King Of The Dimmed Headlights (12" Stroker Pro Install)

[WoogieBoogie 10+ year member]

So I installed 0/1 today, 4-Gauge Ground, and powered up the Soundstream TRXD2000 for the first time. I turned up the volume and the Stroker Pro hits hard and low, but I'm assuming I am missing A LOT as my headlights dim almost to the point of being OFF //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif. So much for getting away with not having to do the Big 3. It was too hot and humid today to do much. That amp sucks so much juice I'm doubting the Big 3 will be enough. Apparently the 130 Amp Stock Alt isn't gunna be enough. It's a 98' Explorer Sport (2 door) 4.0 OHV.

Also, I have two (1) Farad Rockford Fosgate Capacitors just sitting in my garage (never a big fan of caps). I doubt these would do anything, especially as them wired in series to get 2 farads would slow down the discharge so much it wouldn't have an effect. Let me know what you guys think cause I really don't know that much about having to push so many watts, (never had to push more then 600 before).

I plan on doing the big 3 tomorrow, but I was wondering if anyone had experience with the explorer and having to push a big sub. The only guy I talked to previously with an Expo said he got a 200 amp alternator and he got less at idle then his stock 130 amp.

I mostly crank it during idle so this is where I'd want the biggest boost, anyone have experience with different pullies and how to "pull" this off?

UPDATE 7/23/08:

So I measured the difference each improvement made, I had to use a high-end analog volt meter to see what my voltage dropped to during the same bass hit which seemed to dim my lights the most (Soulja Boy - Get Silly). With yesterday's setup I was dropping down to about 10.5V. This morning I did the Big3. Started with the most obvious weak link. The BATT(-) to Chassis stock cable was seriously thinner then most speaker cable. After that I was dropping from 14.5V to about 12V still. I finished the other two connections, and double ran 2-gauge from a couple different spots on the engine block. I was still dropping down to about 12.5V after that. Figuring the next thing I try according to you guys was to bite the bullet and get a battery. While picking up some more 0-gauge and terminals, my bud Jeremy up at CarTunes talked me into trying a Kinetics 15V power cell. Holy shit my prayers are answered! I went home and popped that bad boy in. (Model 800) and after charging it up by driving around for about an hour running errands, I got home and let the truck idle, popped on the meter, and played the same track. Never dropped below 13.5 even at the hardest bass hits! The sub sounded a buttload louder (More of what I was expecting from a Stroker), and to add to it all, I waited till night time and my lights don't dim one bit! Thanks you guys for your help!

P.S. I am in love with this stroker pro. This 12" rumbles my guts like a 18", I'm glad I took the risk of trying a sub that doesn't have much of a following yet //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif . My buddy swears he's getting two 15"s, so he might be selling two BTL's soon.

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[jblw12gti 10+ year member]

get an auto throttle //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[azbass 5,000+ posts]

where the hell are the photos?

 

[01 S 10 10+ year member]

smaller pulley possibly. but run as big of wire possible for Big 3 and to the amp. You'll need to get a secondary battery (BIG one). you should be ok with stock alt with a lot of current flow with big runs of wire and 2 good batteries

 

[Enellz 10+ year member]

what is the specs on the amp and why didn't you make the ground the same size as your power wire? But I can help you if I knew what you amp is pulling, cause if I was you I would avoid buying an alternator.

 

[01 S 10 10+ year member]

H/O alts usually put out more at idle than a stock alt, but not much. they kick in at 1200+ rpms

 

[MikeyB 5,000+ posts]

Loose that 4ga ground too, thats choking off your current flow

 

[WoogieBoogie 10+ year member]

where the hell are the photos?

PICS http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=331121

To what 01 S 10 said about getting batteries, from what I understood, the amount of batteries has nothing to do with the juice going to your amp while the car is running, all the juice is coming from the alt (why amplifiers get higher wattage ratings at 14.4V rather then a 12V from a battery). I NEVER run the system without the engine running so would batteries really benefit me?

-The ground is 4ga cuz the power is 4ga, Thats the biggest the amp's power connections take. I have 0/1 going from battery to a distribution block, from there it splits off to 4ga and it's only 4ga for maybe 2 feet to the Amp itself. The Ground cable is about 3 feet. I am using the fused distribution block cuz I'm gunna put in my 90x4 4channel soon.

AMP SPECS:

Soundstream TRX2000D

Class D Mono

150 Amp fuse total

2000 Watts RMS x 1 @ 1 - Ohm

4 Gauge +/- terminals

Some quick thoughts on what else maybe be choking my electrical system, let me know what you think...

-Ground to chassis was scraped not sanded, maybe losing some juice here?

-Two Fuses in line from battery to amp (250 amp fuse at battery, 150 at dist block) Could this be choking the juice?

-Alternator has 110k miles on it.

 

[MikeyB 5,000+ posts]

Definitely get a good under the hood battery and another one out back. Look into dekas.

 

[audioarsonal 10+ year member]

Just get another battery.You are somewhat correct about the alt running the vehicle however when you pull all the current the alt can supply then you need battery reserve.Evn if you don't play it with the vehicle off its still helps.

 

[WoogieBoogie 10+ year member]

Thanks for your help everyone, I'll post my updates as I do them. I plan on getting another battery today and will let you know the diff's i get in voltage during bass hits.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[blackbonnie 5,000+ posts]

never have a smaller gauge ground then power wire //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[Ed Lester 10+ year member]

So I installed 0/1 today, 4-Gauge Ground, and powered up the Soundstream TRXD2000 for the first time. I turned up the volume and the Stroker Pro hits hard and low, but I'm assuming I am missing A LOT as my headlights dim almost to the point of being OFF //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif. So much for getting away with not having to do the Big 3. It was too hot and humid today to do much. That amp sucks so much juice I'm doubting the Big 3 will be enough. Apparently the 130 Amp Stock Alt isn't gunna be enough. It's a 98' Explorer Sport (2 door) 4.0 OHV.
Also, I have two (1) Farad Rockford Fosgate Capacitors just sitting in my garage (never a big fan of caps). I doubt these would do anything, especially as them wired in series to get 2 farads would slow down the discharge so much it wouldn't have an effect. Let me know what you guys think cause I really don't know that much about having to push so many watts, (never had to push more then 600 before).

I plan on doing the big 3 tomorrow, but I was wondering if anyone had experience with the explorer and having to push a big sub. The only guy I talked to previously with an Expo said he got a 200 amp alternator and he got less at idle then his stock 130 amp.

I mostly crank it during idle so this is where I'd want the biggest boost, anyone have experience with different pullies and how to "pull" this off?

Um, just to let you know, if you connect capacitors in series, the capacitance is decreased.

Never connect caps in series, always parallel.

Anyhow, Caps wont do any good anyway, they are pointless.

Get a good battery under the hood, and the same type of battery in the rear also.

The amp draws it's power from the batteries even when the car is running. The alternator simply charges the batteries.

 

[Rashaddd 5,000+ posts]

If you're lights are dimming like hell (voltage is dropping in your electrical system), then your amp is pulling tons of current already. I wouldn't worry about trying to get it to pull MORE until you have more available to it. In other words, don't worry about things like fuses/unsanded grounds giving you power loss until you have enough power to give your amp in the first place.

Get some extra batteries or one big extra one and you'll be fine most likely

Edit: and I would be worried about a "2000 watt amp" that is using 4 gauge power supply terminals, but who knows, maybe it is making ratings, eitherway I'd get some 1/0 to 4 gauge reducers or just use 1/0 and trim it down to fit for your power terminals on your amp, because you're currently trying to pull 180-200+ amps through wire rated for ~135 ish iirc. I'm surprised your 150 amp fuse hasn't blown yet which means the amp probably isn't doing close to rated power as you have it now, or you have just barely been playing it for very short periods

 

[bones22 5,000+ posts]

you got a pm