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Subs dimming lights

6K views 38 replies 14 participants last post by  Graygoose 
#1 ·
was just wondering what the best way to eliminate the amp/subs, drawing to much power causing my lights to dim every time the bass hits loud.

I'm only running a 500 watt kicker amp and two 10 inch kicker cvr.

not a big system by any means but still dims all my lights when i turn it up. can i eliminate this?

not a fan of a capacitor but is that my answer?

would wiring it to the alternator be better. its wired to battery now

any tips are appreciated thanks
 
#5 ·
They are gimmicks, they will kill an alt quickly. proper grounding, proper set gains and LPF on amp, and the big 3 will eliminate the dimming issue. Capacitors do not supply power, the alternator does that. Dimming lights is caused by the different in voltage between the alternator and battery.
 
#3 · (Edited)
how old is your battery ? i would say your battery is weak -- especially since its cold outside.

what size wire are you running to the battery -- 6/0 - 8/0 ?

i would add a CAP -- problem solved

put the cap where you can get to it quickly -- I had one burn up and smoke like crazy -- smelled sooooo bad . -- what happened was the battery went bad and was over charging the cap -- luckily i was in the driveway with the rear door open when it happened --- I ripped it out in about 10 seconds -- so no harm other than some smell which was gone in 10 minutes. it was a brand new battery (DEKA) about a month old -- warrantied of coarse .
 
#7 ·
Big three, and making sure your battery and alternator are in good shape are your fixes.

Capacitors are gimmicks. Think about it like a water system: your alternator is the water pump, wiring is pipes, current is water, amp and headlights (and all electronics) are the consumers, and capacitors are water towers.

Before you added your amp, your pump supplied water through the factory pipes just fine. Once you add more consumers, you have a need for more water, and without it consumers suffer (headlight dimming.) A pump has to work harder to pump a gallon through a straw than through a water hose, so you're also putting more work on your alternator by adding more current draw when you add any electronics.

Big three upgrades your straws to water hoses, allowing your pump to more easily deliver the needed water to the consumers. Now, let's look at the capacitor function. It takes ~1-2 seconds to discharge a capacitor, whereas it takes up to 20 seconds to fully charge. While it's charging it's useless- but it is also putting more of a draw on your alternator as well. If you add a cap without upgrading your wiring, you'd notice that it didn't fix anything, and you would still have dimming during the ~20 seconds of charge (likely even worse, as the capacitor is also putting a draw.)

Thinking about the capacitor as a water tower- it's purpose is when supply drops to step in and bridge the gap. The problem is, it takes longer to charge than discharge- you're getting ~1-2 seconds of coverage for ~20 seconds of wasted time and draw on your pump. Since you're supposed to upgrade your wiring when you add a capacitor, most people see the problem as fixed. The capacitor didn't do it- the bigger wiring did.

What I find most funny is that people who use capacitors typically use them wired to the amp- a huge draw... But the best use for them would actually be to the headlights. Headlights don't put enough draw to drain the capacitor as quickly, and you would actually get more usage from the design and function of the capacitor that way.

Still useless, but some people like the extra flash for looks?
 
#11 ·
battery and alternator are all good for sure.

I'm pretty sure my power and ground is 8 gauge. which is plenty for 500 watt kicker. i think.

my wires do get hot, almost melt if i crank the subs and music for a long drive.

also my subs give a loud thud sometimes when i turn the key on, sometimes when i turn the key off. just a quick thud at power up and off.

does this give me a better diagnosis?

the first thing i could see is maybe my ground isn't good enough. everything else should be wired good and proper.

will a bad ground give me these thuds, and heating issues?
 
#16 ·
If your power and grounds wireare getting hot they are definitely too small as others have already stated. I assume you do have a fuse under the hood? Look for a quality 4 gauge or larger kit, like Stinger, Knukoncepts, JL, and others. Make sure the copper wire inside the insulation is what takes up most of the diameter. If there is more plastic than metal in the wire its a cheapo kit.
Short as possible ground to a thick metal object if possible, not a seat bolt. Use thick parts of the body where a few sheets of metal are sandwiched together, or preferably get it bolted to the frame. This should all help the dimming. As for pop, what are you using for a remote lead?
 
#12 · (Edited)
It sounds like you need to upgrade your power and ground wire to 4g or better. Not sure why they are getting that hot unless you are running cheap cable, it's shorting somewhere, or your not running a fuse on the power wire (or the fuse isn't popping). I would be surprised if your amp is causing the turn on thump, it should have the turn on delay built in: it is more than likely your ground. Everything is pointing to that imo. How long is your ground? The shorter the better. If I'm not mistaken, 2ft or less is recommended. I would ground to the frame if possible.
 
#17 ·
it is a stinger kit, and yes fused after battery can't remember size of fuse 60 i think or maybe 90.. the pos wire and neg wire don't get to hot, but the speaker wires running from amp to subs, will pretty much melt. but speaker wire is one size fits most pretty much isn't it so why would my speaker wires get so hot. ground?
 
#23 ·
my amp is a kicker dx 500.1
subs are comp vr 2-10s

the amp only has one speaker line hook up, (one positive negative)

if i recall the subs have 4 hook ups on each sub, 2 positives and 2 negative on each sub

so one wire connects to the fist positive then to the second positive then out the box, same for negative. and same for other sub. so then i have 2 positives coming out of the box and 2 negatives.

then the positives splice into each other and negatives to each other, then to amp.

if that makes sense thats how their wired hah.
 
#24 · (Edited)
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this is how they are wired.
just found this pick online. my subs might be different ohms or something not to sure. don't know how the ohm stuff really works. in stereo equipment

but for just wiring reference this diagram of wiring is how mine are wired. going to the dx 500.1 amp. this how their suppose to be?
 
#31 ·
is this my problem then? can you elaborate the difference this wiring is making? each sub will be getting less power by wiring it the way off your picture won't they? wired in 2 ohm load instead of 1?
The DX 500.1 is a mono block amplifier rated at 500 Watts RMS @ 2 Ohms. Your running it at a .5 ohm load. You will destroy your amp, your over driving it,. If you want it louder buy a 1000 watt mono amp that will go down to 1 ohm
 
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