Question about caps & alternators

[mobbdeep 10+ year member]

Hello,

I just installed 2 x 12" Kicker CompVR (older model) subs being pushed by an Alpin X-Power 1000.1 monoblock amp. The wiring kit I am running it all with is a 4 gauge Lightning Audio by Rockford Fosgate kit and it is using an amp fuse. When deep bass hits at a certain volume, my headlights and inside car light will dim faintly, but still somewhat noticeable. I spoke to some professional audio installers and they recommended me to have my alternator "beefed up" or buy a high output alternator as it has to do with the electrical current/voltage while the car is in idle. They recommended I don't get a cap and don't get a spare battery until I get a stronger alternator as it'll just strain my alternator trying to charge both batteries. I drive a 1999 Chevy Lumina with a v6 3.1L engine in case that's needed to be known.

So the question is, what do you suggest I do? An alternator shop suggested me a 220a High Output alternator from PowerBastards, but that's $350 alone for just the part.

Thanks!

Click to read more...

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Turn the gain down till it stops and make sure all boost are off.

 

[mobbdeep 10+ year member]

Turn the gain down till it stops and make sure all boost are off.

All boosts are off, but I'm not sure what the gains are set at. Won't the gains affect the bass though?

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

Shouldn't be too bad with 1,000 RMS. Definitely don't get a cap. This will put more strain on your amplifier.

A HO alt is definitely the best way to fix voltage issues, bt that's pretty expensive for the system you're running. Make sure the ground location is scraped down to bare metal

 

[JarodM]

Yes, you turn down the gains, your bass will turn down. But your amp will be using less juice so your lights wont dim. But the shop is right. Your first step is to get a bigger alt. Its one of those things you just have to **** it up and fork out the dough. But its what creates the power, batts and caps only store it. So, if you want to do it right, get a big alt, THEN you can get a second batt if you still need it after. Dont waste your money with a cap though. But adding a second batt now will just stress your system and you'll start running in to more issues.

 

[mobbdeep 10+ year member]

Shouldn't be too bad with 1,000 RMS. Definitely don't get a cap. This will put more strain on your amplifier.
A HO alt is definitely the best way to fix voltage issues, bt that's pretty expensive for the system you're running. Make sure the ground location is scraped down to bare metal

Yeah I thought the same thing about how it shouldn't be a problem with 1,000 RMS. Right now, I can't afford an alternator just to suit my system as I've already dropped a lot of money on it. I had my subs and amp professionally installed, so do you think they'd be able to scrape the ground location down to bare metal or would it be easy for me to do it? I don't want to pay out the butt again for something that could be simple for me to do. I have a buddy who's also able to help so if it's easy, I'll ask him.

Yes, you turn down the gains, your bass will turn down. But your amp will be using less juice so your lights wont dim. But the shop is right. Your first step is to get a bigger alt. Its one of those things you just have to **** it up and fork out the dough. But its what creates the power, batts and caps only store it. So, if you want to do it right, get a big alt, THEN you can get a second batt if you still need it after. Dont waste your money with a cap though. But adding a second batt now will just stress your system and you'll start running in to more issues.

Thanks for this tip.

 

[silver07 10+ year member]

Do the big 3 upgrade. In my last car just doing that was enough that I went from constantly dimming headlights to only during heavy long bass notes. So that definitely helps too.

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

you can definitely do it yourself just trace the ground wire from your amp back to where they grounded it. use some sandpaper and clean it up and make sure there's no corrosion or dirt impeding current flow. they probably just used self tapping metal screws or a bolt.

if you havent installed a big 3 kit then you might want to try that as well, but your best bet is a HO alternator.

This may seem obvious, but remember to disconnect your negative terminal before messing with your ground. I'm not a total noob when it comes to car audio, but when i cleaned up my grounds a couple weeks ago i made that mistake and well, there was plenty of sparks lol

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

Yeah I thought the same thing about how it shouldn't be a problem with 1,000 RMS. Right now, I can't afford an alternator just to suit my system as I've already dropped a lot of money on it. I had my subs and amp professionally installed, so do you think they'd be able to scrape the ground location down to bare metal or would it be easy for me to do it? I don't want to pay out the butt again for something that could be simple for me to do. I have a buddy who's also able to help so if it's easy, I'll ask him.

Easy to scrape a ground location. I use a metal file.

you can definitely do it yourself just trace the ground wire from your amp back to where they grounded it. use some sandpaper and clean it up and make sure there's no corrosion or dirt impeding current flow. they probably just used self tapping metal screws or a bolt.
if you havent installed a big 3 kit then you might want to try that as well, but your best bet is a HO alternator.

This may seem obvious, but remember to disconnect your negative terminal before messing with your ground. I'm not a total noob when it comes to car audio, but when i cleaned up my grounds a couple weeks ago i made that mistake and well, there was plenty of sparks lol

An input from my battery bank scraped against my ground bar when I wasn't paying close enough attention. In a split second, it took a decent chunk out of both metal pieces. There was a pretty crazy spark. Doesn't look as bad in the picture

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

yup, these agms battery will put out enough current to melt and weld metal in milliseconds lol. i was putting a new duracell agm in my truck and redoing one of the alternator wires and it slipped and made contact with the alternator case, took a good chunk of metal with it like your picture shows. man that was scary as hell, a ball of sparks engulfed my entire engine bay, i was really lucky to not get hurt or to damage the battery and my truck.

 

[mobbdeep 10+ year member]

So after taking my car over to my buddies who isn't a "professional" audio installer, but does audio installation, body work, and automotive repair.. I am actually quite pissed off with the installation that this audio shop did with my system. They drilled a hole through my firewall.. yes, through the metal of my car rather than fishing it to the opposite side of the battery and through the rubber grommet. They also used a self tapping screw in my trunk under the carpeting for the ground and obviously the surface around the screw was painted. It's wasn't hard for me to use a razor and scrape away paint around it, but that's not the point. We tested to see when the lights would start dimming and we noticed when the volume was around 26, which obviously I'm not going to have the volume set that high for daily usage.

 

[fly_marlin]

Yeah, do the big 3 upgrade. Most cars with stock electrical should be able to handle a 1000W system. Your subs are dual 2 ohm and wired to a final load of 2 ohms? What year are they? My buddy has some compVRs and they're 300W each, he's running them off a 600W amp. They're like 8yrs old.

 

[mobbdeep 10+ year member]

Yeah, do the big 3 upgrade. Most cars with stock electrical should be able to handle a 1000W system. Your subs are dual 2 ohm and wired to a final load of 2 ohms? What year are they? My buddy has some compVRs and they're 300W each, he's running them off a 600W amp. They're like 8yrs old.

These are the ones I've got:

Kicker CompVR 07CVR124 12" subwoofer with dual 4-ohm voice coils at Crutchfield.com

 

[fly_marlin]

You sure you have the dual 4 ohm ones? Do you have them wired down to 1 ohm? I can't tell which alpine amp model you have, but chances are it's only stable down to 2 ohms.

 

[mobbdeep 10+ year member]

You sure you have the dual 4 ohm ones? Do you have them wired down to 1 ohm? I can't tell which alpine amp model you have, but chances are it's only stable down to 2 ohms.

I'm not 100% sure if I have the dual 4 ohm ones and I'm not sure what I have them wired down to as I had them done through an audio shop. But this is the amp I have:

Alpine MRX-M100 Mono subwoofer amplifier — 1,000 watts RMS x 1 at 2 ohms at Crutchfield.com

I'd have to pull the subs tomorrow during the day to find out exactly which ones they are. All I know is the subwoofers do say "4 ohm" on them.

This isn't my picture nor subwoofer, but this is how they were wired inside pretty much.