dimming lights

[crucial]

Hi i had a question regarding my lights dimming every time the bass hits and if there a a easy way to fix it but no like a band aid. Im running a sound stream 4 channel amp around 100 rms per channel for my doors and a Hifonics mono amp pushing 750 rms to 2 alpine 1042D's

[teamontherun]

You will probably have to get an upgraded alternator and maybe upgrade your ground wiring for the car with some big ground straps

[ghettogeddy]

grab yourself a bat cap should help get rid with the dimming but you can also do the ground wire alternator thing still prolly wont make the dimming go away all together like a cap or bat cap will

[AccordB20A]

My mate has 1000wrms into 2 ohm running on the stock electrical system in his 1985 civic. upgraded ground wires and thats it. No dimming. But his amp is a d class. very efficient. a Cap will usually fix it.

[itzdave]

1 farad capacitor will fix it

[crucial]

Upgrading the ground wire, The one on the battery to frame and alternator?

I was under the impression that capacitors were just a band-aid for these problems.

[ghettogeddy]

Upgrading the ground wire, The one on the battery to frame and alternator?

I was under the impression that capacitors were just a band-aid for these problems.

ya but its an easy cheap fix you could get a batcap theat would be more like adding a second battery to your car a battery that acts like a cap


i was running about 2700watts rms at one point and had 2.5 farads worth of caps and it never dimmed and don't know were people say caps are just band aids when tech its just a part of the system i never had a pro with it and the only reason my alt went bad was because it was the original lol and i ran my system for so long with out a cap

[crucial]

I was looking at the prices of several different capacitors a Batcap and OPTIMA Battery's, I mean the batcap and Optima's are not that badly priced if you need to get a new battery but these don't seem to be inexpensive. I would think it would be less expensive to change the grounds out to a heavier gage, like 4 gage, wire. The cheapest capacitor i seen so far was about 30 bucks which was a 1 farad.

So on the alternator there is the cable that bolts on top which seems to be a positive connection, but what is the wire harness for, I know that if its not hooked up it wont charge the battery, if i just use a heavier gage wire on the bolt down cable or would i have to change out the wire harness. I'm guessing that the cable that bolts down is the cable that charges the battery

[ghettogeddy]

I was looking at the prices of several different capacitors a Batcap and OPTIMA Battery's, I mean the batcap and Optima's are not that badly priced if you need to get a new battery but these don't seem to be inexpensive. I would think it would be less expensive to change the grounds out to a heavier gage, like 4 gage, wire. The cheapest capacitor i seen so far was about 30 bucks which was a 1 farad.

dont go cheap get something in the 100 range and the batcap is an add on not a bat replacement

[crucial]

Why does the batcap have a cold cranking amps rating?

http://www.caraudiodeals.com/800-farad-cap-xstatic-batcap-800-free-shipping-p-84.html

The XStatic BATCAP 800 is a battery that discharges as fast as a capacitor!

On there web site it says that these can crank your car.

Get something in the 100 dollar range doesn't sound inexpensive to me.

Know any decent brands to look for on a capacitor?

[ghettogeddy]

Why does the batcap have a cold cranking amps rating?

http://www.caraudiodeals.com/800-farad-cap-xstatic-batcap-800-free-shipping-p-84.html

The XStatic BATCAP 800 is a battery that discharges as fast as a capacitor!

On there web site it says that these can crank your car.

Get something in the 100 dollar range doesn't sound inexpensive to me.

Know any decent brands to look for on a capacitor?

well like it says it can crank the car just not designed to lol

stinger makes a good cap so does audiobahn but just go to your local stereo shop not best buy or any comerrical shops go to like mom and pop shops they should have a decent one for cheap

this is a good brand
http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?g=725&i=120PP912U&c=3&tp=739

[lostforawhile]

crucial you ought to design upgraded mounting brackets for some of the after market alternators for other hondas. also check into the legend alternator setup,it's pretty easy and gives you a lot more amps off the alternator. thats the only real fix, the caps just help,but you need more amps.

[Civic Accord Honda]

lol every time the bass hit on my old jvc deck my lights would dim lol even did it with my stock deck lol and i have no amps lol

[crucial]

I just drove to Carson City and noticed that everytime i hit the brakes the lights would dim for a sec too. I checked my battery clamps and the positive clamp is heavily corroded. Im gonna change it out but its a pian to get one cause im running 0 gage to my amps.

[crucial]

crucial you ought to design upgraded mounting brackets for some of the after market alternators for other hondas. also check into the legend alternator setup,it's pretty easy and gives you a lot more amps off the alternator. thats the only real fix, the caps just help,but you need more amps.

I need to know what the conections are if anyone knows. Theres the one you bolt down and the wire harness with 3 wires in it. It would be nice to swap the stock one out for a single wire one.

[crucial]

Was looking at the stock replacment alternators and they put out 65 amps. My Hifonics amps has two 60 amp fuse on it and the Sound storm has one 60 amp fuse on it. Now i know that they dont draw that much amperage but i think its around the amps i would want the alternator to push. Well mabey not that many (180) but mabey like 120 amps. I am gonna look at some diffrent alternators that push around that amount.

[ghettogeddy]

Was looking at the stock replacment alternators and they put out 65 amps. My Hifonics amps has two 60 amp fuse on it and the Sound storm has one 60 amp fuse on it. Now i know that they dont draw that much amperage but i think its around the amps i would want the alternator to push. Well mabey not that many (180) but mabey like 120 amps. I am gonna look at some diffrent alternators that push around that amount.

have fun getting them installed lol when your done do a right up so we can steal your work

[crucial]

Well im looking at make a new bracket to mount a diffrent alternator with a wire harness to just drop one in. But am still trying to find a electrical schematic on the stock set up, once i get that it would be a piece of cake.

[MessyHonda]

they already make a high output alternator...its on ebay...claims to push out 135 amps...i was going to get it but i could not wait 1 week to install it because my car is a daily driver.

[crucial]

How much was it?
Summit has powder coated and chrome plated 1 wire alternators for $94.95 that are 100 amps.

[itzdave]

I just drove to Carson City and noticed that everytime i hit the brakes the lights would dim for a sec too.

that could be a battery issue too.

[crucial]

So heres the schematic i found for it in the Haynes Repair Manual. It looks like the harness with the three wires in it are from a voltage regulator and L and IG go to the warning light. S goes to the out put on the alternator. So i think that it would be really easy to put a 1 wire alternator in.

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/8586/64867245rx4.png (http://imageshack.us)

[crucial]

that could be a battery issue too.

Thats why i was going to replace the battery clamps as they are corroded.

[lostforawhile]

So heres the schematic i found for it in the Haynes Repair Manual. It looks like the harness with the three wires in it are from a voltage regulator and L and IG go to the warning light. S goes to the out put on the alternator. So i think that it would be really easy to put a 1 wire alternator in.

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/8586/64867245rx4.png (http://imageshack.us)
it's wired like every other eighties honda,you just need to make sure you don't disconnect power to your choke in the process or your choke won't open. you can buy the gm plug that will plug into even a one wire, use the output to the warning light to close a relay,and still make your warning light on the dash work. you don't even need a one wire,the standard high output GM is really easy to hook up, you have the field wire going into the alternator, the output to the light off the gm would need to make a relay ground for the light, and your output wire. make sure you upgrade the wire from the alternator to the battery for sure. you might want to get a fusible link rated for the alternator output, and run it inline from a cable on the alternator right to the starter lug,then you can use the heavy gauge starter cablel to the battery to charge it. also make sure the alternator is designed to spin in the right direction,or it's cooling fan won't work. i believe you can get reverse flow alternator fans for gm also.

[lostforawhile]

wait a minute let me look at my book just woke up
cobwebs aren't out of brain yet

[crucial]

I don't have a choke on my car (removed it) and the idiot light is out (don't plan on fixing it), the single wire alternators are self regulating, so pretty much just be hooking up the single wire directly to the battery then run a wire to the starter and anything else that was hooked up directly to the alternator using some inline fuses.

What do you all think.

Are alternators spin counterclockwise right?

[crucial]

Called summit to see if they knew which way it spins and was told to call tech support tomorrow but from in the pictures it looks like it should be spinning counterclockwise.

This would be a less expensive option to buying a stock replacement.
Or not just looked at the duralast ones from auto zone and they were $89.99

[crucial]

they already make a high output alternator...its on ebay...claims to push out 135 amps...i was going to get it but i could not wait 1 week to install it because my car is a daily driver.

Just found them looks like 128.55 shipped, not bad. But they are stock alternators that have been altered to output more amps.

[ghettogeddy]

Just found them looks like 128.55 shipped, not bad. But they are stock alternators that have been altered to output more amps.

nothing wrong with that

[crucial]

Was wondering if anyone knew how they were altering them to output more amps?

[crucial]

Heres some good info on one wire alternators.
http://www.powermastermotorsports.com/faq-alternators.html

[xxxfrankensteinxxx]

just bought one of those 135 amp alts off ebay gonna install it soon will let you guys know how it is also upgrading ground wires and crap, kinda mad tho i later found a 150 amp one for $150 on there, i had a problem where my car would actually kill out or run shitty if my stereo was up to loud lol its a carb one then deck ect was turning off

[MessyHonda]

hope it fits the car...because the fuel injected accord have a 4 pin connector and the carbed cars use a 3 pin

[xxxfrankensteinxxx]

hope it fits the car...because the fuel injected accord have a 4 pin connector and the carbed cars use a 3 pin

yup thats why you switch the pin connetor on the alt

[MessyHonda]

yeah i was about to say that too because on the fuel injection swap it says you can switch it out.

[AccordB20A]

yup. ignore the 4th wire:)

[xxxfrankensteinxxx]

got my 135 amp alternator in looks nice will be installing tyomorrow sill need to do grounds will let you guys know how this ebay alt turns out :cheers:

[xxxfrankensteinxxx]

well it seems to be working great even tho the mechanic put the pulley on from the old alt dum mechanics now i have to put it back on =[

[89T]

Hi i had a question regarding my lights dimming every time the bass hits and if there a a easy way to fix it but no like a band aid. Im running a sound stream 4 channel amp around 100 rms per channel for my doors and a Hifonics mono amp pushing 750 rms to 2 alpine 1042D's

back in the day we use to get altonators rewound for a higher amprage rating($60-$120), and we almost alway's installed a optima battery in the factory posistion or as a secondary battery in the trunk(with a batt isolater). In my experiance there is no replacement for extra storage.capacitors are good but they only supply voltage momentarly as you get a voltage spike.
you could run a second batt on the stock alt. if you dont mind swapping alt's once a year.
i use to run 4500 watts in one of my cars with 4-15's, 2-10's,12-5.25's,4-2" soft dome tweets, on a rewound alt and 2 optimas,one in the front and one in the trunk and never had a problem with light's dimming. those were old school power hungry hifonics amps too!lol.


for some reason i want to say the gm alt spins clockwise.i'll have to check my truck.
you may also want to do some research on the pully sizes also.you dont want to spin the gm alt to slow,or it wont give you the full advertised output unless you are reved out.

edit :i know you know, but always run a min of 4gauge power wire to the trunk with a battery isolater, circut breaker or fuse,and upgrade all you'r power wires under the hood even your alt.

[KWoodRacer]

Hi i had a question regarding my lights dimming every time the bass hits and if there a a easy way to fix it but no like a band aid. Im running a sound stream 4 channel amp around 100 rms per channel for my doors and a Hifonics mono amp pushing 750 rms to 2 alpine 1042D's

http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/MD-5.0-Farad-Digital-Capacitor/2019981/product.html

This will take care of that :)