LIghts dim

[Eikel]

I'm new to this site, and a little less new to car audio. And i've got the most obvious question......I'm sure you get it alot, but i couldnt find any old threads that would answer it for me.

Anywho, the question is how do i stop my lights from dimming, both my gauges and headlights dim.

Im running a 760 watt sony amp with two 12" sony explode subs. I usually have my fog lamps on so thats another 12 volts being pulled. Its obviously worse when i hit my brakes and put my turn signal on.

Someone please tell me what to do, its annoying the crap outta me.

Peace,

Eikel

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[MikeofTulsa Moderator]

i recomend upgrading your alternator or getting it rewound to a higher amp rating...should help alot...good luck

 

[chris229 10+ year member]

I would first work o upgrading ALL wiring. Battery ground,motor ground and power wires.

 

[XSNOIZ 10+ year member]

...after wiring, i'd suggest a cap. It's alot cheaper than a new alternator, and if you're happy with it then, you could have saved yourself 200 bucks or more.

 

[vasyachkin 10+ year member]

FIRST OF ALL, you have to ask yourself - do you have a switching (class D) amp or a normal class AB one.

class D is about twice as efficient, and will go about twice as loud before your lights will dim. if your amp is a mono subwoofer-only amp it is probably class D already.

wiring and cap will be a marginal improvement only, maybe youll squeeze another 50 watts or so but in terms of decibles that will be less than half a decibel.

getting a second battery - placed in the trunk right next to the amp should help ALOT, that is what i would do myself really.

and the final option, is to make or get a new subwoofer that has more efficient BUT BE VERY VERY CAREFUL the efficiency ratings are BULLSH1T they are worse than meaningless. however there is still such a thing as efficiency, and it matters quite a bit. usually the heavier the subwoofer the more efficient it is - that is not 100% true but much better way to judge efficiency than to trust manufacturer specs. also the more subs you use (assuming your total ohms is what your amps needs, not less not more) the more efficient they are as a total. funny enough, the very reason why more subs are more efficient is because they weigh more when combined //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[vasyachkin 10+ year member]

by the way when i said heavier, i meant magnet assembly weight, not cone weight. cone weight is best described as irrelevant in case of a subwoofer efficiency - not so with midrange drivers and tweeters though.

 

[MikeofTulsa Moderator]

Originally posted by XSNOIZ ...after wiring, i'd suggest a cap. It's alot cheaper than a new alternator, and if you're happy with it then, you could have saved yourself 200 bucks or more.

sorry to proove you wrong...but if your current alt is not able to stand up to the electrical needs of the car what makes you think adding a cap will help...it'll just cause it to be further strained....

 

[MikeofTulsa Moderator]

Originally posted by vasyachkin wiring and cap will be a marginal improvement only, maybe youll squeeze another 50 watts or so but in terms of decibles that will be less than half a decibel.
getting a second battery - placed in the trunk right next to the amp should help ALOT, that is what i would do myself really.

well i have a question for you....how will a cap give 50 watts??? caps just provide temporary burst of power when needed...and by adding a second battery do you mean have it running off the alternator as well cause that would increase the strain on the already strained alternator as well...but if u mean just have an extra one lying in the trunk then that would be fine if you have a charger around to charge the batt. every so often...//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif ....good luck

 

[chris229 10+ year member]

First if you are having light dimming problem UPGRADE the grounds under the hood. This is because the may be a voltage drop being produced during heavy load on the ground side. This would cause all electricial things to see less power. Second batteries CAN'T fix voltage drops. This is because they sits at a voltage BELOW the alt[12.8v] This means that a drop MUST occur BEFORE the battery can help with the load. Adding batteries ADDS to the load on the alt. A charged battery will use about 10A @ underhood temp. A slightly DISCHARGED can pull up to 60A @ underhood temps. Batteries are meant to be in a heated envoirnment LIKE under the hood. This helps chemical reation speed up. putting a battery in a cold area makes the battery charge SLOWER. A battery by its nature is slow to respond to loads. Because of the nature of amps power supply it is a good idea to use caps to help with the peak MUSICAL demand. To sum this up -------- if you listen to MUSIC and NOT test tones then a cap is a better idea BUT first upgrade the grounds because you may just be causing a voltage drop and not need anything.

 

[Eikel]

OK so the information im grabbing from all these posts is upgrade the alternator and my ground and battery lines. Then get a cap, no not a cap, get a second battery, no not a battery but a cap. no upgrade the alternator and the power and ground lines. (i really doubt anyone will get that joke unless you've read through all the posts).

But for those of you who say upgrade my battery line and ground line i have one more question- which lines do you mean the lines running to the amp or those that are under the hood, and if the later mentioned, how do i go about replacing those lines?

Would the alternator on this webpage be a sufficient upgrade?

http://www.spswebpage.com/products/engine.html

Again thanks for all the input, even if each thread was later juxtaposed by another.

Peace,

Eikel

 

[chris229 10+ year member]

Originally posted by Eikel OK so the information im grabbing from all these posts is upgrade the alternator and my ground and battery lines. Then get a cap, no not a cap, get a second battery, no not a battery but a cap. no upgrade the alternator and the power and ground lines. (i really doubt anyone will get that joke unless you've read through all the posts).

that how it always is on forums:crazy:
But for those of you who say upgrade my battery line and ground line i have one more question- which lines do you mean the lines running to the amp or those that are under the hood, and if the later mentioned, how do i go about replacing those lines? both--- if you have money---- but the cause of lights dimming could be the grounds under the hood.... battery/ motor/frame grounds--- you'll need some terminals. Get them from e-bay. then ADD a second motor motor ground, a second battery to body ground and a second frame ground.

Would the alternator on this webpage be a sufficient upgrade?

http://www.spswebpage.com/products/engine.html

the alt is ok---- but you want a heavy duty outboard regulator-- also speeding up the alt isn't a fix for output--- at high engine speed that will just cause MORE wear on the alt.. I would look into grounds and a cap before jumping into buying a new alt

 

[XCivic 10+ year member]

Ok, So what is the real solution? I've been thourgh Audio shops and some say that I need a stronger alternator and others say I need to get a cap or extra battery. As far as upgrading wires....do you all mean just going to thicker wires(say from 4gauge to 2gauge). Would this really help?..... because aint the problem is that the amp is pulling more power from the cars electrical system?....so all this is doing is pulling the same amout of power as before but through bigger wires. As far as the Cap yes it doesnt supply a constant burst of energy....it gives out short burst of energy so everytime your sub hits that deep tone bass your system would be pulling more from the cap than the battery being that its closer to the amp. So this might help your system but not solve it completely? Getting an extra battery may only help prolong the playing time. If you think about it batteries only store and supply power....aint it your cars alternator that makes sure the battery is always charged up? So even though you have two batteries if your whole system pulls more power(amps) from your cars electrical system...So it only helps prolong playing time right. Getting an aftermarket alternator or getting yours rewound would be the best answer even though not the only one(and also not the cheapest). If your Alt puts out 80 amps and your whole car system and all needs 85 amps isnt this the reason your lights dim cause the load put on your alt is more than it can handle? This is what I've gathered so far from this thread. So what is the real solution? Well I'm not that sure cause from everybody else said its all different.

 

[chris229 10+ year member]

Originally posted by XCivic Ok, So what is the real solution? I've been thourgh Audio shops and some say that I need a stronger alternator and others say I need to get a cap or extra battery.

UNLESS you are friends with one of them you have to remember THEY ARE SALESMEN---you could need them BUT lets not go there yet---

As far as upgrading wires....do you all mean just going to thicker wires(say from 4gauge to 2gauge). Would this really help?...

yes--

.. because aint the problem is that the amp is pulling more power from the cars electrical system?

you hit the nail right on the head---- you see the car co design the ground to take a certain amount of current ---- when people add system they run haevy gauge wire to the amp and then run heavy gauge wire from the amp to a car body ground RIGHT---Thing is that they have FORGOT that the poower needs to come off the car body by OTHER ground wires UNDER THE HOOD--- so what happens is when you amp hits a bass note the current in the underhood ground causes a voltage drop in the wire ---This cause EVERTHING in the car to see LESS voltage because EVERYTHING grounds through those wires

....so all this is doing is pulling the same amout of power as before but through bigger wires.

correct causing less voltage drop.

As far as the Cap yes it doesnt supply a constant burst of energy....it gives out short burst of energy so everytime your sub hits that deep tone bass your system would be pulling more from the cap than the battery being that its closer to the amp. So this might help your system but not solve it completely?

when your car is running the power comes fromthe alt NOT the battery

Getting an extra battery may only help prolong the playing time. If you think about it batteries only store and supply power....aint it your cars alternator that makes sure the battery is always charged up? So even though you have two batteries if your whole system pulls more power(amps) from your cars electrical system...So it only helps prolong playing time right.

now your getting it --- if you want more batteries then your going to need a bigger alt to charge them as they are JUST LOADS when the car is running---each FULLY charged batteries STILL pull about 10A from the alt---discharged one can pull 60A each ---using a bunch of batteries came from the SPL guys BEcause it so much $$$$ putting 5-10 alts in they just started using a bank of batteries that they have to RECHARGE over nite

f Getting an aftermarket alternator or getting yours rewound would be the best answer even though not the only one(and also not the cheapest).

STOP---- no one is say F*CK getting one --- they work very well JUST THAT foe your case I don't think that what you need----IF you think You need one after upgrading grounds and maybe getting a cap JUST hook jumper cables to another car and jam your system If you decide to get one ---get one that has the same regulation set point[14.4v] with outboard regulator. Also read the output chart for the alt some HAVE LESS OUTPUT at idle then your stock one. Also make sure the amp rating is a hot rating---meaning what it puts out in the heat under the hood---as the reall out put will aways be less then the cold rating

If your Alt puts out 80 amps and your whole car system and all needs 85 amps isnt this the reason your lights dim cause the load put on your alt is more than it can handle? This is what I've gathered so far from this thread. So what is the real solution? Well I'm not that sure cause from everybody else said its all different.

F*CK it didn't see that you wre drawing 85A on a 80A alt------------------ well do like I said above and use jumper cables ----tell us what happens

 

[XCivic 10+ year member]

Originally posted by chris229 F*CK it didn't see that you wre drawing 85A on a 80A alt------------------ well do like I said above and use jumper cables ----tell us what happens [/b]

OK That wasnt really a good exmple.... NO My System doesnt pull 85A... What I meant was the "whole load(ac, light and everything else)" and system pulls 85A. No need to get hostile //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif .....

Thanks for clearing some things up though

Ro

 

[MikeofTulsa Moderator]

my recomendation would be as follows in this order

upgrade grounds/power wires

upgrade/rewind your alt

add a cap if your charging system is no longer strained

upgrade to a yellow or red top battery or somthing similar....hope that helps....

ps adding a cap will only help the system if your charging system is up to par...