Hey guys I have been doing alot of work to my system and am currently running a sundown2000d and a 2 channel amp. My electrical upgrades include 200amp HO alt from motorcity reman, big 3 in all 1/0 gauge, duralast gold size 75 upfront, and a kinetik 1800 in back. Despite all of this my lights still dim at idle even if i just roll my windows down or up. Car is a 99 olds alero. I havnt checked if my voltage is dropping, but I would assume that it is since the lights are dimming.
Any ideas on what i could do?
Also I owe you guys a video or at the very least pics of my new setup so help me out so I can make a nice video without lookin like a fool with my lights dimming.
I would start by checking how low you voltage is going. A little volt meter is well worth the small investment. I know i just installed a stinger in my car and it definitely makes me feel better when i crank it up. However you can use a multimeter just to check. On another note how did you do your big 3?
There should be a stock ground going from the chassis to the engine block. Upgrading that is part of the big 3. Here is a pic from my car just as an example.
Now I don't know how much of a huge difference upgrading that will be, but I know it does help reinforce the grounds. Only thing else I could think it may be is, do you have the gains set correctly on the amps? Also, have you had the alt tested to know how much power its truely putting out? At idle also. Sometimes alts are rated at their higher RPMs and can do less than stock alts sitting at idle. Just something to think about.
Did you solder all the terminals? Also will the headlight dim if you rev the engine to say 2k rpm? As SKD said there are a lot of HO alts that actually do worse at idle.
It may make a diffrenance if the stock Chassis ground is the one that the current is choosing to use. (path of least resistance). It wont hurt to try it. I run more then that on a 136 amp alt with steady 13.7~ voltage with no dimming.
may but have enough grounding, the welds and joints in your car are only ~4ga and have higher resistance then say a run of 1/0 just for the ground in the back.
Dimming does not necessarily mean there's a problem if you're going from 14.8 down to 13.5 volts, so find out your actual voltage and drop. Also I'd find out the idling amperage of the alternator. You may have 130 idling amps, but 180 amps of power being used.
The cause of lights dimming even with a proper electical system, is often the voltage regulator is not fast enough to instantly respond to the huge spikes in current draw. And theres really not any thing that can be done about it. Well there is but it involves dual alternators and batteries and a lot of work.
My voltage is low to mid 13s and goes up to high 13s reved. When I play my subs at idle my voltage drops to high 12s when I rev up to 2000rpm my voltage goes back up to mid 13s.
you only have a 200 amp alternator and even less at idle probably 110 to 120 at idle and you have your cars basic electrical needs to add on....simply put you dont have enough alternator thats why your dropping to high 12's (the battery is being drawn on to make up the difference)
u can add as many batteries as u want .. it will help.. but if ur playing a long note or a lot of loud music ur alt will still not keep up. the more batteries will just make it last longer before u get the drop
The power from around 12.5 volts and up (depends on battery and charge) comes from the alternator directly, below that you're tapping into your batteries.
Play a test tone or solid bass line that is 10 seconds long. Does the voltage continue to go down the entire time, or does it drop to 12.5 and go back up after 2 or 3 seconds? If it goes back up good, if not it means you do not have enough alternator output at idle to run your system for long periods of time. To reduce or eliminate your dimming lights you really need to get an alternator that has more output at low rpms, or add another alternator. This can get expensive, so you really have to decide if it's worth the 300+ dollars it will cost for the upgrade.
An extra battery will help some, but if your alternator can't keep up with the demand you will just drain your batteries, and the alternator will have to work that much harder.
Yeah I tested it this morning at idle playing a 50hz tone turned all the way up. Voltage started at 13.8ish at 10 seconds I was around 12.5volts but after 10 seconds it continued to drop. It got down to 11.9volts after probably 15seconds. I stopped the tone and within a few seconds it jumped back up to 13.4 and didnt go any higher.
Sounds like your alternator can't keep up. If its high output chances are you already have a smaller pulley, I would look into dual alts or a better one, like DC power.
the pully actually looks to be the same size as the old alternators pully. Could I run my current high output alt plus my stock alt(I am almost positive the answer to this will be no)? Troy you got any dual alt brakets for 99 olds aleros?
I really wish there was an easy fix (or atleast a cheap fix) Sounds like neither is the case lol.
I just installed a new fuse between the alt and batt. The old one was a breaker style fuse (I do not recommend them) and it seemed like it was broken, but that was only because of the heat of the engine. I replaced it with a 250amp anl fuse. I ran 0gauge from the chassis to the engine block, I kept the batt- to engine block connection. I also installed a voltage meter.
I I have some improvement, according to the new voltage meter my voltage stays at about 13.5-14 idle and a solid 14 while driving(while the music is off). With music playing(full volume) it does not dip below 12.5 at idle and jumps back up very quickly between bass hits. While driving and playing music my voltage would run between 13.6 and 14. The highest I saw it go was 14.1 for a few seconds.
Well its getting dark out, time to see if the lights still dim...
I got a few more questions to make me look like a bigger newb: -Is it a bad thing that I have my two channel amp grounded to my rear battery? -Should I run a ground wire from my first battery all the way back to my second or is grounding my second battery to the chassis okay? -Does my second battery get charged by my alternator or do I need to charge it from time to time?
- As long as your battery is grounded well by all means ground to it with your amp - I would add a ground from front to back battery, and add a ground from the back battery to the frame. - Your second battery should be charged with the first, though I charge 1-2 times a month regardless.
Yeah it is noticeably louder now with the slight voltage increase. Lights still dim, but just barely. Very noticeable improvement all around.
Would it be worth while for me to get a 2nd kinetik1800 in back? I can pick up a slightly used one for $150 I could be wrong, but I dont really think a 3rd battery in back would do much for me at this point considering I dont dip below 12.5. Also I dont compete this is just a daily driver car so im not sure a battery bank is necessary.
I really appreciate all the help you guys. Thank you very much!
Sitting at 14.4 while driving and subs at a low volume. Seems like my alt might be charging up my batterys or getting broken in or something. Either way I couldnt be happier.
You actually need a battery isolator for the additional batteries in the trunk. It lets each battery charge independently instead of running off each other. Someone else can probably explain better.
Even with an isolator there is still only one alternator charging both batteries. It prevents the cars main battery from getting drained by the amplifier and causing problems/damage, but will not eliminate light dimming.
The way it can be done is with two alternators and two batteries. You essentially make a seperate electrical system for the amplifiers. If you are willing to spend the time and money and if it's even possible on the particular vehicle.
I was just referring to his question about if his alt is charging his second battery. The isolator may help keep both batteries evenly charged. As far as the dimming though, an isolator isn't going to make a difference.
The isolator adds resistance and often lower voltage to the back, so it really isn't beneficial.
By the time you run 2 alts and 2 batts you could have one really beefy charging system that should eliminate voltage drop anyway, without a separate system.
Just so you know your lights will always flash during the night while playing music. A standard fully charged battery usually measures anywhere from 12.8 to 13.1V which usually requires 14.9-15.1V to charge from the alternator. When your car is running and you have your lights on, sounds on you are drawing a good amount of energy from your electrical system the lights drain remains pretty constant so they don't flash. Now add a non constant draw like a sound system and you will get a flash. This is your cars electrical system being brought down to its battery voltage IE 14.9V to the battery(s) 12.8V. This drop in voltage is what causes the disco ball effect. Now what causes the drop in voltage is the latency in the voltage regulator (sense). Sense is when the voltage regulator senses the drop in voltage and kicks in the field to begin charging from the alternator this all takes time which causes the voltage drop. Only one cure I have found and that was 1.) don't ever run lights or 2.) run a huge bank of batteries and never connect to the alternator. I ran a dual voltage system and used a series of solenoids to connect the bank of 16V batteries never saw a flash again but now I drive a mini cooper so this presents a challenge in itself to say the least. If I was you I would go with and extra battery close to the amp, myself I am break apart a batcap 8400 and making a few smaller batteries to be placed in different spots in my car to spread the weight around, GoodLuck...
Polo
PS- I was dringking so don't make fun of my typing lol.
I will try I really don't like getting into battery building especially with stupid people around and yes they are everywhere on every forum lol. Basically it is made up of a bunch of C cell sized batteries that have a ultra low ESR. When put in a certain configuration it can be made either 12V, 14.4V or 16V version. The one I have is a 16V version so I need to break it down to operate at 12V but it is too large to sit in a mini cooper so I will break it into 3 smaller batteries. One thing I love about the mini is their is so many places to hide things.
Thanks for the advice polo. I already have a second battery in back, but need to run wire from the front neg to the back neg. That might help a little. I might get a third battery, but that will be it. As far as I can see my lights dimming isnt so much of a problem as it is just annoying. I should probably keep it down(relatively) at lights anyway.
