Stock Electrical people

[Alpine4life89 10+ year member]

just realized that i haven't upgraded the positive from the alternator to the battery. That is probably my problem i am guessing.

 

[eutechnyx 10+ year member]

Not to trash anyone or anything but How the hell are people keeping 13 volts at idle with system bumpin with over 1500 watts with 90-110 amp alts? When I was running two optimas,big 3,all 0 gauge wiring and only about 1000 watts my volts would dip at idle.Now with 2500 watts + and still same setup it will dip into the 11's at half throttle lol.I guess its the vehicle etc. Im not sure but I would recommend a larger alt even if its just a 130 amp or something,big 3,all 0 gauge wiring and good grounds.

 

[Alpine4life89 10+ year member]

Not to trash anyone or anything but How the hell are people keeping 13 volts at idle with system bumpin with over 1500 watts with 90-110 amp alts? When I was running two optimas,big 3,all 0 gauge wiring and only about 1000 watts my volts would dip at idle.Now with 2500 watts + and still same setup it will dip into the 11's at half throttle lol.I guess its the vehicle etc. Im not sure but I would recommend a larger alt even if its just a 130 amp or something,big 3,all 0 gauge wiring and good grounds.

i was wondering that too

 

[gunz4me 10+ year member]

Not to trash anyone or anything but How the hell are people keeping 13 volts at idle with system bumpin with over 1500 watts with 90-110 amp alts? When I was running two optimas,big 3,all 0 gauge wiring and only about 1000 watts my volts would dip at idle.Now with 2500 watts + and still same setup it will dip into the 11's at half throttle lol.I guess its the vehicle etc. Im not sure but I would recommend a larger alt even if its just a 130 amp or something,big 3,all 0 gauge wiring and good grounds.

It is because they are pulling numbers out of their *****! Either that or they are running overrated amplifiers that don't produce the RMS power they say they have.

Regardless, I hate to break it to you, but the full Big 3 is fairly pointless on a stock electrical system. I have seen improvements by just upgrading the grounds BUT it is RARELY necessary to upgrade the charging wire from the alternator to the battery if you have a stock alternator. Why? Because the wire from the factory is rated to carry the current required to charge the battery. Going from 8 or 4 gauge to 1/0 on such a short run will net one very little improvement if they are running an 80 amp alternator.

 

[tRiGgEr 5,000+ posts]

I was running 2500 on a 160amp alt and a Red Top battery. Single run of 1/0 wire...

Had voltage problems...

Did the big 3 and adjusted my alt belt. Fixed my past issues.

 

[Alpine4life89 10+ year member]

It is because they are pulling numbers out of their *****! Either that or they are running overrated amplifiers that don't produce the RMS power they say they have.
Regardless, I hate to break it to you, but the full Big 3 is fairly pointless on a stock electrical system. I have seen improvements by just upgrading the grounds BUT it is RARELY necessary to upgrade the charging wire from the alternator to the battery if you have a stock alternator. Why? Because the wire from the factory is rated to carry the current required to charge the battery. Going from 8 or 4 gauge to 1/0 on such a short run will net one very little improvement if they are running an 80 amp alternator.

depends on the car. My car has 8 gauge wire running through it. That is too small for my system.

 

[TurdFergueson2 5,000+ posts]

Search the big 3, and do it for sure, all you need to add onto your battery ground, is a ground from the engine block, and a wire from your alts + directly to your battereies +
Id suggest going to a local welding shop and picking up 1/0 welding copper wire and doing all 3 wires. Should cost you more than $35 with terminals.

Then if the voltage drops are still bad, Id say a high big reserve battery upfront is instore.

More than likely it sounds like youre gonna need to upgrade your front battery though (if you can budget $125)

He's been here long enough to know better. Should have been reading instead of getting banned and making sucky *** threads. Good advice though WOT.

 

[gunz4me 10+ year member]

depends on the car. My car has 8 gauge wire running through it. That is too small for my system.

Are you sure about that? On average, most runs from the alternator to the battery are 5 feet, give are take.

This is the voltage drop for 1/0 calculated with an 80 amp load at 5 feet:

and this is the voltage drop for 8 gauge calculated with an 80 amp load at 5 feet:

How someone can say they were dropping into the 11s and now they are magically in the 13s from just doing the Big 3 and nothing more is beyond me!

 

[jpexpc 10+ year member]

I'm completely stock running a 1606D @ 0.5 ohms. My car isn't happy.

 

[stocker08 10+ year member]

Im running about 1000 watts and my car just makes sounds like its dying. But since its a Buick, it will live on!

 

[WOT]

It is because they are pulling numbers out of their *****! Either that or they are running overrated amplifiers that don't produce the RMS power they say they have.
Regardless, I hate to break it to you, but the full Big 3 is fairly pointless on a stock electrical system. I have seen improvements by just upgrading the grounds BUT it is RARELY necessary to upgrade the charging wire from the alternator to the battery if you have a stock alternator. Why? Because the wire from the factory is rated to carry the current required to charge the battery. Going from 8 or 4 gauge to 1/0 on such a short run will net one very little improvement if they are running an 80 amp alternator.

Big 3 alone on my stock alt and a blue top battery gained me over .3 maybe .4

Was still to low as I was dipping into the low elevens

I added a second underhood battery (cheap but big truck battery), and I gained almost a full volt. Never dip below 12 flat now

Big 3 helps alot, but you need some battery to back it up. 3000+ rms on my oem 110 amp alt with 120k on it for almost 18 months now. Still going strong

EDIT _ My big 3 is in 2/0 welding wire if that makes a difference to ya

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

Are you sure about that? On average, most runs from the alternator to the battery are 5 feet, give are take.
This is the voltage drop for 1/0 calculated with an 80 amp load at 5 feet:

and this is the voltage drop for 8 gauge calculated with an 80 amp load at 5 feet:

How someone can say they were dropping into the 11s and now they are magically in the 13s from just doing the Big 3 and nothing more is beyond me!

The big 3 isn't to increase voltage, although you've proven that it will, slightly. The point of the big 3 is to get more current through the charging system of the car. If the charging system sits at 14 volts and is normally at say 50 amps, the stock wiring can handle that. You add amps and speakers and the current that is demanded of the charging system goes up. Now you're sitting at 100 amps. Well, your system is going to demand that 100 amps when it's turned up. This will drop the voltage simply because the wiring cannot handle it. If you do the big 3, the 100 amps, or whatever it may be, will be more easily obtained by your amps at a higher voltage. You're not gaining any voltage, you're just keeping the voltage more constant.