be having problems similar to this. I wish her dad wasn't so cheap and would replace it before she gets stranded.