lights dimming without serious voltage drops?

[des343 10+ year member]

Its a 95 blazer I believe 120 amp alt not positive no big 3 (yet) the build is a process due to funds so I upgrade when I can. I have 2 optima bats a yellow in front a red in back zero gage wire ran from front to back to amp. I don't have my full system in yet only 2 of the 4 subs amp only wired at 6 ohms to begin with when a heavy bass song is playing at the max volume I set the system for my voltages drop from 14.4 to 12.4 and no lower that I've seen yet my lights will dimm very heavy even though my voltages are not too bad...

Why? What can I do more batts? I plan on a bigger alt but they are pricey and I need something to hold until then I've heard of battery isolators but know nothing about them or where to find them or if I even need it but I just don't want to get pulled over or **** someone off on the highway because my lights flashing at them... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/suave.gif.858fc102f7646e678ee8af7e1fbc41d1.gif

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[des343 10+ year member]

??

 

[NASTY08IMPALA 5,000+ posts]

Thats plenty of voltage drop for lights to dim ..ive seen lights dim on .5 drop ..get a ho alt and or more batts..and optimas arent the best car audio batteries ..deka are alot more bang for the buck ...and battert isolator not needed

 

[NASTY08IMPALA 5,000+ posts]

And thats esp bad voltage drop for a 6 ohm load

 

[gckless 5,000+ posts]

I'd consider 12.4 bad voltage drop. I personally consider anything under a battery's resting voltage bad drop, but that's just me. Regardless, you will definitely see lights dim where you are dropping to.

What amps are you running/plan to run? That will pretty much determine if possibly another, or better, battery will suffice or if an alt is needed. But if you plan on getting 4 amps, plan on getting a HO alt, plan on more and better batteries, and plan on more wiring. Depending on amps of course.

 

[des343 10+ year member]

I'd consider 12.4 bad voltage drop. I personally consider anything under a battery's resting voltage bad drop, but that's just me. Regardless, you will definitely see lights dim where you are dropping to.
What amps are you running/plan to run? That will pretty much determine if possibly another, or better, battery will suffice or if an alt is needed. But if you plan on getting 4 amps, plan on getting a HO alt, plan on more and better batteries, and plan on more wiring. Depending on amps of course.

Both of my batteries are at 12.4 resting. And where is a good place to get a fair price on a ho alt and to get actual batteries I don't wanna go broke tho is the thing

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

How about start by setting the amp up right and make sure you have a good ground

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

and do the big 3 kit as well, it's needed here ,also whats your budget on a alt ,i can help you there

 

[NASTY08IMPALA 5,000+ posts]

Both of my batteries are at 12.4 resting. And where is a good place to get a fair price on a ho alt and to get actual batteries I don't wanna go broke tho is the thing

If u have a sams club near u their duracell agm are the same ***** as dekas..awesome batts cheap

 

[gckless 5,000+ posts]

Both of my batteries are at 12.4 resting. And where is a good place to get a fair price on a ho alt and to get actual batteries I don't wanna go broke tho is the thing

So again, what amps do you have and plan on getting? If you plan on getting decent sized amps, electrical is going to cost a lot, so you may want to rethink your amp decision.

 

[TreyE 10+ year member]

Isn't 12.4 resting not good? Sounds like it needs a nice full charge.

 

[robert420 10+ year member]

Isn't 12.4 resting not good? Sounds like it needs a nice full charge.

more like an electrical upgrade

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

more like an electrical upgrade

More like the ground is bad and losing power or the alt is going out. I'm going with ground. He is running the amp at 6ohms. I cant think of a single amp running at 6ohms that would pull that much current

 

[robert420 10+ year member]

Why? What can I do more batts? I plan on a bigger alt but they are pricey and I need something to hold until then I've heard of battery isolators but know nothing about them or where to find them or if I even need it but I just don't want to get pulled over or **** someone off on the highway because my lights flashing at them... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/suave.gif.858fc102f7646e678ee8af7e1fbc41d1.gif

i have never heard of someone getting pulled over for headlight dimming... along with pissing people off on the highway. because headlights don't dim very bad unless there's something wrong with your setup

 

[TreyE 10+ year member]

more like an electrical upgrade

More like the ground is bad and losing power or the alt is going out. I'm going with ground. He is running the amp at 6ohms. I cant think of a single amp running at 6ohms that would pull that much current

I took that as, when his car is off his batteries are resting at 12.4 volts. Ive always thought it should be at least 12.5-12.9 resting...

I would double check ALL of your connections for wiring. I would disconnect batteries and check the voltage of each individually, you might have a bad cell in one of the batteries that is causing the extreme dimming (happened to me once). Also your ground, make sure your ground doesnt have any corrosion and the paint is stripped completely for metal to metal contact. Also make sure that you are grounding it in a correct location. There are plenty of stickies and threads around here to check where and how to ground properly. Good luck, sounds like something simple that can be fixed.