94M@X

Hello all
I ahve an Alpine CDA 9813 headunit with the high power going directly to the battery. Also have a Bazooka EL8A sub, 7" lcd, and dvd plyer (lcd and dvd were not there when problem first started) Ever since I installed the Alpine it has been dimming at high volume's when base hits. Its only thr headunit that does that and not my head lights. What could be causing this?
Thanks in advance for any help

Pearl96Max

iTrader: (151)

First thing to do is remove the wire that you say is going to the battery. There is ample power inside your dash to power the headunit. The only power wire that should be run to the battery is the Bazooka tube. What is most likely happening is that the power for the radio is straing to get there over so much of a distance.

--Don

94M@X

Alpine recomended the direct connection to the batter?:

Important Note: The powerful output of Alpine's V-Drive internal amplifier requires a direct fused connection to your vehicle's battery!

Isnt it the same distance as the factory wiring? Could it be that I used the factory ground which is much smalled that the 10-gauge I used for power?

Thanks

Kojiro_FtT

Higher powered decks always say to run power directly from the battery. But yes, I would try a bigger ground wire to match the power. Looks like you are powering all your interior speakers from the head unit, right? The ground would be my only guess then. Sorry I can't give you a better answer, this is a new problem to me. Let us know how it works.

adroga

i have the same problem with my pioneer head unit. WIth the volume up and when the base hits there is a slight dimming, i just though it was the HU pulling too much power. Im pretty sure my grounds are good also. I think maybe the higher power HU's need higher power alternators to feed them.

nitroz

You need to buy a capacitor for the amp to the sub so that when the bass hits the capacitor has the stored power to keep things from dimming. Here is a link to what you need. How many watts for the amp?

Capacitor

Tony Fernandes

1) I've never connected any HU I've owned to directly to the battery.

2) I'm not sure why the HU lights would be dimming and not the headlights.

I would re-connect the HU power lead to the factory location and/or re-examine your ground wire. If that doesn't work then let us know.

Tony

TAPOUT

iTrader: (5)

I am with no one on this...The power wire on this radio needs to go to the battery or to the ignition harness. The V-drive amp in this radio draws 20 amps of current, and the factory fuse will blow every time you turn it up. Now, however, the ground wire of the deck should be attached to a piece of metal behind the dash. If you have a bazooka tube attached to pump the bass, make sure you have all the proper settings on the radio adjusted, such as the crossover, and bass adjustments. Make sure you are running at least 8 guage to the bazooka or it will cause a voltage drop in the whole car. If you have the bass turned up past 0,and the crossover is turned off, it is normal to see the lights dim a little. You are sucking the juice out of a nonessential circuit in the radio. Usually I see this on Alpine buttons, and not the LCD. As for Pioneer, they have been dimming since the dawn of time...I have never seen a Pioneer that didn't dim at high volumes if it was using its internal amp.

nitroz

Oooops, I guess I need to go back to school for comprehension I missed the part about the headlights not dimming.

94M@X

I am going to take a look at the manual. There are ALLOT of features that I dont quite understand yet. I will look for the crossover and bass settings. I will also ground it to the frame today. You are right about the buttons, they are the only thing that dims. The lcd on the unit dosent even dim.

Thanks

spirilis

iTrader: (2)

You absolutely must use the fused connection with the Alpine, especially using the V-Drive. I use a cable to my amp power distribution block in the trunk, even though I'm only using preouts, but I'm nuts.

Sounds like a bad ground to me, or a defect in the unit. I've never seen my Alpine CDA-9813 dim like that. I grounded my Alpine to the screw overtop the headunit holding the headunit/climate control bracket to the frame, right below the center vent. FYI, the use of a capacitor shouldn't be necessary, because if the headlights don't dim, then the subwoofer amp probably isn't causing the power drop in the Alpine. (also check interior and taillights; my small 200W sub dims the taillights/license plate lights at maximum volume, but not the headlights)

The Alpine's features are plentiful, but it's a very nice headunit--I do not regret the purchase
I don't even bother with my amps' crossovers (which are fixed at 80Hz, 12dB/octave--Pioneer amps), 'cause the Alpine's crossover kicks ***. The crossover settings are available by holding the T.CORR button down. It also has different crossover memory slots (just hold '1', '2', '3', etc. to save one, and hit the key once to retrieve them), though one thing I didn't like was the lack of Time Correction memory slots... (IMHO Time Correction memory slots would be more useful than crossover setting slots)