Lights dimming, amp getting hot

[iAugust]

Hello all, I have two issues with my new system that may or may not be related?

I recently upgraded my system to two brand new RE SE12s in a ported enclosure being pushed by a brand new Crunch GPV2000 in my 98 Chrysler Concorde (which has had electrical problems ever since I got it).

I have noticed my lights dimming at night time on most bass hits (not just the loud ones), and am planning on buying a Cap but I don't know what kind I should get.

Secondly, and more importantly, after playing my music pretty loud for about 45 minutes, my subs will cut out. The amp will still be on (The word "Crunch" is still lit up on the front of the amp), but it won't power my subs, and it is VERY hot. If I turn it off for like 5-10 minutes and let it cool down, and then try it again, it works again.

Any suggestions on why this is doing this or how I could prevent it? The ground I'm using in my trunk is pretty shitty because there is nothing very good to ground it to. Could that potentially be why the amp is overheating?

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[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

1) your electrical is too weak, causing voltage drops, which leads to your lights dimming. Low voltage drops are also going to slowly kill your amp (it getting hot)

2) capacitors are garbage. Get a bigger/second battery, do the big 3 mod

3) get a good ground

 

[Villeza1 10+ year member]

In your case, h3ll yea. You have got to change the ground. You also should look into upgrading your electrical system... H/O alt, more powerful battery, thicker ground and power wires, as well as setting your amp gain correctly. A cap would help but it's not sufficient enough, you have to improve the whole electrical system instead of a "quick fix".

 

[Enellz 10+ year member]

^^^^^what they said. Don't listen to the shops or people who say caps are better or even useful. Do the necessary upgrades and get a better front and/or back battery. how many rms is the crunch?

 

[iAugust]

^^^^^what they said. Don't listen to the shops or people who say caps are better or even useful. Do the necessary upgrades and get a better front and/or back battery. how many rms is the crunch?

500 RMS to each sub.

What kind of battery do you guys recommend?

 

[AlterEgo99 5,000+ posts]

I'm gonna weight in and say a bigger battery is poo. If you are only planning on running your system when the engine is off, then a bigger battery will work.

However, when the engine is running and you are driving around town with the bass boomin', the ALTERNATOR is providing all of your power...NOT the battery.

Soooo...you really need to upgrade the 'ol alternator to a high output. The factory alternator was sized for the electrical load of your vehicle AND the OEM battery that came with it. Once you start adding huge amps to your vehicle and rockin' car audio, the alternator is gonna need some serious beefing up.

Oh, yeah, a lot of 1/0 gauge wire from battery to alternator, battery ground to engine block and engine block to chassis is in order to...along with a MUCH bigger fuse between the battery and the new alternator.

There are plenty of sites on the net where you can punch in the wattage of your system and the amp output of your stock alternator to get an idea of how much amperage the new alternator is gonna have to put out...and pay special attention to what it will put out, at idle.

 

[iAugust]

I'm gonna weight in and say a bigger battery is poo. If you are only planning on running your system when the engine is off, then a bigger battery will work.
However, when the engine is running and you are driving around town with the bass boomin', the ALTERNATOR is providing all of your power...NOT the battery

Is this correct? Sounds like it makes sense to me.

I'm a little short on money right now so I need to know if I'm making the right purchase when I make it.

New battery or new alternator?

 

[JrVtecAccord 10+ year member]

I don't think you mentioned, what gauge of wire are you using for your ground & power from the battery?

I've read a lot which to buy first threads, HO ALT or NEW BATTERY? Usually upgrading your primary battery wins in most installs. Obviously you have to do the big 3 as well and run good quality power & ground wire.

Any pics of install?

 

[nickolas_j_t 10+ year member]

Just big 3, and a new ground, upgrade to 1/0 gauge wire.

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

Well I was getting huge voltage drops in my last few installs in my car with no more than 1200rms with weak electrical and 1 install, I had a kinetik, but 4g wire and still got it. My lasted install, I did 0/1g Knu wire on a Redtop up front and a Powermaster 5100d in the back and no big 3 yet and almost all of my dimming has gone away, besides really heavy bass tracks, mostly rap, so in my case, just getting better batteries and upgrading just the wire helped out a ton!

So explain that one to me JKBeaumont1. Haven't touched my smallish alty.......nor did the big 3 yet.

 

[Enellz 10+ year member]

Is this correct? Sounds like it makes sense to me.
I'm a little short on money right now so I need to know if I'm making the right purchase when I make it.

New battery or new alternator?

With just 1K rms you don't need a HO alternator. I don't know why people say that when you don't have huge amounts of power. If a person has just 300rms, they quick to say buy an alternator. Do the big 3 and better batteries. With just 1K you might be able to get a deep cycle, Optima, powermaster, kinetik and the big 3. unless you go 2K plus then an HO is not needed. unless you got an import car, because a majority of the time they have crappy alternators.

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

Word^^^^

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

reason the amp gets hot is because its drawing more current to make up for the lack of voltage. When you are running stock electrical + big3 i would get a better battery and make sure its a DECENT size I just had a buddy add a HC1200 in back to his D1200 that is upfront to stop his amps from going thermal. If he were going one battery he should have went HC1800 or D3400. Also didnt help that his 0 ga wire was really somewhere between a 4 and 2 with enough insulation to insulate 3x the length of wire he had LOL...if you spend $1000's+ on your audio gear its a good idea to spend the $30-50 bucks in good wire and ~$100 or so more on a proper battery. His old battery the amps wouldn't shut down but it would dim more at a moderate volume and less at max volume. Caps can slow down light dimming but they really won't do much for the audio system on that level. Another thing you can look into is an MLA (Missing Link Audio) harness to see if they make one for your alt. It bumps up your voltage a tad.

 

[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

the comment above about the alternator is very true, but with only 1krms give or take a bit, the stock alternator should be plenty with a better battery and the big 3 mod while driving.