my amp is too strong

[oldriceracer]

hey guys, i just installed an amp and it is drawing to many watts from my battery. is there anyway i can modify my alternator to put out more juice so that i dont blow a fuse everytime i turn my radio up??

[smufguy]

get a capacitor. Its worth the money. look at a 4g altenator and see if they are adaptable. There was a debate about it. The 4g alt puts out 90Amps. BUt a capacitor would be a good investment.

[1989se-i]

where do you get capacitors and where do you put them?

[smufguy]

the capacitor goes near the amp or in ur trunk anywhere. Its inline with the power cable to the amp. The cap acts as an aux battery.http://store2.yimg.com/I/millionbuy_1706_8661609 http://store2.yimg.com/I/millionbuy_1710_4765141



these are not renounded caps. but these are just to show u how they look like. if ur gonnaget one, get soemthing that is wellknown.

[toastyghost]

what about an optima deep cycle battery? i've heard those things are uber.. dude at work had a yellow top i think. said it kicked ass didn't need a cap.

[RobT5580]

I have a Yellow Top and i love it but when the bass hits it puts a large draw on the battery. That is when a cap comes in use because it stores power so its not all taken from the battery.

[oldriceracer]

so ur saying that i need a capacitor, ok good. what kind and what is the general price range? i know a really good electronics site where you can get stuff for pretty cheap. www.savinglots.com great site, any feedback is appreciated

[shepherd79]

www.savinglots.com is great site with great prices. they ship very fast. i got my stuff with in 3 days.

[oldriceracer]

what do crossovers do? is that for when you want 2 or more amps or somthing?

[smufguy]

crossovers split frequencies. we use crossovers as a separate unit when we hook up tweeters (the right way to do it). Tha Amps come with a built in adjustable (some) crossover depending on what kinda base ur looking for and stuff. But as u know, most here tend to hit that tcrossover button rock bottom for some serious shit. :D:D)

[KaMiKaZeE]

About price and brand: Mine is a Phoenix Gold 1,000,000uf cap which is a good brand and I got it used for like 80 bucks U.S. I think new it is like 150. Also 1,000,000uf is its capacity rated in microfarrads and it it usually just called a one farrad cap. they generally come in .5F, 1F, 1.5F, and 2F. They are purpose built for this use so dont try wiring in some big cap from bob's used electrics or something, probably wont be too effective. What capacity to get? 300-500w:.5F, 500-800w:1F, 800-1200w:1.5F, 1200-2000w:2F, more than that u just add more caps.

[HostileJava]

There are really two reasons to get a Cap. The cap when initailly installed will draw power from the battery till is fully charged.

1. When you want to run your stereo with the car off the cap and battery will provide power to the amps so as not to drain the battery completely.

2. When the bass hits hard it requires alot of amps. Your battery CAN NOT responds fast enough to provide more amps to your amp and continue to supply power to the other devices it's connected to so the lights dim. The capacitor can respond that fast so your lights will not dim.

BTW: If your blowing a fuse then more than likely you need to get heavier wire and a larger fuse, a fuse blowing means your drawing to much current for the fuse and wire to handle. If the wire can't handle the ampreg it will get hot and eventually melt or become brittle and crack. A capacitor will not solve your fuse blowing problem.

[KaMiKaZeE]

Right on Java. You do need to go with thick wire for your amp and cap and sub setup. I suggest 4-6AWG for all the power connections and 8-10AWG for the sub connections. that won't blow on you. If you do keep running with thin wire you could kill your amp too not just the wire and fuse. Do it once and do it right.

Also, check out Powermaster alternators if you still need more juice. I remember reading an article in a car magazine about putting one in a Camaro, they liked it a lot and I think it put out like 150 amps max. I bet they have or will make one for our cars.

[87AccordsterLx]

:werd: I would go with a 4g wire for the power... like kamikazee said... you can also buy the moster cable kits that come with everything that you need... make sure that your ground is the same gauge as your power cable and that it is not touching paint.... grind it down to the metal to make sure its clean....

[HostileJava]

Your actually ok with 8 gauge wire. You'd just be wasting money on the 4 gauge stuff.

[87DXHatch]

Man alive... I'm sorry folks, but after spending hours upon hours at www.caraudioforum.com I just can't compete with some of the stuff on here. There is a lot of widespread ignorance in car audio and it quite often shows. I am not trying to "diss" anyone or bring anyone down, but some of you just don't know what you're talking about.

*Lights dimming / need more output from alternator*

A cap will NOT solve the problem! Electrical problems can ONLY be solved by upping the alternator! No extra caps, no extra batteries, nothing else will remedy it. Some of these things might help for a little bit, but in the long run you're still going to get a toasted alternator. Some people will say that a cap puts even MORE strain on the electrical system. There are some very heated arguements on this topic over at the car audio forum. Both sides have usually have good reasons, with pretty much everyone who knows anything agreeing that caps will NOT solve electrical problems.

Another thing that is supposed to greatly enhance power supply to amps, is to upgrade all the stock wiring in the engine bay. I think the stock 3gee wiring is like 8-guage. Upping it to 4-guage is supposed to do a noticeable increase in power available, and it will increase the cleanliness of the power as well. I have yet to do this, but I am planning on it in the near future.

*8-guage will be ok*

Not necessarily! 8-guage can only take so much before you start getting voltage drops. If you're running like 500-600 watts or less, then 8-guage will be fine, but if you're running more, then go with 4-guage! Or higher... bigger has no negative side-effects.

If you guys want GOOD, ACCURATE information for ANYTHING car audio, go over to the www.caraudioforum.com

It is great!

[HostileJava]

I gotta tell you not everone over there knows everthing either. The info I'm giving you comes from experience and my boss who's been working on A/V (car and home) for most of his life. He now does just home a/v repairs and installs and I handle computers and networking. I've followed all his advice when installing my system, and gotten a little bit of help fine tuning the system and had no problems. I'm not trying to start a fight here, just offering my input(and I am kinda offended that people call my input not "GOOD, ACCURATE information").

[87DXHatch]

Well, I wasn't trying to bring YOU, or anyone else in particular, down, I was just commenting that most of the stuff (And by most, I mean most of the good stuff, you have to have discernment) on CAF is excellent.

And hostilejava, you seem pretty educated in this field so I wasn't ragging on you anyway. It's just that 8-guage can only go so far... when you get into higher power levels, you NEED thicker wire, no two ways around it, unless you want problems. And as for the cap issue, there are valid points for both positions. I choose no cap, and I have my reasons, but others think they're a good idea and they have their reasons.

Peace ;)

[HostileJava]

Your right there is some point where you need 8 guage wire but that only applies to very highend systems.

[87AccordsterLx]

sorry to be the jackass in this convo but hostile... the reason that I had stated before that you should use a 4 gauge is becasue I have seen first hand the difference in using smaller gauge wires... this is really a stupid thing to argue over its just that almost every car audio shop that I have ever been to or have helped with installations use 4 gauge wire for 400w and up applications... Like Dave was saying... theres no harm in it... I also aggre about the caps and the high powererd batteries... I have a $100 deep cycle NAPA battery that has soo much power that I can run my system full blast for 2 hours (total of 900w) and the car still cranks up.... but when I'm driving around and I turn it up the lights.... still.... they dim..... its the alt. Im not familiar with the long term use of power caps but I would say get a more powerful alternator... sorry if it sounds like your being ganged up on Hostile... thats not my intention at all... Im just backing my previous statement.... I'll see if I can get Bob to give us his opinion....

[Bobs89LXi]

You could be looking at this in the wrong way. The current draw may be due to a mismatch between your speakers and the amp. I would be able to tell you more if you could give me some information on your setup. I would need to know the impedence and power rating of your speakers, their number, and how they're wired up, ie: parallel or series. I would also like to have the specs for your amp, if they are available. As for the lights dimming, a cap helps up to a point. If you are running one or two amps, pushing say 500 to 1500 watts, a cap will suffice. However, if you are pushing more than that, or if the cap doesn't correct the problem, a more elaborate setup may be in order. A higher output alternator, second battery and isolator may be required.

[Bobs89LXi]

I'll have to say this again. Not one place will have all the information on car audio. This includes caraudioforum.com. I have visited the site on occasion, and it does have quite a few good tips. However, I have seen posts that are just as far off in left field as any other site out there. Do your research, using a variety of resources available. When in doubt, have the work done by a professional. In the long run, it may be less expensive than frying components, thus voiding the warranty. I can't tell you how many times I have seen the work of people who thought they knew what they were doing. Most didn't look pretty, nor was the repair bill.

I would also like to add one more thing. Please keep the dialog civil. If you believe someone is giving out incorrect information, let them know without the personal comments, or let me know via private message.

[87AccordsterLx]

thanks for replying Bob... any ideas on the gauge of wire...? Whats a good gauge to run for certain levels of power... ie. X gauge for xxx watts.... ??? Thanks

[merlindavis]

moster cable does this, not sure about others though... on their amp wiring "kits", they have printed right on the package how much it's good for... from personall experience, i would run at least 8awg for anything above 200watts, and 4awg for above 500watts... if you're pushing 1k watts, i'd start seriously thinking about running larger than 4awg wire... also, what type of sound you are running may come into play... subs usually draw alot more power from an amp than mids will, and tweeters will draw even less... i'd still stick with running the size wires i put up, though...

as for the dimming problem, a cap won't always help... if you notice, having your headlights on with the car off they will be at a certain brightness, when you turn on the car, they get a bit brighter... at idle, my alternator doesn't quite put out enought juice to run everything at full power... i notice that all my lights will dim, bumping my system or not... a larger output alternator would be a wise choice to cure power problem... rewiring parts of your engine bay would be another one... upping your alternator-battery wire to 4 gauge would be a good start, also, add another wire coming off the alternator to your battery... up the gauge on your ground wires throughout your engine bay... you could spring for a central grounding system, but to me, that seems pointless unless the stock ground wires are in a bad spot to be grounded to... personally, i'll trust Honda on a good ground spot... get all your ground wires, even if it seems pointless to do so... you could also run a larger gauge wire to your fuse box in your engine bay... your fuses won't blow any easier with a larger wire...

just my .02¢

[Coroncho80]

I had the same problem when I was pumping my system. The lights used to dim down and everything. I upgraded my alternator to 150 oms and PROBLEM SOLVED! I spent $300 with a warranty of 3 months on the alt. If you can do this, do it! the factory amp brings 60 oms ( if i can recall correctly). Do the math, it is worth it.

Did i said they also chromed my alt too........... well, they did! :D
BTW, this is a good ass threat with a lot of good information. I might use some of that myself. Thanks guys!

[KaMiKaZeE]

Hey coroncho u forgot to say who did your alt! Also, if u refer to my earlier post u see I did say IF the cap was not enough to try a Powermaster alt. If someone has the time to look into it and discovers they make one for our cars for sure, please post info here. Our alts are pretty weak now that I think abt it, in fact my battery light flickers when i hit red revs without my stereo on, so it is wise to do an upgrade if you can.

On a side note, I think I need to move 'cause a few weeks ago someone broke into my car right in front of my house while I was asleep and tried to jack my stereo. The wierd part is, they didn't get my stereo all the way out, (just put a screwdriver through the side trying) BUT THEY STILL TOOK THE FACEPLATE!!!:crying:

[Coroncho80]

KaMiKaZeE, they guy that did my alt. upgrade is my mechanic. He only works on imports and specialize on performance work and upgrades. He's the man! If you would live in the philly area, I would take you to him. He got a 1998 BMW M3 (stick) and his wife got a 1998 BMW M5. He just got this 92 integra and he's done madddddd upgrades on that.

[KaMiKaZeE]

Maybe I should move to philly! The job market here sux and anyway I love cheesesteaks! We could start a Philly area 3g club!:D

[Coroncho80]

Originally posted by KaMiKaZeE
Maybe I should move to philly! The job market here sux and anyway I love cheesesteaks! We could start a Philly area 3g club!:D


:lol I'm here if yall need me!