Voltage Issues! Please help

[Ace87]

I'm not really sure how to begin to explain this, but I've never had this issue or even heard of it. I've seen many cases of voltage drop that's like a gradual drop, but this really isn't right. I recently installed ampere components, a sundown sax-125.2, and the smd vm-1. So everyone knows, I haven't even been using the sundown amp for the components yet, it was only hooked up power and ground wise due to not having the time to run the speaker wire to it yet, the speakers are hooked up to an alpine power pack for now. About 3 days after installed those things I noticed that at high volume when the bass drops, the voltage on the meter which is hooked up to my sub amp drops from let's say 13.5-14.0 all the way down to 10.1- quicker than I can blink and the headunit turns itself down to volume 5 from volume 25.. I assume that's the head unit going into sort of a protect mode due to too low voltage.. But, it will be hammering and voltage will be around like I said 13.5ish consistently, then I raise the volume knob just ONE CLICK on the headunit or phone, say from 25 to 26 volume, and the meter instantly drops down to the 10.1 marker. I unhooked the sundown and it's still doing it. Does anyone think it could be something simple like a wiring issue with too many remote wires wired up in one area, or due to grounding both amps to the same spot, or due to maybe beating the hell out of the amp at such a low impedance for too long, or even the internal amp having an issue on the headunit that it would turn itself down? Could it even be the result of a cheap battery not holding a voltage load well when I have it at high volume and it drops due to just that? I'm not even sure where to begin. I swore I knew what it was and that it could've been the alt regulator, so I replaced the alt yesterday with a brand new small 105 amp factory size from my local autoparts just for the time being, but to my disappointment it didn't make a difference much if at all. The battery is only a few months old also.. Anyone have similar issues ever? Why would it have been working no problem for almost a whole year, and now starts acting up out of nowhere? I had less voltage problems when I had 4 gauge amp wire that was basically melting, a 5 year old standard battery, and my 14 year old factory alt. I'm confused to say the least. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

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[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

is that one extra click causing clipping? one click on the volume knob can be a 10db increase in signal amplitube, which is 3x the power demand out of the amp.

id follow your wire runs from the front to the back, ensure they're all tight, and clean all your grounds.

the other thing id do is use a multimeter to measure the voltage at the alternator, and see how much higher it is than at your amp inputs. if you have 14v at the alt and 10v at the amp, clearly you have a wiring problem right?

 

[Ace87]

is that one extra click causing clipping? one click on the volume knob can be a 10db increase in signal amplitube, which is 3x the power demand out of the amp.
id follow your wire runs from the front to the back, ensure they're all tight, and clean all your grounds.

the other thing id do is use a multimeter to measure the voltage at the alternator, and see how much higher it is than at your amp inputs. if you have 14v at the alt and 10v at the amp, clearly you have a wiring problem right?

Is the one extra click causing clipping? No, it's usually a couple clicks away from that point.

All wires are real tight and grounds are clean, I check them religiously.

The voltage at the alt with multi meter is almost identical to what the smd meter shows that's hooked up to the amp when it's resting, maybe a .2-.3 difference from one to the next. But, I have not put the multi meter on the alt yet under load when it's dropping to the 10 volt mark.. I will check that tomorrow and comment back on that.

Anyway, I took the fuse out of the 4 gauge for the sundown so it wouldn't be hooked up to see if it would make a difference with the voltage, and no improvement.

Strangely, the head unit is making a popping sound through the amp when it's turned off all of the sudden too, and I've never experienced that, even with real cheap headunits years ago. Another strange thing was the same day I noticed this, I put the passenger and driver side windows up at the same time when parking and getting out of the car, and the dash lights along with everything else shut off almost completely, the sub and all the speakers popped, and I lost sound in the speakers but not the sub, until I turned the car off and turned it back on. The car is apaarently known from the factory to have wiring and/or electrical issues I've always heard from Buick dealers..

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

there's something going on with your electrical... im willing to bet theres a short somewhere? dunno thats weird

 

[Ace87]

there's something going on with your electrical... im willing to bet theres a short somewhere? dunno thats weird

Well, I'm not sure what it was, but you may have been right about the ground being the issue, the underneath BEHIND the copper lugs against the metal looked like it was starting to possibly corrode? Idk.. I rewired a few things and regrounded everything to a whole new spot in the trunk and it's good now. Voltage doesn't dip below 13 in front by the alt/battery or in the trunk at the amps, and no more weird noises and **** happening. But, 121 views later, and you're the only one who responded.. So, thank you!!

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

Well, I'm not sure what it was, but you may have been right about the ground being the issue, the underneath BEHIND the copper lugs against the metal looked like it was starting to possibly corrode? Idk.. I rewired a few things and regrounded everything to a whole new spot in the trunk and it's good now. Voltage doesn't dip below 13 in front by the alt/battery or in the trunk at the amps, and no more weird noises and **** happening. But, 121 views later, and you're the only one who responded.. So, thank you!!

glad i could help, a little bit of testing is usually a good way to determine what the problem is. always a learning experience, not just for you, but for me too