the never ending search for lights dimming continues.

[Xjeff 10+ year member]

Hello, so I'll get to the point. 240amp ho alt, xs power big 3, new xs battery in my car, running a hifonics 1500d (140amp) amp and a hifonics 4 channel amp (40amps). Lights inside and outside dim on bass notes. Checked voltage at battery 14.7 v idle no music playing, full blast volume at idle 14.3v but lights are having a disco party inside and out any idea?

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[Mikeaudio]

Do you have good grounds for your amp? Ex bare metal without any paint?

 

[Umbra]

Do you have good grounds for your amp? Ex bare metal without any paint?

This.

Ground should be a ring terminal bolted to frame that's been sanded down to the metal for best results.

Also acceptable is a run back to the battery

Edit: If your voltage is in the 14s maybe the ground isn't it. Not sure

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

Running isolated electrical systems is nice.

I run my sub amps on a different circuit than the stock electrical. My secondary voltage doesn't affect my ecu or lights at all

 

[Xjeff 10+ year member]

Yeah I have amps grounded to the back strut tower with bare metal. amps Show 14+ volts while high volume.

 

[The Camry]

Have you tested your grounds?

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk

 

[Xjeff 10+ year member]

I did awhile ago and they seemed ok, going to look for different a ground today and see if that solves the problem

 

[dragon.breath 10+ year member]

We had a similar problem with my buddies car. We ended up having to run a dedicated ground cable from the back of the car to the front battery.

 

[dbjunior 10+ year member]

You will need to check the voltage at the lights them selves and work your way back of they have voltage issues. Of voltage at the lights looks good try using and analog volt meter. Sometimes in fast voltage dips a volt meter won't keep up.

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

typically its from ripple current. you can put a cap inline with the factory distribution block and it will stop..

 

[The Camry]

I did awhile ago and they seemed ok, going to look for different a ground today and see if that solves the problem

Did you test with a dmm?

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[Xjeff 10+ year member]

Yeah tested with a dmm

 

[Xjeff 10+ year member]

Ok so very late update haven't had much time to work on this but I did try a few things. First I tried another ground spot that read .2 ohm with my dmm (.5 or lower is good I heard) still light dimming. 2nd thing is I played a solid 40 Hz test tone and found a 1v drop from the battery, 14.6v to 13.7v at the amp but when I play music it never drops more than .1-.2v. Still think it might be the ground, should I try to drill a hole in my trunk and clean the metal for a ground there? Or anyone have a different idea?

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

Ok so very late update haven't had much time to work on this but I did try a few things. First I tried another ground spot that read .2 ohm with my dmm (.5 or lower is good I heard) still light dimming. 2nd thing is I played a solid 40 Hz test tone and found a 1v drop from the battery, 14.6v to 13.7v at the amp but when I play music it never drops more than .1-.2v. Still think it might be the ground, should I try to drill a hole in my trunk and clean the metal for a ground there? Or anyone have a different idea?

Why play a solid 40hz test tone? Of course, you're nt going to pull that much curent on normal music, so why do you care??

 

[Xjeff 10+ year member]

I care that I Still haven't found a solution to my problem. I know you may not care and that's fine just don't post here. Also i play a lot of low 30s high 20s rap and dubstep with long drawn out notes. So playing a 40 Hz doesn't seem stupid to me. Still trying to find a solution rather than just giving up like you have on this, again it's fine just be repectiful and don't leave a stupid post.