kinetik *****

[SicAudio 5,000+ posts]

2005 Lexus GS300 they have known alt issues from the factory ... tiny alt grounds ect... could also just be bad from normal wear and tear...

also a loose or worn belt can cause the same voltage issues...

lots of things to look into 1st before anything is done ...

 

[sexy 10+ year member]

The only way anybody can truly say what’s needed is to do some simple testing of his system. We can not do that on the internet so it turns into you need this or you need that. If people would just stop giving opinions and give advice on how to test the system these people would get the right answers. I would not want to see someone buy a battery or an alternator they don’t need but damm it that’s what keeps happening. A dc amp clamp on the output wire from the alt to the battery under load at 2000rpms would tell you what the alt is capable of. Then clamp the power wire from battery to amp on a 50hz tone to see how much you can pull with that amp. Any average auto parts store can do it for him if he was just told to check his system instead of someone saying you need more batteries or an alternator.

 

[outsideshot23 10+ year member]

2005 Lexus GS300 they have known alt issues from the factory ... tiny alt grounds ect... could also just be bad from normal wear and tear...
also a loose or worn belt can cause the same voltage issues...

lots of things to look into 1st before anything is done ...

x2. usually autozone will check stuff out for free. i will bet you will find your problem there

 

[SicAudio 5,000+ posts]

several people told him all that... then others started in that he HAD to have an H/O alt and that is when the poor guys thread turned into a huge argument and a waste of bandwidth

i appologized for my part in that... I know that being the bigger man here means little to the OP at this point but someone had to to get the thread back on track like it is now.

Very good advice Sexy //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif and ty for having such a cool head in all of it..

 

[sexy 10+ year member]

several people told him all that... then others started in that he HAD to have an H/O alt and that is when the poor guys thread turned into a huge argument and a waste of bandwidth

i appologized for my part in that... I know that being the bigger man here means little to the OP at this point but someone had to to get the thread back on track like it is now.

Very good advice Sexy //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif and ty for having such a cool head in all of it..

And thank you. I missed most of it yesterday thank goodness. I hope some good comes out of threads like this and people start explaining how to test instead of giving opinions on what to buy when they don’t even know what the problem is.

 

[wickedwitt 10+ year member]

A 100 amp stock alt wont do 100 amps at idle (maybe 20) .

Fixed

 

[robertoyoung08 10+ year member]

OP BACK IN HERE!!!!

alright. so thanks everyone for replying. ive been reading every single post to make sure i get the most out of this thread and so i can figure out wtf is up with my electrical.

to sic audio: thanks for all the help and dont worry about the "jacked thread" lol. it happends all the time. however, i would like to figure out my voltage problem. we should all team up and come up with a sticky for electrical systems once we get together a good procedure and after we figure mine out hah.

thanks to sexy, knetik and everyone else who has replied. ive been taking everything into consideration.

so i agree with all u guys that a h/o alt is not absolutely necessary. not for the power im running, i know its a lot of power but a lot of u made good points with saying that i dont need a ho alt or that its the fix to my system.

i agree the big 3 should and will be done. but i want to know what other tests i should do to check my electrical.

after a few hours of battery resting, when i start my car it meters at 14 volts. once i start cranking the stereo it goes down and after a while even if i turn it off it wont go back up to 14 volts unless i let it rest for a while.

this weekend i am going to redo my grounds on my amps. i kno they are not the best grounds.

when i bought the kinetik i metered it out of the box and it measured at 12.7 volts

idk how to check if my alternator is going bad or how check if its putting out its full potential though.

i also COMPLETELY agree with those of you who said that a lot of us just assume that when electrical is not up to parr, that we (wont exclude anyone, or point anyone out) start suggesting to get a h/o alt or more/bigger batts, but that shouldnt always be the case, i kno we are pushing our power limits on stock alts and what not, but there should be steps and tests we should be able to do BEFORE going out and buying new batteries and expensive alternators.

again thanks a ton to everyone, hope you guys can keep giving me ideas on what to do to figure this out. il definitely post my final results once i figure it out for future referance of anyone. its a little frustrating not knowing where to start to fix it and even more when thinking im going to have to go and buy all this expensive extra equipment that i wasnt expecting.

 

[SicAudio 5,000+ posts]

Fixed

if you are getting only 20% at idle you haz seriuz issuz dude...

most stock alts do 60% + at Idle..

 

[SicAudio 5,000+ posts]

OP BACK IN HERE!!!!
alright. so thanks everyone for replying. ive been reading every single post to make sure i get the most out of this thread and so i can figure out wtf is up with my electrical.

to sic audio: thanks for all the help and dont worry about the "jacked thread" lol. it happends all the time. however, i would like to figure out my voltage problem. we should all team up and come up with a sticky for electrical systems once we get together a good procedure and after we figure mine out hah.

thanks to sexy, knetik and everyone else who has replied. ive been taking everything into consideration.

so i agree with all u guys that a h/o alt is not absolutely necessary. not for the power im running, i know its a lot of power but a lot of u made good points with saying that i dont need a ho alt or that its the fix to my system.

i agree the big 3 should and will be done. but i want to know what other tests i should do to check my electrical.

after a few hours of battery resting, when i start my car it meters at 14 volts. once i start cranking the stereo it goes down and after a while even if i turn it off it wont go back up to 14 volts unless i let it rest for a while.

this weekend i am going to redo my grounds on my amps. i kno they are not the best grounds.

when i bought the kinetik i metered it out of the box and it measured at 12.7 volts

idk how to check if my alternator is going bad or how check if its putting out its full potential though.

i also COMPLETELY agree with those of you who said that a lot of us just assume that when electrical is not up to parr, that we (wont exclude anyone, or point anyone out) start suggesting to get a h/o alt or more/bigger batts, but that shouldnt always be the case, i kno we are pushing our power limits on stock alts and what not, but there should be steps and tests we should be able to do BEFORE going out and buying new batteries and expensive alternators.

again thanks a ton to everyone, hope you guys can keep giving me ideas on what to do to figure this out. il definitely post my final results once i figure it out for future referance of anyone. its a little frustrating not knowing where to start to fix it and even more when thinking im going to have to go and buy all this expensive extra equipment that i wasnt expecting.

I think Outside laid out a simple to follow way to get it tested at any parts store.. 1 page back IIRC...

and a bad ground anywhere will cause all the symptoms you are having //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[robertoyoung08 10+ year member]

sic audio- i will definitely check my grounds on my amps. particularly my mono.

my sundown is suposed to run at full power at 12 volts

so i am going to check grounds

start measuring and preparing for big 3.

besides checking my parts, is ther any other steps im missing or that you guys do to ensure your electrical is up to par?

battery rests at 12.8 volts ever morning and 14 volts after starting my car.

then once music is turned up it goes down and battery stays in 12 volts even with car running. could this mean battery is messed up already, its not being charged fast enough or that my alt is going bad?

also now im thinking about selling this 1800 for a 2000 or even a 2400

 

[robertoyoung08 10+ year member]

or are sundowns just inefficient as hell?

maybe if i got a nice jl or zapco, theyd make more out of my electrical system (but lets stay on the subject of what i could do with the amps i have NOW)

 

[SicAudio 5,000+ posts]

doubt it is the amp

I am not a fan of Zenon based amps but it is a good amp

low voltage like you describe it screams to me bad alt...

 

[robertoyoung08 10+ year member]

over a month later and im back on this.

1.) had autozone check my electrical. they clamped it to a machine and everything read "pass" on it. so i guess battery and alt are all good.

2.) re-checked my grounds and sanded them down to bear metal and no paint

3.) did big three.

idk if big three helped as much as i thought it would. voltage still drops down to 11.xx when bass is up loud and i get ridiculous dimming on head lights and interior lighting at night. i guess i can try unplugging my big three and see if my voltage goes lower than it does now WITH b 3.

any ideas what else i can do? still running same equipment:

- kinetick 1800

-1200 watt sundown

-60.4 jbl

-2 farad capacitor

 

[robertoyoung08 10+ year member]

might be worth to mention. when i turn my car on in the morning volt meter reads 14.0-14.1 volts. but as i drive even with music really low, voltage goes down to 13.7'ish any idea why?

 

[robertoyoung08 10+ year member]

finished big three:

before :

after