thedirty

ok so heres the problem guys. this is recent too. when i put my volume on my player on a high level. my gauges and headlights seem to blink when the bass hits hard. its like it doesnt have enough power. is my battery kind of dead and need renewal or what could be the prob.

imported_loudsubz

More info man

What kind of amps? What size wire? how big is your ground? stock alt and battery?

thedirty

stock alternator... battery is acdelco (i think its on black meaning its almost dead) i run a rockford amp and wiring and grounds are professionally done. could it be just the battery not having enough juice?

imported_loudsubz

That could be one option.

How bad do the lights dim?

My first sugestion would be to upgrade all the electrical wires meaning upgrade the ground wire under the hood, from batt to chasis, from engine to chasis (i think there 4-5 of them) and also from alt to battery.

Make sure to have a clean solid ground for your amp, scrape off paint down to bare metal and use a nice big ring terminal for it.

thedirty

the dude that sold methe car was an electrician. im pretty sure those things are taken cared of. ill change the battery and get back to u man.

imported_loudsubz

Just because hes an electrician doens't mean he knows what hes doing in car audio. Youd be surpsied, ive seen some work done by so called experts int he field and it was a nightmare.

thedirty

this dudes in a car group. and he hooks up sounds too.

imported_loudsubz

Thats fine, still doens't mean he did all of the above stated.

Not flaming just stating the obvious. He could have done it, or he might nto have. Its your job to check.

imported_eth0r

what gauge wire are you running? also what model amp and subs.. you probably need a 1 farad cap..

gladiator

not knowing the model of your car, the age and capacity of the battery and the age of the alternator, you are using too much load when you hit a bass note.

the dimming you see is a brown out where your electrucal system cannot supply the current needed to run all your electrical components. eventually this will damage your battery and alternator since they have to work harder.

you have two choices, upgrade your electrical system or turn down the volume.

Toxic

isnt a little dimming normal?

mine dim as well when a solid bass note hits... but Im only running a small 100watt amp.. should I be worreid?

imported_loudsubz

Yeh most dimming is normal because cars wernt design to have large current drawing devices installed in them, factory alt and battery is set up to handle the stress of all the component in the car and have a little reserve for other things but not some sterro systems.

imported_94EG6HB

I'm gonna agree with loudsubz on this one..

Unless you have gutted the car or seen the install yourself..

You never know..

I have found his car audio advice excellent always...

He knows his chit...

imported_loudsubz

thanks Aaron. I most enjoy your helful advice on everything else that can be done in the civic.

btw: got any links to pics of d16y8 or y7 engines, still need the pvc hose setup to re do the tubes.

thanks

imported_94EG6HB

I am doing a scan of needed pages at my cuz's..

B-day stuff too..

It is an illustration not a pic.

I will notify you when I have them..

imported_loudsubz

kew sounds good, appreciate it.

CivTegra

If you get a D or T or X class amp, they wont dim. A-B which is probably the type of amp you have is ver un-efficient, if you get one of the above, they have built in capacitors as well as digital circuts, they are WAY more efficient and wont dim your bulbs, also make sure the voltage reg on your alternator is working properly, this is a common mistake made by consumers, in most cases, it is not the alternator that is the problem but the voltage reg, its a 20 dollar fix most of the time rather then dishing out the dough for a new alternator. There are ways to test to make sure everything is running cool but i dont have time to explain it to you. The size of your wire and ground doesnt make nearly the difference that a D class amp and a properly workin reg would do for you

johnny23toronto

Don't Honda/ACura alternators have their own regulators built into the alternator?

cibs

I have a class D amp right now and my lights are dimming, but i think i need to upgrade the ground wire for the amp.... but they only dim when it's up REALLY loud and the dimming is very slight... i'd say check the grounds too, matt knows what he's talking about..... you never know until you check if the guy before you did it properly or not, why assume and waste your money? you know what happens when you assume something right? hahaha

scarlemthug

1st off do not waste your money on getting a cap, it is only a bandaid to the problem and are deifinitely not worth the money. If all your wires and grounds are good and you still dim then I would suggest getting a new battery (maybe an optima) and getting a new alternator or having your original one rewound. Before you do anything though, ask the guy you bought the car off about how he installed everything and what he installed it with. Take Matt's advice, he isnt the interior/audio mod for nothing.