mtparker18

Well, for a while my lights (inside and out) have been dimming when I'm listening (probably from the sub). I've already replaced the battery and I'm thinking maybe I'll throw a bigger alternator (but I cant find any, any suggestions?)

Does anyone know what would keep my lights from doing this?

My set-up is;
Eclipse avn 5435 nav
Diamond audio comp. speakers
JL amp 300/4 (for interior)
Kicker VR10 Sub
and I don't know what kind of amp is running the sub.

Any input is welcome. Thanks!

jcat_350

you need a capacitor. 1 farad for every 1000 watts you're running. the cvr10 is only rated for 300rms and 600 max, so you're safe if you get a 1farad cap, and on the borderline if you get a .5 farad cap. you wire the cap inline between the amp and the battery. The cap stores up extra power and delivers it back to the battery when the bass hits so that the power isn't drawn from your other accessories.

GCOP

agreed, a cap should help you out, and it's way cheaper than an alternator

mtparker18

well I stopped at bestbuy today and they told me to get one, and I did.
Thanks for the help guys, I never thought about putting one in :P

Kyle Harty

iTrader: (17)

If you haven't installed the cap yet, I'd try upgrading the big 3 wires under the hood to larger guage wire first. Search on it in the audio section for more details, but basically upgrade the alternator-battery, battery ground, and engine ground wires to bigger wires. The small factory wires act like a bottleneck and kind of choke the electrical system a little bit. Changing them will make sure power is flowing freely through the whole system.

This will frequently eliminate minor dimming, and cost you alot less than the cap; plus you're actually fixing the problem instead of putting a band-aid on it.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Dont buy a cap just yet. Do what Kyle said first.

I have more power than you, yet I never had dimming problems before. The big main 3 wires were the first thing I did when I got my car. I've gone through lots of setups before and never had to use a cap. Capacitors are used to stabilize the voltage, but if you never had power to start with (alternator), then a capacitor wont benefit you much. In any case, you need to start out with sufficient wiring first. In any case, having a larger capacitor can be a negative thing. A capacitor is just one more thing for the alternator to charge.

charmz

Upgrade the "BIG 3"

http://www.isyougeekedup.com/the-big...iring-upgrade/