Took about 4 hours...lol but whatever it takes to get it done...my lights still dim when i hit the brakes. so i dk...ill get pics 2marrow when its light out
I don't think your lights should dim when you hit the brakes with an alt of that size. I have a 200a alt, no big 3, and my lights don't dim and I have a 6,000rms amp and a 400rms 4 channel amp.....I don't have it cranked up to insane levels though, well, sometimes I do then the dimming occurs.
A lot of people don't seem to understand WHY lights dim....... it's often not b/c the alt isn't powerful enough but rather b/c it's regulator is not fast enough to respond to sudden current demands, causing a brief drop to battery voltage. If voltage is dropping lower than that, then you've got problems.
If the regulator is the cause, not much can be done about it. But as long as the alt is keeping the battery charged, you're good.
basically what sounds like is happening is that when driving your at 14v when you hit the brakes your rpm drop and the alt isnt spinning fast enough so its not producing enough power and your voltage drops down to 12.5v where your battery sits. so like nick v said to add a battery that will not help, because your volate will still drop from 14 to 12 and will dim.
hook up a volt meter or dmm to see what is going on.
Mat how would it not help? I've added a battery in 2 cars and also mine that had dimming. Once the battery was put in, no dimming at all and there wasn't much of a voltage drop.
Battery capacity is irrelevant here........ the ONLY thing keeping the voltage at 13.8, 14.4, or whatever it happens to be is the alternator (specifically it's regulator). Batteries are ~12.5 volts. The dim in the lights is the drop from 14 to 12 volts.
I run with a stock alternator for now. And no, my voltage was staying at 13v without battery at idle with 900rms. After I added the battery, I was 14v+ at idle blaring music with no dimming.
Recently I ran ~1900rms on the same charging. No dimming still and voltage stays at 13.7 idle.
I really need an explanation for this because I want to know what helped this so much lol...
It was a DMM on the amps. Yeah, When I put the other amp in (4krms total) I will have an HO alt. It just surprised me that I could get away with 2k lol
also, note, cheap dmms can be off and not as sensitive.
nick i honestly dont know how you can keep above battery voltage, especially on a stock alt running that much power. battery capacity dont give you more voltage they simply keep you from dropping below 12.5v so much. the alt is the only thing that gives you voltage above 12.5v