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Still Dimming

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hcivic91
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I've recently upgraded my electrical system because mainly because I needed a new battery. I killed the last battery or it was simply old so I took the opportunity to upgrade things. I got a high output alt, did the big 3 and got the biggest AGM bat that fit under the hood.

This clearly helped as I could hear a audible difference in sub output. Last night I went from a 12" getting 1000w to a 15" on the same amp getting about 1500w. Thing is my lights seem to dim pretty good after the upgrade. From what I've been told the upgraded alt is 200a and I have 1/0 guage under the hood. I am only running 4g to the amp though. The dimming seems strage given I only have a sub amp and its only 1500w and it is class d. One other thing, I can see a noticeable increase in headlight brighness when I go from idle to 1500rpm.

How do I go about diagnosing the problem?

Should I use the DMM to test idle voltage, 2500rpm voltage and then idel voltage with subs playing and 2500rpm voltage with subs playing? Oh, this is in a 2000 Lexus GS.

I'd be happy to upgrade wire and so forth but it doesn't really seem necessiary becuase I do not plan on running any more watts.

Thanks guys,

J

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Your headlights increase in brightness because the higher RPM, the more the alt puts out.

Are the big 3 wires soldered onto the terminals?

Or are they pressed together with a vice.

 
I know the headlights increase because the alt puts out more at higher rpm I just wondered if it should seem so dramatic or if something else was at play.

I bought the 1/0 big 3 kit from a well known seller here on CA.com. The wires are crimped using a hydro crimper.

 
Sounds like that may not be the best alternator. If you are noticing big headlight brightness change in only idle to 1500 engine RPM with your system off, then something is wrong. Your alternator/electrical system should be putting out almost the same voltage at idle as it does at RPM's. That's the point of a voltage regulator. Your new alt may not have been compatible with your stock regulator though. Take some voltage measurements of your system at a couple different points, like at your battery and at your amp, both at idle and at higher RPM's if possible, both with your system on and it off. Get a friend to help you, or this is where a voltage meter comes in handy. What alternator did you get? Where did it come from? What is your batteries resting voltage?

Also, you are right at the line of capacity of 4ga. You should be ok, but make sure you have it fused, with no more than a 150A fuse. What amp are you running?

 
Read son Oh, this is in a 2000 Lexus GS.
Click to expand...
I read 94% of what he posted and that was good enough.....he got his point across

Op there's probably a voltage regulator you need to look into. You should NOT be having no dimming what so ever...

 
Somethings wrong here, check the amp ground in the back
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His headlights are dim at idle, and you tell him to check the amp's ground? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif

 
is that idle with music on though?
Click to expand...
Shouldn't that question have been asked before you suggested what you did? And the answer to this question makes no difference in this situation anyway.

 

---------- Post added at 08:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:42 AM ----------

 

check your big 3 ground connections. sounds like maybe one or more could not be getting a good connection.
Click to expand...
Possibly this. OP, have you taken any measurements like I described?

 
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