Would a new alternator in my car stop the lights from dimming when the bass hits?
If so any recommendations on an alternator?
I have a 2003 Ford Mustang v6
1 fi q 12" on an Ed Nine.1 amp (1200 Watts) and CDT CL-E61CV (on roughly 90 Watts)
Recently when the bass hit my front speakers (not more than a 2-3 weeks old) cut out i assumed it was from the amp maybe going into protect mode as i came back on in a few seconds (not sure) Anyway i know voltage drops aren't good for audio equipment anyway so even if that's not the reason for my speakers cutting out i'd like to find a way to keep my power voltage relatively stable.
For 1200 watts a decent alternator would be a good idea. Also a nice battery would do you nothing but good. I would start with grounds though if you have not already.
Also know the nine.1 is 64% efficient so it may be producing 1200 rms but its pulling 1875 watts worth at full tilt. I doubt your stock alt can handle that sort of current pull. For now you could upgrade the grounds as recommended, make sure you have a good, direct frame ground in the rear for the amp and set your gains correctly. I would suggest turning the gain on the amp down to draw current your stock alt can handle. This may mean only running 500 rms or so to it, but once you upgrade your alt, you could then run more power. A strong battery will also help.
Do the big 3, and upgrade your starter battery to a nice after market- like XS Power. If you still have problems then look to an alternator.
Also if your equipment is shutting off use a dmm to find out where your voltage drops. It may be that you have your sub wired at .5 ohm and that's why it's shutting off at high levels. Good luck.
Any tutorials or anything on how to do the Big 3 upgrade? My battery is relatively new, I just got it tested at a ford dealership and it get rated at 800 amps.(no idea if this is sufficient or what i would need but they said it was really good :/)
And what should i look at when buying an alternator? i have no clue when it comes to these things..
Look at how many amps it does at idle and at peak. Idle is going to be most important, so when you stop the car and the engine's rpm's go down, you don't have a huge loss in power. DC Power and Mechman would be two great companies to look into for a solid alternator. Here is a link for the big 3:http://www.glasswolf.net/papers/big3.htm
The dealership will also tell you your factory stereo is good, but you upgraded that right? Go to sears, home depot, Lowes, etc and get a dmm and test!
Look for idling amperage for a new alternator, though you're at the point where you should upgrade batteries and wiring first imo.
Also I'm not being rude but I'm on my phone and can't easily get a link. Google big 3 upgrade and you will find dozens of good threads and articles.
uhh not necessarily if you just have an old tired stock battery an upgrade can do a world of good. it can fill in for the lacking amps for a short while, however if the stock alternator is significantly deficient there is nothing a battery can do.
However in this situation if the big 3 does not help it is time to look for an alternator...
"Alternator before batteries always. Batteries are just another load on an overworked alternator"
I disagree. A good battery will help your alternator, where a bad battery will make it work harder, and fail prematurely. A good battery can help tremendously, while I understand what you mean about having multiple batteries that would be a bit more than necessary with 1200 watts.
Well if you're only running 1200 rms I think almost everyone could get away with just doing the big 3 and good wires. I suppose a battery could be a quick fix, but since more than half of people are gonna end up upgrading again it just makes since to fix the root of the problem at the alternator.
A well designed electrical system should hardly ever dip into the battery storage anyways.
You're right, but most people don't want to spend the money on the alternator. A battery and wire should be around $2-250, while an alternator would be more around 3-350 + big 3 wiring.
Let me ask you a question flawl... This isnt helping you but curious how your fi Q is set up and how do you like it man does it hit pretty good? Tight and clean? (HA like i like my women) Thinkin bout picken up one of these just curious.
Hi, what will be the set of wires/cables that I need for the ''big 3 upgrade'' ?
For example I can get the 4 gauge red wire for Alternator to battery positive Then I get the 4 gauge black wire for Battery negative to chassis And what should I get for Chassis to engine ?