Hey guys! Just wondering what you guys think....

I have only one 4 channel amplifier (runnin' 2ohm stereo/2ohm mono) and from moderate to high levels i'm getting some serious dimming on my dash....
I have owned a cheap Scoche 1 farad cap that I sold and didn't do jack on my old 2 amp setup , which included Kicker ZR360 amp- serious power hog that probably drained it quite easily....

I'm definitly going to upgrade my alternator wire to something thicker (4gauge)
i believe the current one is 10 gauge-

But do you guys think I should get a good cap? I'm into SQ and I know SPL guys
dont like caps cause it can hurt....but my concern is dimming...If so will a 1 farad be enough?

Thanx in advance......

 

Your amp is connected to your alternator. I have mine connected to the battery. No dimming. But since you are getting this dimming though I would recommend a cap due to the fact that the amp is draining the power of the alt fairly easy and the best way to get rid of that is to have a cap "store" some of that much needed power.

But like they always say it doesn't hurt to try it.

 

my amp is not connected directly to my alternator....

 

Mine is conncted to the battery and I also have pretty bad dimming, it don't bother me too much. Is there something bad from dimming? Besides the fluctuating light output?

 

its not bad. and i dont mind the dash dimming.. its better than the headlights dimming. and dont the hid's take constant power so they will not dim? if so then maybe less power goes to the dash and thats why there is dimming in the dash.

 

yes dimming is bad, its stressing ur electrical system, over time i do believe it *CAN* cause bigger problems. if you want to really aleviate this problem install capacitors in line with the items that are dimming

 

[QUOTE=slickrick]its not bad.


Dimming is bad. It means your alternator is using voltage to power your amp that would normally be used for your accessories(guages, etc..). This may be a sign of a weakening alt or a weakening battery. Your amp is designed to run within a certain voltage range. If it gets too low, your amp will fry. Have your charging system checked. A cap may temporarily solve the problem. If, however, it turns out to be your charging system, you will need to upgrade or replace defective items to avoid frying your equipment.

 

WAY TOO MANY POST WITH THE SH*T THAT COMES OUT OF THEIR A**

what in the hell are you giving someone advice for when you have no clue what you are talking about?

everyones battery is in parallel with the alternator...so if ur amp power wire is connected to the battery terminal or the terminal right on the alternator, it's the same exact connection.

cap's are a waste of money manny...upgrade the wiring under the hood to atleast 4AWG and you should notice a difference...then get a higher output alternator...it would be more beneficial than a cap.


and once more please people, do not post when you have no idea what you are talking about!

 

[QUOTE=filtor1]then i guess my battery is my leak link. but anyway, my friend and bro have my same amp.... and their headlights dim. they have run their amps for over a year with no problems. so im not buying that if my dash lights dim my amp will fry. on my old car if you held down the lock button the headlights would dim. the car still runs fine and my bro uses it with a 600 watt rms amp. isnt that what fuses are for? (im asking a questions, not being sarcastic)

 

Please tell me its interior lights! Ive never seen HID's dim
Anyway, IF im parked somewere idling and blasting away, that the only time I have any dimming. Its only noticable if I turn on the map light other then that nothing dims.

 

its interior lights. i have the exact same symptoms as u... i only get it when im at a light and blasting. and the map light does dim too when my system is up. sometimes when im crusing at 2-3k it dims but only visibly in the little box where the temp gauge is, mpg, etc.

 

At 2-3K or anything else while moving I cant tell if anything is dimming. If it is, its nothing obvious, even the map light is barley noticable. You have to be paying attention to it to see if its dimming, I dont have much voltage drop...surprisingly.
The guages never seen em dim.

 

yeah when im really booming the gauges do dim. its kinda fun to watch. whats the total rms of your amps your running?

 

Well, the big amp is only at 425 right now and the fullrange is pushing about 300. So its at about 725rms, give or take a few. I was originally supposed to be running over 1500rms, so my elec system is setup for that. I would have been fine using 4awg wire, but I have 1/0 and hell even a 2nd battery Maybe thats why im not dimming much, the 2nd battery only allows the voltage to drop only half as fast as it would. I think a cap would help, but ill worry about it later, its nothin urgent. Im going to leave my setup the same for a little while, but Im planning on an upgrade sometime later or early next yr. I want to change a few things around.

 

yeah so thats not bad. im assuming the comp amp is class a/b and the sub amp is class d. i have not upgraded the big 3 and i have 4 gauge from the batt to the distro block. so with about 600-650 rms i guess im doing ok

 

The sub amp is a class d, the comp amp its a JL300.4 so if it is an a/b then so be it I have the voltage to run an a/b sub amp as well but dont really think its necessary. Im thinking of upping the ante to a 1000/1 later on down the road, overall its a better amp then the Directed.
The big 3 is fairly simple to do & help so its something thats definetly worth doing.

 

should i use 4 gauge wire? and where can i get the wire cheap?

 

[QUOTE=slickrick]then i guess my battery is my leak link.

I dont think the battery is an issue because my problems are while car is runnin'
the interior lights dim sevely to the bass beats

I've been over to the audio forum and gotten many mixed responses.....there are too many "competition" heads over there saying caps hurt SPL....WTF I'm not trying to get highest SPL readings....i'm not into competing for gods sake ...i have one amp and am trying to eliminate dimming....so I was curious
what other Maximas were doing solve this problem....

The only good info I was able to fish out was that many people-

*upgrade the magic 3 ( batt to alt wire, alt to ground, batt to ground)to a higher gauge wire

*replace the alternator

* for those that used caps...agreed at least 1 farad for every 500wtts/peak
this would keep the cap from draining too quickly and fight back with the amp to juice.....

-----------------

Now the replacing the alternator thing bother the crap out of me....it cant be
only solution.....specially for a 1 amplifier setup pushing ~640-700wts/rms

 

the reason ur lights dim could just be a bad ground too, try sanding down the crounds AND the wires connecting to them with sand paper or something, believe it or not it could make ur problem dissappear

 

[QUOTE=MannyNJ2k2max]I know what you mean but take out the easy things first. Do the magic 3 upgrade, just make sure all the grounds you contact are clean (no paint on surface) The max has horrible grounds IMO, but more any car does. Those alone would be help enough. After you get the wires upgraded, see if it help (it will) and if needed focus on a 1.0farad cap. btw-dont shop around for "brands" on the round caps, they are all the same with a diff sticker on them. Just get the best priced one, (usually around $70) get the 20v cap if anything.
The altenator, we have no direct replacment so dont worry about that just yet, you can have a shop upgrade it and add about 20-30a to its 115-120 right now and you'll be straight, if needed that is after the 1st two upgrades.

4 guage is fine upward to 1300-1400rms, oxygen free copper is oxygen free copper IMO so its all the same.
The best sites I know of are: www.Darvex.com http://www.knukonceptz.com/
and last but not least http://www.weldingsupply.com/cgi-bin...F:OR:terms::PA

Im running 1/0 welding cable, dont need it but