MY headlights and interior lights dim on my car when the bass is turned up a to a medicore level. At first i thought my cap was too small so i replaced my 1.2 farad with a 5 farad but i am still having the same problems. Why is this? Any help would be greatly appreciated
Ok thats kidna what i thought....but....would my alt. being too small affect my amplifier??? Because when my car is off the amplifier runs fine no matter how loud the bass or volume is....but then when the car is on the amplifier cuts out at a medicore volume and bass level...any ideas?
When the car is off its running off the battery so you proably have a good battery. When you have the car on the alternator is not charging the battery like it should therefore the battery is having to work twice as hard and therefore shuts your amp off. Have you alternator checked out.
pretty close there. yes when the car engine is off the battery is driving the amplifier, so the voltage will be steady even if the rails sag and drop below 12V. when the engine is running, the alternator is supplying all of the current to the car, and should be presenting the battery with a forward bias in voltage greater than the voltage of teh battery, which in essence means teh battery is in a charging state. when the alternator is over-drawn the battery tries to keep the voltage stable, but that won't last long either and the lights will dim etc.. car may even run rough or stall out. when the engine is running you need an alternator that can handle both the demands of the car, and of the audio system.. that's what it boils down to.
Anonymous
Posted on
I have an 800 watt amp and I'm going to be powering 2 12" JL Audios w3v2 4 ohms. I have it in a 95 civic ex. Do you think I need a new alternator? I have a 1 farad cap.
Alright i checked my ground wires today. I know that you are suppose to run 4 gauge all the way back to under your hood and ground your wires there....but mine arent. They are grounded about 2 feet from my amplifier. It looks to be done right to me. How would the ground being back there affect my amplifier cutting out?
no, you ground the amps within 2' of the amplifiers. you use the same gauge for amp ground, battery ground, and positive from battery to amps. you also want to use large power cable for alternator to battery as well.