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My lights dim terribly when my bass hits???

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Old Mar 21, 2007 | 06:10 PM
  #11  
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How high is that gain set on your amp? You might be pushing that amp way too hard. If the amp starts to clip the output signal it will draw massive amounts of current.
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Old Mar 21, 2007 | 07:06 PM
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what size wiring are you using for the amps i would rec. at lease 4 to 8 more 4 than 8. 8 or higher will draw more amps with less performance ... also your peaker wires is it 12 guage?




i run a memphis d1000 to 2 kicker cvx 10s with a 600 jbl touring amp with stock alt. and barely get a dim on head lights ..
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Old Mar 21, 2007 | 08:02 PM
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Your alternator/battery or both is defenatly going out. Caps are really only worth your time if you have something like a 10-20 farad cap, but by that time you are better off doing a dual battery upgrade (EXPENSIVE). 1-5 Farad caps arent really worth anything most of the time. I have a 2400 watt amp, zero gauge power and ground, and 2 solo barac L7's. Run as low of a guage of wire that fits in the holes/brackets. What kind of truck do you have? You can also upgrade to a higher capacity alternator.
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Old Mar 22, 2007 | 11:00 AM
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I want to thank all you guys for your input on this. I am running big wires and my grounds are all good (double checked).

I have a 105 amp generator anmd a 140 amp gen waiting to go in. So should I do a 140 amp alter. and a bigger deep cycle battery?
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Old Mar 22, 2007 | 11:39 AM
  #15  
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Deep cycle battery will only benefit your engine-off run time. If you don't listen to music with the engine off don't bother. They are designed to be discharged and recharged several times, whereas a standard car battery is not and will fail sooner if it is treated like that. The 140 amp alt will definitely help you out. Again, check to make sure that you are not driving that amp too hard. It is difficult to get the "killer bass thumpage" that you're talking about with only 300 watts. I bet you have the gain cranked and are overdriving it.
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Old Mar 22, 2007 | 01:37 PM
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Originally Posted by thunder550
Deep cycle battery will only benefit your engine-off run time. If you don't listen to music with the engine off don't bother. They are designed to be discharged and recharged several times, whereas a standard car battery is not and will fail sooner if it is treated like that. The 140 amp alt will definitely help you out. Again, check to make sure that you are not driving that amp too hard. It is difficult to get the "killer bass thumpage" that you're talking about with only 300 watts. I bet you have the gain cranked and are overdriving it.
Okay...some more info for ya.......I got the amp bridged to like 400 or 500 watts, and the gain is at like 75%.

Someone told me to change the wire (ground) from my battery to my firewall to a larger wire. What's with that?
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Old Mar 22, 2007 | 03:18 PM
  #17  
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What kind of amp and what kind of subs (model numbers)?

The path the electricity takes is battery (or alt) -> amp -> body -> chassis (frame) -> battery

You need to make sure that the entire path is good sized wire, that's why the guy recommended upgrading the ground....that's also the premise behind the big 3 wire upgrade. From the alt, the path is alt -> battery -> frame -> engine block -> alt. If you look at the big 3, it's the primary charge wire (alt to battery), battery to frame ground, and engine block to frame ground that you're supposed to upgrade.

I doubt in your case though that it's necessary to improve the body to frame ground. I'm running 2400 watts RMS and I haven't had to upgrade.
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Old Mar 22, 2007 | 03:22 PM
  #18  
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Yeah sounds like you're overdriving it. You need to get a digital multi-meter and set that gain correctly IMO.

Originally Posted by thunder550
I doubt in your case though that it's necessary to improve the body to frame ground. I'm running 2400 watts RMS and I haven't had to upgrade.
word, you're only running 300 watts. Its something YOU did wrong, not your equipment, not even close.
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Old Mar 22, 2007 | 03:42 PM
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I'm also worried that by bridging the amp he's running it at 1 ohm instead of 2, that's why I want sub model numbers (or at least to know if it's 4 ohm DVC or 2 ohm) and to know how they are wired.
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Old Mar 22, 2007 | 08:39 PM
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Originally Posted by budhayes3
I think that a capacitor is recommended for high wattage amps.

*EDIT* I'm not an audio guru though...
Almost but no. Get a cap if you have a H.O. alternator. DO YOUR lights dim all the time or just on idle? If it dims all around no matter what, a bigger alternator will help.
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