Flickering Lights

[HAZED]

hey just wondering how do i get rid of the flickering lights when the bass hits hard ?

[glowbot]

Did you check for shorts lol. What lights are affected?

[bigd6983]

upgraded alternator, battery, a capacitor will help a lil.......

[Vtolds]

Get a farad capaciter if you dont already have one. http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/products/2002/495/x495LS053-10-f-Grp-1.jpeg

[FormulaNERD]

lol, lightning audio?

but yea, a cap is what you want.

[Vtolds]

Is just a pic to give him a idea of what he is looking for. And there are only 4 kinds that crutchfield.com sells and that is one of them. obvoisly he will go with what ever he can afford or likes the most.

[HAZED]

flickering head lights and lights from the gauges caps r koo but i heard they dont
work unless u have like four depending on the amount of power u running im getting one from rockfordfosgate 1cap and thinking of maybe buying a optima
battery yellow cap and for the alternator where do i get from ???

[Vtolds]

You should only need 1 cap if you get one it will also depend on how big of a one you get /afford. How many subs do you have and watt amplifier?

[Vtolds]

Go to Crutchfield (http://www.crutchfield.com) and check out the caps they have 1/2 farad caps that store up to 500 watts and full farad caps that store 1000 watts so unless you system is just huge 1 of these should solve your problem. you can also get them at circuit city and Bestbuy.

[smokinAMD]

Originally posted by HAZED@Sep 20 2004, 11:12 AM
flickering head lights and lights from the gauges caps r koo but i heard they dont
work unless u have like four depending on the amount of power u running im getting one from rockfordfosgate 1cap and thinking of maybe buying a optima
battery yellow cap and for the alternator where do i get from ???
Nooooo.....if you get an optima just for your car, not for the system, get a red top. The yellow top's are deep cycle batteries, you'd use the yellow top if you were just going to run your system off of it and you were using it as a second (or more) battery.

[vulgar]

Get an optima. upgrade the ground and the power wire from the alternator to the battery with lower gauge wire. Get a better alternator. I believe there is one on the upgrade list. I personally bought one from ohio generators (theyre a little pricey though). I did those things and my lights do not dim at all. I did a review somewhere as well.

[HAZED]

koo YELLOW top... i got 500 rms jlaudio amp running two jlaudio ae ok its a 1farat
16 vcd

[rmulax19]

the general rule is 1 farad for every 1000 watts you have running. so, if your amp is 500x1 rms, you need a 1 farad cap due to the fact that your max rated wattage output is 1000w. and you should really upgrade your alternator before your battery. it may be more expensive, but it is more effective.

[HAZED]

Originally posted by rmulax19@Sep 20 2004, 02:46 PM
the general rule is 1 farad for every 1000 watts you have running. so, if your amp is 500x1 rms, you need a 1 farad cap due to the fact that your max rated wattage output is 1000w. and you should really upgrade your alternator before your battery. it may be more expensive, but it is more effective.
1000 watts max?

[turtles_ride]

definately go with the 1 farad, its better to stockpile more charge on your cap so that its available when your subs need it, then to short them and start draing off the battery again. You'd be defeating the purpose and your lights would just dim again. think of the cap as a place for your battery to store extra power until its needed, like a tub of icecream with your bowl of icecream sitting in it. you eat your icecream from the bowl first until its empty, then you start eating from the tub ;) , mmmmmmm icecream!!!!

[Vtolds]

So get Farad Cap just like I pointed out yestereday and you should be set.

[HAZED]

yah i got one now im just going to change my battery to the optima yellow cap as well... thanks guys

[1WhiteOSV]

Go to Best Buy and get the Rockford Fosgate 1 Farad Digital Cap...it works wonders! :thumbsup:

[smokinAMD]

Originally posted by HAZED@Sep 21 2004, 02:19 PM
yah i got one now im just going to change my battery to the optima yellow cap as well... thanks guys
I'd change it to a Red Top instead of a Yellow Top. Red top is better suited for what your going to be needing it for, a yellow top is a deep cycle battery. You'd use a yellowtop if you were using it as a SECOND battery just for your stereo, or if you had a juice setup.

[green99gls]

If you are still planning on getting a cap I would buy it off of ebay unless you are in a hurry. Numerous people are selling rf caps with the digital display for at least half the price of a circuit city or best buy. Its your money but if you can wait a week after buying it its the cheapest way to get a quality cap.

[rmulax19]

i would ask around about an alternator rebuild or brand new alternator because your battery is only as good as your alternator, meaning this: it doesn't matter how good your battery is because if you use up the juice on your cap, and it starts drawing offa your battery, it's going to take a whole lotta time to recharge.

i have 3 friends all with competition-level systems and they all agree that you should upgrade your alternator before your battery if you can't do both at the same time.

[HAZED]

funny! i thought that u wanted a deep cycle battery for the stereo system.
like the yellow cap... can someone give me the dif in both battery....?

[smokinAMD]

Originally posted by HAZED@Sep 23 2004, 06:52 PM
funny! i thought that u wanted a deep cycle battery for the stereo system.
like the yellow cap... can someone give me the dif in both battery....?
You'd want the yellow top if you were using as a second battery. Running a yellowtop as your only battery isn't the greatest idea because it's a deep cycle. It's not meant to get quick bursts and recharge like it would in your case.

Lets put it this way, a yellow top is a deep cycle battery. Just like a marine battery. Now, marine batteries sit for long periods of time without any use, and it takes a poop ton of power to fire up a boat motor, now, over time the charges in batteries degrade, but deep cycle batteries don't have as much as an issue with this as normal batteries.

Basically, a deep cycle battery is able to withstand going a long period of time sitting, and then have a huge drain on it, and then charge back up. Whereas a normal battery isn't.

A normal battery is used to drain - recharge - drain - recharge, repeat process. Thats why if you've ever left a car sitting for a while, you'll notice it's hard to start back up sometimes. Unless you have like a brand new battery in it.

So, basically, a red top is more suitable for what you need.

If you were going to add another battery to your car, and keep the one you have now, I'd get the yellow top, but if you were just replacing the one you have, red top.

That make sense?

[Vtolds]

Start with a Cap Then if that doesnt work then add a larger battery if that doesnt work get a bigger amp Alternator. Chances are all you need is a farad cap. you dont exactly have a Db drag machine, it is your street car so you dont need to add like 4 alternaters and a full trunk of batterys and bullet proof glass. Chances are any music you listen to cant puch your sytem to its absolute max all in one shot so it may draw 300 amps from your cap then another couple hundred and by then it is charged and ready to go again. and you could always put 2 caps in if you have the change.

[HAZED]

im going to install tomorow ill take some pic if one cap dont work ill get another and i nee to change batterys anyways the battery i have now is dying cell walls are weak so just looking into that.one more thing how do i post a pic?

[1WhiteOSV]

circuit city doesn't carry Fosgate stuff.....and anyone can get ANYTHING about 1/2 off on Ebay lol

[FormulaNERD]

if you decide to upgrade your alternator... you can get a 160 amp here... compared to stock 105.

http://www.mralternator.com/alternators/grandam.html

[HAZED]

am i reading that right the link for grandam but thanks for the info

[FormulaNERD]

yes, you're reading that link right. and the grandam/alero engine parts are all the same.

[alerored04]

i went with just an extra yellow top in the trunk and no cap and it works great, u wont need ne more than that unless u have a MASSIVE system, im runnin 2 500 rms 1000 peak alpine amps off of the yellow top that is connected off my main battery under the hood, had it 1 yr now and no issues, i agree with smokin, dont put a yellow under the hood, use red.

[HAZED]

damm cap didnt work!!!

[rmulax19]

what do you have done? if i'm reading it correctly, stock battery, stock alternator, capacitor.

how many watts is your amp? how many farads is your cap?

[HAZED]

----------http://www.jlaudio.com/amps/5001.html----------"amp
-----------1 frag capicitor rockford fosgate

[rmulax19]

go to the posted link and buy a new alternator. it will recharge your battery quicker and your lights won't dim.

[Voodosoup]

Originally posted by rmulax19@Sep 28 2004, 06:40 PM
go to the posted link and buy a new alternator. it will recharge your battery quicker and your lights won't dim.
I have the alternator from therre and while it is better than stock while the car is moving, at idle I'm still getting a large voltage drop. The alternator is only going to put out maximum amperage at higher rpm's. Granted, I do have a fairly crazy computer/audio/nav system in my car. :D

[HAZED]

did get a qptima battery as welll

[rmulax19]

so, voodoo, would you agree that if running a 500 watt amp, the cap and upgraded alternator would be good enough for HAZED. i really do not believe that he needs to replace his battery yet but i could be wrong. HOWEVER, if you still want a new battery, go with a red top. it wouldn't hurt.

[HAZED]

the only reasonwhy i would change my battery bow is cuz i know its low and not holding charge like it used plus i was running my stereo for about half hour and died...thats without bass <_<

[rmulax19]

oh well, if you need a new battery, that's a whole different story. go with the red top and when you get a chance, go with the alternator.

[HAZED]

;) ......................... :huh: ............................ :D

[Voodosoup]

Originally posted by rmulax19@Sep 29 2004, 08:56 AM
so, voodoo, would you agree that if running a 500 watt amp, the cap and upgraded alternator would be good enough for HAZED. i really do not believe that he needs to replace his battery yet but i could be wrong. HOWEVER, if you still want a new battery, go with a red top. it wouldn't hurt.
First I'd have to ask how hard are you running the amp????
How high do you have the gain set?
Are you using any bass boost or frequency multiplication that's making the amp work harder than it really needs to be?

Do your lights dim while driving or just when you are sitting still with the engine idling?
On a sustained bass note do the lights stay dim for the whole note or do they just dim and immediately go back to normal?

If your only running a single 500 watt amp I would think that the stock alt would handle that fine.

Do you have any other lighting/electronics wired into the car other than the amp?

do the lights dim only with the ac on, or off or both?

What guage wire do you have running to the amp?

You should have at least the same guage wire running to the alt and to the battery grounds etc...

[HAZED]

Originally posted by Voodosoup+Sep 29 2004, 05:11 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Voodosoup @ Sep 29 2004, 05:11 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-rmulax19@Sep 29 2004, 08:56 AM
so, voodoo, would you agree that if running a 500 watt amp, the cap and upgraded alternator would be good enough for HAZED.Â;-) i really do not believe that he needs to replace his battery yet but i could be wrong.Â;-) HOWEVER, if you still want a new battery, go with a red top.Â;-) it wouldn't hurt.
First I'd have to ask how hard are you running the amp????
How high do you have the gain set?
Are you using any bass boost or frequency multiplication that's making the amp work harder than it really needs to be?

Do your lights dim while driving or just when you are sitting still with the engine idling?
On a sustained bass note do the lights stay dim for the whole note or do they just dim and immediately go back to normal?

If your only running a single 500 watt amp I would think that the stock alt would handle that fine.

Do you have any other lighting/electronics wired into the car other than the amp?

do the lights dim only with the ac on, or off or both?

What guage wire do you have running to the amp?

You should have at least the same guage wire running to the alt and to the battery grounds etc... [/b][/quote]
yes im using bass boost... im using only half of the gain....im also using a 4 gauge
i ahve no other stuff running.. just amp and a alpine deck it dimms with or without a/c on and it dims when bass note hits hope that helps...... :) it dimms in hole dimm note