Batt Cap or Big 3?

I have the light dimming problem happening, but I am only running a total of about 390w. I am wondering if doing the big 3 upgrade will fix this problem or just get a cap?

 

You need a bigger/new alternator first, then you need a good deep cycle battery. Third, you need to do the big three swap if you have wires smaller than 4 gauge. You dont need a capacitor. Its likely your alternator is about to die and so is your battery.

 

Since it appears you have a base model maybe try getting an alternator for a truck equipped with the towing package.... It has a larger output that the base model alts..

 

you dont need a new alternator for 400 watts. do the big 3. it helps a ton. and get a bigger better battery

 

He probably needs a new alternator, period, system or not. It could be a bad battery but I think both are probably going out.

 

Yeah, something doesn't sound right about that situation. 400w shouldn't even put a dent in the stock alternator output. If you're getting dimming on that type of power draw you have a problem. Don't search for a bandaid but rather find the solution first.

Maybe have both your battery and alternator tested? What amplifier do you have? Do you know how many amps it draws?

 

that's what I'm saying. I can understand more but not even 400w and it's dying on me already? From the looks of it all, everything was new or in working order. Got it used from the dealership, so i could be wrong.

I'll try to get the alt. tested, doubt it's the batt. it was brand new when I got the truck (only put in the system not even a month ago).
Right now I have an old DEI 1500X or something like that (looked around A LOT, found out it only does 240w @ 2o bridged to which I have wired that one 10" Kicker CVR I have in the slotted box), and another old Alpine MRV T303 which I found out only does 150w @ 4o which I used on my comps and bridged that as well. The DEI has 30ax2 (60a) and the Alpine is only 20a which I have a total of 80a. I have all 4g. it seems as stock. I went in to measure for the Big 3 upgrade and found out that the stock wires are 4g. I also have 4g from my battery to an inline fuse which houses a 100a fuse (those tube ones) to another 4g wire to a dist. block inside to which I ran all 8g wiring to the amps for pow/gnd.
When gnd'ing also I made sure that the connectors were only placed on bare metal. I scraped the living hell out of the paint and made sure nothing BUT metal to metal.

If it keeps up, chances are my batt. and alt will die on me? I have the amps wired to an LOC to the OEM radio. Not sure if that will help narrow my possibilities down. I am going to have the batt. tested and hopefully get the alt. looked at, but everything seems to look fine though.

 

A cap is pretty worthless for 400w. Questionable as to whether it's worth it for any amount, some say it filters the signal better, but it also definitely puts a bigger load on the battery, which is what you are trying to avoid and remedy.

I'd do the big 2 at least, negative battery to chassis and negative battery to engine block. The last one, the positive to the alternator, I'm still on the fence about. Not sure whether it will really do anything or not.

 

x2 I would test that first and see if that's your problem. another thing not all 4g wire is true so what brand of wire are you using? I had some cheap shit back in the day that was all shielding and the wire was equivalent to 8g or even 10g.

First things first get the Bat & Alt checked then maybe upgrade your wire if it's shit wire.

 

here is what I have done so far. I took out the amp and put in another one (Cadence TXA 1502, which is only 25a). The lights stopped dimming, haven't gotten used to the Cadence yet so will see. As for the 80a that I was pulling, from what I was told, the stock alt. may not be set up to handle 80a.

As for the wiring, it's enough to be 4g. I have seen the wiring your talking about, I got that when I bought a cheap amp kit back in the day. I made sure this wiring is true. Thanks guys, hopefully I can get this fixed. Haven't heard of anyone else w/base model having this problem though

 

You wont miss the extra 100watts.

 

caps are worthless IMO, do the big 3.

 

I was looking at alternators, why is it that the Base model alt. is more expensive than the PR/XR alternators? The descriptions read out the same (autopartswarehouse).

 

I'm not quite sure how to wire it though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX9Rcq5DnKw

Was watching this, what do I look for prior to purchasing battery terminals (i.e. how many connections to the battery there really are, what needs a grnd, etc.)

 

anyone know how many wires/size are going to the power or the battery in a base model? trying to upgrade to 0g.

 

I wouldn't worry about how many there are, b/c a few of them I couldn't completely follow b/c they get lost in harnesses, etc. You just need to piggyback on the originals anyway, not replace them.

 

I want to keep my terminals clean though. Not happy with the way it is right now either, although I thought that I would only need to worry about a power wire. Now I have to upgrade just to have the system work properly.

 

this is how it is right now, excluding the plastic cover on the positive, it's covering like it should.

 

Or you could do what I did, get a battery (if you need it that is, which I did) that has two sets of terminals. Use one set for the factory connections, and use the other set of terminals for the stereo and the big 3.

 

I LIKE!!! how much was that battery?