This question is for you. I have a POS "800" watt Kenwood amp that seems to be drawing a TON of power from my alternator. It's only pushing one sub. At moderate volume the amp draws so much power that my lights dim and even my tachometer bounces to the beat. This is w/ a Rockford high output battery and a 3 farad capacitor. I had the alternator tested and it's putting out the normal amount of volts.

Anyone else come across this?!? I would expect it if I had a really nice system w/ more than one high out put amp.

 

the tach will bounce regardless, that is just the bass vibrating it... your lights dimming is normal and nothing to worry about... if you really want it fixed, buy a higher output alternator... im not sure if the 2.5 and 3.2 have diff rated amps...maybe cus the 3.2 has got more electrical stuff

 

i was going to suggest a capacitor but you already have one.. lights dimming is not normal. you might need another seperate battery or upgrade your car battery to an optima yellow cap or something.

 

Yeah, I have a Rockford Fosgate high out put car stereo battery. My tach bounces because of the great strain on the electrical system. If I stand out of the car I can actually hear the engine RPM's slowing fluctuating to the beat of the car.

 

what sub are you using?? 800 watt is a lot of power to push your single sub, unless its like a w6 or w7 or some high wattage sub..?

 

that 800w is max rating for the amp.


Get rid of the cap and upgrade the 3 main wire under the hood.


That cap of yours is hurting more than it does good.

 

eehh dimming is not normal and there is something to worry about. It means the current draw is is more than what the electrical system can supply. Eventually, if the draw exceeds the supply, the battery can drain down to a low voltage where it may fail.



The stock 3.2L have 110A for the alternator's rating.

My amp pulls more current than his amp, I have no capacitor, I have upgraded ground wires under the hood. Yet, I have no slight hints of dimming..

 

My amp is a cheap "800 Watt" peak by Kenwood, not the new standard by the government, but I'm getting a gov. approved 600 W. RMS amp soon. I'm going to have a new 4 gage amp kit run to the amp instead of the current 8 gage.

The cap DID help a little when I installed it, but wasn't happy with the amount it helped.

How do I upgrade the ground wires under the hood??? Where are they and how hard is it to do yourself???

Thanks all you guys for all your help. As you all can imagine, it's pretty embarrassing sitting at a light and having your car's lights dim and your engine spuder when you're sitting in a luxury car....

 

Three main wire consist of:

Negative wire from batttery's negative to the chassis
Engine ground wire to the chassis
Alternator power wire to the battery's positive terminal.


You can probably find one on ebay for pretty cheap.

 

Thanks! Do you have to use a certain Kit or could I just use some thicker ground wire, and what size is yours?

 

I make my own grounding wire. You can probably buy a kit online for pretty cheap. Don't get the ones that are $100 or more. They do not benefit more than a custom one. Usually people go with 4 gauge instead.


My custom kit cost $20, but that only consisted of the three wire. Each one is 0 gauge. Then again, I had hookups for mine so thats why it's cheap.

 

Cool! I'm going to get my new amp installed next week and I'll just buy a bunch of 4 gauge wire of them them and do it myself. I let you guys know if the problem w/ the dimming lights and tach are still a factor. Thanks again!

 

So the real problem...the pervious wire that was used was 8 gauge then switched to 4 to the cap. and then back to 8 to the amp. I had my whole system rewired w/ 4 gauge. I would have done "ought" but Circuit City doesn't carry it.

ANYWAY....my lights don't dim, my tach. doesn't bounce, and my engine doesn't sputter anymore. Was it worth the $300.00 of parts and labor....I think so. Should have taken it some place that would have wired it right the 1st time.

Thank you guys for all your input!