I finished installing a JL 10w7 w/ JL 500/1 amp and everytime I turn my lights on the dash & radio lights seem to dim down drastically. I have the brightness set at max and it goes down to about maybe 25% brightness. This happens when the radio is on or off. Anyone know what I might have done wrong or is this normal with an aftermarket sub install?

 

I have a JL 12W6V2 and a JL500/1 I dont have this problem. Does this happen when you have the car running? or when the car is off? I know if you have the car off this is def. going to happen because you are using energy but not making any.

 

No this happens when the car is on.

 

Pulling too much power.. Have you tried getting one of the sub capacitors?

Here's the test... when the lights are dim pull the fuse out of the amp; if they get brighter.. well... duh =p

Did you run your own low-gauge wire to the amp or are you trying to pull power off a factory wire in the car? Better investigate this soon - don't want to kill your alternate or battery!


Edit: Do you have your amp wired for remote turn on? Or is it always running? If the amp is pulling too much power, and it's wired to turn on/off with the radio, then turning the radio off *should* (temporarily of course) resolve the issue. If you did connect the remote on feature, where are you getting the signal from? Maybe you tapped into the illumination wire and it's pulling too much or something..

 

I heard of such a thing as a capacitor but im not too sure what it does. I ran a 4 gauge power wire from the battery to the amp. The amp turns on automatically when it senses a signal thus I dont need a turn on lead. I am getting the signal by tapping into the stock sub.

 

I just switched the lights on and off with the radio off and it still dims.

 

Do you have it wired into your rear speakers or something? So when it receives an audio signal the amp fires up? Here's my question; with the radio off does your HFL or Nav still function and go through the speakers? Maybe the amp is never turning off (except when the car is off of course)

The capacitor stores an electrical charge, so when there's a big thump of bass (thus a big draw of power) the capacitor fulfills the amps need and then recharges itself, rather than a huge hit on the battery. You should not see a constant strain on the electrical system, something else is wrong. Most people only get the capacitors when they notice their lights dimming and the bass rocking - if the vehicle is having issues supplying unloaded power to the amp then something isn't right..

EDIT: Try tapping into the speaker instead of the sub...

 

Yes I have it tapped into the sub, not the rear deck speakers. HFL works fine with the radio off, I dont have NAV

 

Disconnect the power or take out of the inline fuse; if you're lights are fine you need to work on a different wiring setup (maybe not tap into the sub?).

When the radio is off but the car is on have you looked at the amp to see if the amp status lights are still on?

 

The amp status lights remain off until a signal comes through even with the car on. Even when the car and radio is on I have to bring the volume upto around 10 or 11 on the dial for the amp to recognize the signal before I hear the sub "thumping". I didnt think I would have to work on a different wiring setup since most people on the boards have the same setup. Do you think a capacitor would remedy this?

 

It's just odd that it's drawing that much power when you have no audio going through it

Have you pulled the fuse or disconnected the power from it to see if there was any difference?

 

No not yet, I will try it later but I think it should be fine if I do that since everything was fine before I did the install. I dont know what seems to be causing this.

 

Are you sure it's not just the normal behavior of the dash lights being in night mode? Try pressing the "Max" button just over the brightness control to see if that toggles the brightness with the lights on. I know you said you have the brightness at maximum, but that's how I do it, too, and the lights still dim it unless I toggle it with that button.

 

I was thinking that but he said "it goes down to about 25%" so i'm reading that as with the amp hooked up the brightness drops..

 

Yeah, but he said it happens even with the audio system turned off. If I were to guess how much mine dims, I'd say it dims by about 25% (as opposed to "to 25%"), but that's just a WAG.

Also, I'd think if he was pulling enough current off his battery to dim his lights that much, he'd have a dead battery in a matter of minutes and a lot of heat in that wiring. It would be interesting to know if he can crank the engine when it appears to be pulling so much current. My guess would be 'no' if it is a current-draw issue.