lights dimming and loss of RPM's at idle ...... need suggestions please help

[Big Rich 10+ year member]

i drive a 2000 buick lesabre i have done the big 3 all other electrical like alternator and battery is stock

theres a good amount of dimming when my car is stopped at a light, ive also noticed that when my car is idling and rolling when i take my foot off the brake the RPM's drop and my car kinda stops moving a little bit to the beat of the music/bass

will adding another battery help this ? i plan on getting a stinger 5 farad capacitor (i know they do nothing but i want one anyway). and i want to add on another battery, im not sure which is a good brand or what to get heres my amp specs

the amp is currently wired at 1 ohm to a single skar 12 wired at 2ohm. so im assuming its running at the full 1600 watts

cadence daytona DCA1600

4 ohm RMS Power: 1 x 50 Watts

2 ohm RMS Power: 1 x 1000 Watts

1 Ohm RMS Power: 1 x 1600 Watts

2 Amps Bridged: 1 x 3200 Watts

Frequency Response: 10Hz - 500Hz

S/N Ratio: >100 db

Damping Factor: >500 @ 100Hz

Minimum THD:

Low Pass Crossover: 35Hz - 250Hz

Subsonic High Pass Filter: 10Hz - 50Hz

Bass Boost Equalization: 0-18db @ 45Hz

Lucite Encapsulated Large 2 and 4 Gauge Connection Terminals

Dash Board Bass Remote

Input Voltage: 200 mV - 6 Volts

Dual-Amp Bridging for Double the Power @ 2 Ohms

Master/Slave Control

Adjustable Phase Control

RCA Line-In/Line-Out Jacks

24db Crossover Roll Off

Dimensions: 13" x 9.5" x 3.5"

Click to read more...

 

[Phoenix Risen 10+ year member]

is your sub wired at 2 or is a d2?

 

[Big Rich 10+ year member]

It's a d2 wired parallel

 

[09civic 5,000+ posts]

What size is your alt? Make sure your grounds are secure and actually a good ground. Make sure everything is tight.

 

[Dr. Slam 10+ year member]

Sounds like your alternator is failing. I got the same car and when my alt went bad, my voltage / rpms would surge at idle. Then finally my alt when out.

 

[Big Rich 10+ year member]

It's a 105 amp alt. have checked grounds when I installed the system last week but will recheck it when I get home.

 

[Phoenix Risen 10+ year member]

its either that the car just wont handle the load being put on it or its going south.

 

[Big Rich 10+ year member]

Say I just sold the cadence amp and got something smaller in the 600-800 watt range would that make a difference ?

 

[Phoenix Risen 10+ year member]

only way it will make a difference is if it is actually the amp causing it.

 

[J31Rob 5,000+ posts]

Improve your electrical system or you'll always have issues, that's the easy answer. Best one IMO too.

 

[09civic 5,000+ posts]

Whether the amp does 1k or 8k, if you set your gains correctly, it shouldn't matter.

 

[Big Rich 10+ year member]

The sub hits very hard and neither the amp or sub cone get warm at all. I'm not sure if it's the amp honestly. I just thought that since it was 1600 watts that it pulled a lot of power from the battery.

This is my first install so I just don't know where to start looking. The last thing I want to do is screw up the car

 

[MECHMAN 10+ year member]

Your amp consumes about the same power that your factory alternator will produce at peak. Your vehicle will pull most of what your alternator can produce in it's normal operating range, generally up to 80a. That's not leaving much to power your system.

Then factor in the alternator is only putting out about 50-60a at idle and you will not have nearly enough amperage available to maintain your batteries.

For your system to function properly with that amp I would recommend that you install one good battery like an XS Power under the hood, use a high output alternator with good low-speed charging and wire everything with quality cable.

CCA cable is OK when used properly.

Avoid cheap batteries.

Avoid cheap alternators that claim big power, they don't generally perform at low engine speeds.

 

[Big Rich 10+ year member]

im going to try lowering my gains a bit in case that could be part of it. after that im going to just try a battery than after that il go with switching out the alternator. what is a good reliable one ??

what are the minimum amps the battery should be ???

 

[dot8905 10+ year member]

had the same problem with my park avenue a few years back threw a kinetic 1800 and ran great i was running a saz-1000d at the time. I still have the same battery in another vehicle but no stereo anymore //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif