weird voltage drop...

[McIntosh 10+ year member]

Just redo all of your connections, wire is wire, You have a poor connection somewhere is all. Chit happens.

 

[eutechnyx 10+ year member]

Yeah i use welding wire and starter wire all the time and it works great,sometimes better than regular store bought shit.

 

[BeAlLsTaR13 10+ year member]

i just re did all connections, even used higher quality ring terminals, wire brush on all raw wire ends to see if they had anything on em, nothing.. hooked everything back up made everything tight and same thing..

 

[Bologna 10+ year member]

Go to any car mechanic and they can test your battery for deal cells and check your alt.

 

[BeAlLsTaR13 10+ year member]

Go to any car mechanic and they can test your battery for deal cells and check your alt.

advanced auto said my alt was good and my battery was good, my batt isnt old, not even 1 year.. got it the last week of aug. last year. but im looking to be upgrading to a new under the hood batt soon anyways. but right now their both good.

 

[McIntosh 10+ year member]

i just re did all connections, even used higher quality ring terminals, wire brush on all raw wire ends to see if they had anything on em, nothing.. hooked everything back up made everything tight and same thing..

Strange. Larger wire will NEVER have more voltage drop. Just turning on th HU really shouldn't drop it anything appreciable to begin with. No matter how shitty the wire may be (full of impurities or whatever) that shouldn't happen. I still think you have a poor connection somewhere. I'd re-double check your connections, it only takes one...

 

[BeAlLsTaR13 10+ year member]

Strange. Larger wire will NEVER have more voltage drop. Just turning on th HU really shouldn't drop it anything appreciable to begin with. No matter how shitty the wire may be (full of impurities or whatever) that shouldn't happen. I still think you have a poor connection somewhere. I'd re-double check your connections, it only takes one...

well thing is i just redid them all, guess i can go through, all over again but idk where the bad connection would be, 1 connection to the battery, 2 on the fuse, 1 to cap..

 

[McIntosh 10+ year member]

well thing is i just redid them all, guess i can go through, all over again but idk where the bad connection would be, 1 connection to the battery, 2 on the fuse, 1 to cap..

I read it's 1/0, I assume you're using mechanical (not compression) lugs?

 

[BeAlLsTaR13 10+ year member]

ones just like the ones in my FS thread:

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=417841

didnt know there was different type of terminals tbh

 

[McIntosh 10+ year member]

If you don't see any apparent problems: bypass all you can, ie no fuse or cap TEMPORARILY. No fuse is not good, this is just to troubleshoot, not to drive around. Go straight to the battery for a test.

 

[BeAlLsTaR13 10+ year member]

If you don't see any apparent problems: bypass all you can, ie no fuse or cap TEMPORARILY. No fuse is not good, this is just to troubleshoot, not to drive around. Go straight to the battery for a test.

ill try that out tomorrow morning, 11:07PM here now so little dark out, lol.. so i'd just run straight to battery to the back, no fuse or cap?.. off of my car ive got the wire for my sub amp and speaker amp.. could i just put a bolt through the terminal holes with a nut just to hold them together temporarily? and test voltage at battery, and both amps?

 

[McIntosh 10+ year member]

ones just like the ones in my FS thread:
http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=417841

didnt know there was different type of terminals tbh

There are, but most people don't have access to them (I'm an electrician). There are permanent compression type lugs (larger versions of what you're probably used to using on small gauge wire). A mechanical lug should be fine though. That in itself shouldn't be a problem (you said they were clean, etc, all thats needed). Bypass all you can (cap,fuse) and try again. Add components until you see where the problem lies. Divide and conquer troubleshooting technique.

 

[BeAlLsTaR13 10+ year member]

ok, ill go out tomorrow and check.. would now but kinda dark out lol and its too late to be blasting music loud, neighbors hate it already during the day -_-

 

[McIntosh 10+ year member]

ill try that out tomorrow morning, 11:07PM here now so little dark out, lol.. so i'd just run straight to battery to the back, no fuse or cap?.. off of my car ive got the wire for my sub amp and speaker amp.. could i just put a bolt through the terminal holes with a nut just to hold them together temporarily? and test voltage at battery, and both amps?

Yep, it's just for troubleshooting (NOT to drive around!) We're trying to take things out of the "loop" to isolate the problem. Then add them in one at a time until you find the problem (testing after each addition, naturally).

 

[lil_italy773 10+ year member]

does the tined copper have anything to do with adding resistance to the wire. im using all copper 3/0 flex phrine welding wire and dont have any voltage drops.