MotorCityMike Posted January 6, 2003 Report Share Posted January 6, 2003 I have a set of JL Audio 10W4's in a sealed box powered by a Kenwood PS150 bridged mono 300 watts. I am not running a power capacitor on the amp and I was wondering if adding one would keep my headlights from doing the disco dance? I mean on hard bass my voltmeter falls to 11 or less volts on peaks. I want to correct this, because not only is the stereo pulling power, my 55 watt halogen driving lights pull alot of power as well. Any suggestions welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godofthunder Posted January 6, 2003 Report Share Posted January 6, 2003 You know what ticks me off, my stock Stereo (the CD, AM.FM, and Tape Combo) with the 6 speaker prem. sound does this too. Ill be driving, or sitting in my car in park, and the lights (head, inside, dash) all will just blink with the bass. Its really annoying? anyone else have this problem, or know of a way to fix it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eclipse5302 Posted January 6, 2003 Report Share Posted January 6, 2003 If you're talking bass like "boom, boom, boom" then a cap may help. If you're talking continous bass notes (longer than 1 second) than a cap will make your problem worse. You see, a cap is basically a battery. When your amp needs power your alternator can't provide, it gets it from the cap. At this point, the cap is discharged. Now, your alternator has to recharge it and at the same time power your amp. This is why a cap won't help with continous bass music. With the amp constantly drawing power the cap has no time to recharge. The cap basically becomes another load on your alternator. So, depending on your music preference, you may want to upgrade your alternator and battery. The alternator is more important though, because when the car is running the alternator is the primary source of power. A good choice is the "Iceberg" alternator. You can get this from JC Whitney or elsewhere. They have a partial kit to upgrade your alternator to the "Iceberg" style for like $50. You want the full kit that upgrades your alternator to the Iceberg rear housing AND the 140 amp stator. This is more money, but much less than a high output alternator. Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92Cutlass4Dr Posted January 7, 2003 Report Share Posted January 7, 2003 Just a little clarification on eclipse5302's post. the power is actually taken from the cap first, while the cap is constantly recharged by the battery/alternator. This way your bass hits will deplete the cap, not strain the alternator. after a big surge the cap recharges at a slower rate than it discharges, preventing dimming lights etc. In extreme cases, the cap is totally used up and it just becomes a problem, so sometimes it helps to have multiple caps or a second battery. another option is to get your alternator rewound/rebuilt so that it can give more power. it might be hard to find a place that does it, and it will take a bit of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmo1234 Posted January 7, 2003 Report Share Posted January 7, 2003 I've been running a 1/2 farad cap with a 350w Kicker amp (pushing 2 10" IDQ's) in my Altima and it definely helps with the dimming lights. Could have still used a 1 farad cap but it works ok for now, definetly better than nothing. I've had it for like 2 years now so maybe its time for upgrade. So I've have not added any sound to my Lumina (other than an upgraded Genuine GM Delco CD player and speakers outta my bro's Malibu when he added sound to his car) I'm concerned with the various times I've had to change the altenator. But that would be my the next step after adding a CAP, getting a rewound/or updgraded alternator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eclipse5302 Posted January 7, 2003 Report Share Posted January 7, 2003 Yeah, 92Cutlass4Dr is right. Serves me right to be up all night (posted @ 5:19am) and try to post information I havent used/needed in like 2 years. Damn 92Cutlass4Dr, you're right down the road from me! You live in New Berlin? Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lolumz34 Posted January 7, 2003 Report Share Posted January 7, 2003 I say scrap the amp that you have and get a JL 500/1...they have 500 watt continous power and wont make your car disco. Best amp for the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92Cutlass4Dr Posted January 8, 2003 Report Share Posted January 8, 2003 Eclipse, yes i'm from New Berlin, right by Eisenhower High School. I'm still in peoria for a another week or so, but then i'm home indefinitely job hunting. lolumz34, we put JL 500/1 in a full size chevy pickup and the lights dimmed a lot, and it was the only amp. it draws a lot of current, good amps should. i think his alternator may have been on it's way to the junkyard though, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinski Posted January 8, 2003 Report Share Posted January 8, 2003 I did the 140 amp iceberg conversion. My lights are normal while above 1000 RMP but they dim while ideling. They used to dim while driving before the conversion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musthavemuzk Posted January 8, 2003 Report Share Posted January 8, 2003 so tell me when you installed this amp did you install it properly? i mean did you upgrade the batt to frame ground? did you remove the paint at the amp ground source and keep that wire as short as possible? is the ground and power wires of the same size? if the answer to these is a resounding yes then there are issues with the alt not being large enough to handle the demands of the car audio and lights and rest of the vehicle electrical system needs. as well as the batt possibly being in need of replacing as well. Monty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskey River Posted January 8, 2003 Report Share Posted January 8, 2003 so tell me when you installed this amp did you install it properly?i mean did you upgrade the batt to frame ground? did you remove the paint at the amp ground source and keep that wire as short as possible? is the ground and power wires of the same size? if the answer to these is a resounding yes then there are issues with the alt not being large enough to handle the demands of the car audio and lights and rest of the vehicle electrical system needs. as well as the batt possibly being in need of replacing as well. Monty I would agree with Monty, I'm running the stock 105 amp alt in my car with a Kenwood KAC828 (old school, I know). I can run the lights, heater, wipers and the stereo and not experience any dimming, at idle or otherwise. Besides, on the CarSound Forum, there is a discussion about caps and after doing the math that Richard Clark laid out, most caps are useless. "Audio Jewelry" is what he called them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumping z34 Posted January 8, 2003 Report Share Posted January 8, 2003 I've been running a 1/2 farad cap with a 350w Kicker amp (pushing 2 10" IDQ's) in my Altima and it definely helps with the dimming lights. Could have still used a 1 farad cap but it works ok for now, definetly better than nothing. I've had it for like 2 years now so maybe its time for upgrade. So I've have not added any sound to my Lumina (other than an upgraded Genuine GM Delco CD player and speakers outta my bro's Malibu when he added sound to his car) I'm concerned with the various times I've had to change the altenator. But that would be my the next step after adding a CAP, getting a rewound/or updgraded alternator. ill sell you a cap i have laying around lol 50 bucks used one and took it off full farad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeZ34 Posted January 8, 2003 Report Share Posted January 8, 2003 I used to have that problem (dimming) in my lumina when I had all sony amps.. I was running 3 of them and they really drew the power. But since then I've only got 1 4 channel sony amp left out of that group, and my sub amp (US Acoustics USX 600D) and I don't experience one bit of dimming, even at loud volumes. The 4 channel is only using 2 of it's channels, and the US acoustics is bridged at 2 ohms pushing my 2 infinity's. 4 Guage wiring from battery to dist block, 8 guage to each amp, and then 8 guage ground to a ground block, and then 4 guage to the frame of the car. It's nice to have efficient amps, especially when your alt sounds like it's on it's last leg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musthavemuzk Posted January 11, 2003 Report Share Posted January 11, 2003 currently i have 2 PPI PC amps. one on the sub and the 4 channel is only running on two for the stage. total wattage is 900 watts. both amps are class A/B and regulated. i had a cap in a previous ride, but opted out of it in the last ride. and well found i did not care to go through the hassle this time around. so i have a full farad lightning audio strike cap on my kitchen table. it has been there for along time collecting dust. once i get the chance to bridge the stage amp to 2 channels then the total wattage will be 1200. still no plans for a cap. hey Luke nice sub amp. have heard some good things about that brand of amps. and for the money it would be hard to pass it up. Monty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
90lumina3.1 Posted January 11, 2003 Report Share Posted January 11, 2003 im running a single amp (rockford fosgate punch 500x) to 4 speakers with 8 gauge power/ground, and im not seeing any dimming problems. all i experience is a little noise from the engine. i need to put noise filters on, but otherwise all is good. fosgate makes very efficient amps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenGTP Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 the best way to avoid this problem is to change the power and ground wires from your battery and alternator to atleast 8 gauge, but 4 gauge is the best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeonHomer Posted February 14, 2003 Report Share Posted February 14, 2003 Rember, a certain size wire can only deliver so much current. I had this same problem in my 87 Dodge Diplomat (It was an ex-police car, so it had a HUGE factory altenator, 120amp). My stock Sony 40x4 head unit did the same thing, and all I was running was 6x9's in the back and 4" in the dash. I upgraded the factory wiring to a bit bigger size, and the problem went away..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.