capacitors

[MisterT]

Originally posted by jnorion
I've replaced the entire stereo system in my 03 lx with high quality components. I have no sub, but I have a 320watt amp on the main speakers. When I first installed it, the lights dimmed noticeably when I turned the stereo on. I put in a 1/2 farad Rockford cap in and the lights are fine now. However, my system is aimed more for clear sound than loud sound, and I've never tried it with a sub. I don't have a competition system, I just like my music to sound good. I only spent about $70 on the cap, though, so it's cheaper than redoing the entire electrical system. It really just depends on what you want out of it.

Wow, no subs and you have light dimming? I have a class A amp (SoundStream) and it doesn't make the lights dim on my highs alone. When I had the bigger SoundStream amp on my subs, they would dim like crazy. Since then, I have a JBL Class D amp, and dimming has improved, but still persists. I too am for sound quality, but it so happens that my system is also pretty loud as well I guess I have the best of both worlds.

[blue LEDz]

Originally posted by jnorion
I've replaced the entire stereo system in my 03 lx with high quality components. I have no sub, but I have a 320watt amp on the main speakers. When I first installed it, the lights dimmed noticeably when I turned the stereo on. I put in a 1/2 farad Rockford cap in and the lights are fine now. However, my system is aimed more for clear sound than loud sound, and I've never tried it with a sub. I don't have a competition system, I just like my music to sound good. I only spent about $70 on the cap, though, so it's cheaper than redoing the entire electrical system. It really just depends on what you want out of it.

dude, my sub amp wastes almost that much just in heat alone, when running at 4 ohm it's almost 600 watts wasted at 1 ohm something doesn't seem right for your headlights to be dimming off 320 watts running full range. if it was 320 just to a sub, then it'd be more likely, but for full range, i've never heard of lights dimming from that did you install the amp yourself? what size power cable was used? was the paint scraped/sanded away from the grounding point? did you add another ground from your battery to the chassis up front?

[jnorion]

The guy at the local shop installed it... I know absolutely he's honest and good at what he does. It sounds like this comes down to the factory electrical system again... grounding and the ****ty battery. I hope that's all that's wrong, but it's still under warranty so I should be okay if something else is broken. What should I be looking for?

[blue LEDz]

start by looking at where the amp is grounded. it should be as short of a wire as possible, and when you unsecure it, there should be bare metal where it touches. under the hood should have a small piece of wire running from your negative battery terminal to around the top of the strut. there is already the factory one, which you will notice, but you also need another one, for the amp

[asylum24]

Ok I've got a Q.... would you recommend a cap for my system blue.... I know you said it doesnt do anyhtin gbut hurt SPL but thats large deep bass notes taht suck power for a few seconds... what about on my system.... i mean I can tell sometimes on a bass guitar that holds his not for a bit when the volume is at 23 or so out of 35 on my HU..... so would the cap help for just SQL at all even though it doesnt for SPL?

[blue LEDz]

Originally posted by asylum24
Ok I've got a Q.... would you recommend a cap for my system blue.... I know you said it doesnt do anyhtin gbut hurt SPL but thats large deep bass notes taht suck power for a few seconds... what about on my system.... i mean I can tell sometimes on a bass guitar that holds his not for a bit when the volume is at 23 or so out of 35 on my HU..... so would the cap help for just SQL at all even though it doesnt for SPL?

the reason you want/need a cap for serious SQ systems is not really for the amps at all, it's to make sure the voltage to the rest of the components, ie HU, EQ, processors, ect, is as stable as possible so basically no, it won't help any, if at all. it might prevent minor headlight dimming, but that's it. if the voltage drop isn't enough to effect the sound, then it's not worth worrying about

[asylum24]

how much is enough drop to think about getting one?

[blue LEDz]

Originally posted by asylum24
how much is enough drop to think about getting one?

if it's dropping bad enough to hear a difference, a cap won't help anything my car will drop down to the high 12 volt range. can i hear a difference? no. does it make a difference in comps, yes. but will a cap help, definitely not

[MisterT]

I still can't grasp why you (BLUE) don't have dimming problems like the rest of us. I know you have a bigger alt., but even before then, I never heard you complain about dimming lights. Maybe I am cursed with a crappy just-meets-Mazda's-standards alternator. Today my AC is getting looked at and hopefully they will see if something is wrong with the alt. I doubt it though. Wouldn't it be nice though if it was the ECU the whole time and all problems solved under warranty:p: Wishfully thinking. I will probably get a no problem found crap when I pick up my car this afternoon. We'll see. I just through a "Please check alternator for voltage on top of checking out AC problems in hopes that they missed something before.

[MisterT]

No problem found in AC and alternator is putting out 13.86 volts according to the print out, but that is what I saw. I don't know if that is with headlights off and AC off as well As for the AC, the problem didn't reoccur for them They topped it off and put some black dye and told me that if it should get low, that they can detect leaks via black light because of the dye they put in. They looked puzzled as to why my AC light would blink in the beginning and how it just blew out hot air before "fixing" itself in time for the appaointment. There has to be a law (like Newton's Law) on how you have a peculiar problem, and it miraculously disappears when you set a time to get the dealership to see it.

Lastly, my Alpine is about to bite the dust. The display sometimes disappears, yet there is a green hue, but no numbers on the face plate. Also, it cuts off time to time. Hopefully the contacts of the face plate to the unit just needs to be cleaned. Any suggestions on what to use to clean it with??? Gotta get more mileage out of it until Xmas. Then I will have some money to get a new HU if necessary. By the way Blue, if you get crutchfield's catalog, all of a sudden, Blaupunkt's S/N ratio went from 80 db's to 98 db's. Same model numbers too! I wonder if it was a typo on their part before.

[blue LEDz]

i'm still running my puny stock 60 amp alternator, and yeah, my lights dim, but nothing as bad as when i was running the stock battery, and my old autotek 330mxi that was a class A or A/B amp that sucked down some serious juice it might also have something to do with that i'm running the ghetto blub bulb lights, maybe course i almost never drive with my windows up and the AC on, either:p:

[jnorion]

What's a good kind of battery to get? You mentioned something about deep cycle earlier... don't know what that is.

[blue LEDz]

Originally posted by jnorion
What's a good kind of battery to get? You mentioned something about deep cycle earlier... don't know what that is.

it all depends on your budget a $40 walmart battery could be a good choice, if that's your budget. just getting something with higher CCA's and reserve capacity than stock is "good"

[MisterT]

Blue, my AC wasn't broken. If you look under General Discussion, you'll see what had happened and why it wasn't working. I had a time getting the stock stereo out when first buying it. The dealership was like "Whoever put your stereo in, disconnected this and that (ME) and so I played along with it. They saw where part of my dash was scuffed from practically prying the radio out. The service manager asked if I noticed that. I told him yes, and he said, "Well, what did they do about it?" I didn't have the heart to say I was the guilty one. DOH! :p: Anywayz, problem is solved, but no explanation for the light blinking. It was just one of those clips that attaches the selenoid cable to a plastic piece near the firewall. It had come loose.

As long as it was done under warranty and someone else had the pain in the ass to crawl under the dash, that is fine with me! I had enough fun from doing that to last a lifetime.

[asylum24]

haha thats funny mrT.... made me laugh.