Ok so I was driving today pushin my music for a good 5 minutes at a pretty high level. My stereo goes up to 32 and the level was up at 26 with all the gains and eq's set correctly. I just installed the system about a month ago and everything has been running good. But today, i started playing king kongs in the trunk and bam it shut off all of a sudden and it scared me i was like aww crap please not my system. I have 0 guage wires and wired everything really good. Ok then after a little it started cutting off more and more to a point where it would shut off at like level 18!! What the hell. Okay a few things that I noticed. When i was driving I could be blasting the music and it would be fine but this is when the cutting off all started to happen...when i stopped. When my car was idoling and pushin the sytstem boom it would cut off. Btw the lights have been dimming whenever the bass really hits ever since i first installed it and now its rly dimming. As well as my guage lights and the whole interior. Also, I realized when like my windows are up but i try to like roll them up even thought they already are my windows dim. I don't think my windows should make my whole car dim as well as when the cooling fans come on for the engine it dims the lights too. Not like a holy S*&^ dude your lights dim so much but more of like a yo your lights are dimming a little. But when the bass hits yea they dim...soo im thinking i need a high output alternator. My oem factory altenator is 80 amps. I don't think thats enough if im running 1000-1200 watts rms...they sell one that gives 160 plus amps. Should I get that? Im driving down to the keys tommorow hope my car doesn't fail on me know..Im bringing jumper cables in case https://www.ecoustics.com/cgi-bin/bbs/board-image-lister.pl?popup=1#
So any suggestions on fixing this problem? Any advice? Thinking about taking it to advanced auto and getting the volts tested
Sounds like the amplifiers are clipping and going into protection. That 160A alternator should do the trick.
also, make sure to upgrade the 'big 3' when you swap out that alternator. You'll want to have wiring from the alternator back that supports that current flow.
While I hate recommending capacitors, I will note that using about 2fd worth of caps will, with the high output alternator, smooth out the spikes in current demand, so it will make the dimming lights less noticeable, which is helpful when driving at night. Caps make a great AC ipple filter, and in this case, smooth out spikes in demand. They don't act as a battery or alternator though, so don't try to use one in place of the other.
good luck!
Oh, also, the reason the amps clip at idle, is because an alternator doesn't put out it's full rated current until you reach about 1200-2000RPM (depending on the alternator) so your 80A alt is putting out more like 50A at idle, if that.
Where would I be able to get all the wires and material for the Big 3 upgrade? I don't really want to buy like a kit online since I want to get my system working again. A high output alternator is on its way and is 180 amps and is an irrigs alternator I believe so they are pretty good. But would 0 gauge wire from like home depot do the trick? Or should I get something else? And I do need a fuse between the alternator and positive battery terminal correct? If I did the big 3 before I got the alternator, do you believe I could see signs of improvement?
Paul on the subwoofer section is/was selling 1/0 guage wire for a sweet deal. He has super quick delivery as well. You may check with him. I ordered some for my big 3 I recently did and I received the wire in 2 days. You will also need 1/0 ring terminals, probably 6.