Hi guys,

When I have the sub on at a decent level I noticed a very slight dip with the lights.... now this really isn't a problem but was just wondering what people do to prevent this?

Especially with some of the bigger set-ups!

Thanks.

Power caps? (Big capacitor things)

If you go onto talkaudio.com they'll tell you about uprating the 'big 3'. Do a search on it and it'll give you more info. I've still to do it to my car but mine doesn't dim the lights that much unless its on very high volume. Power caps are a yes and a no. Some people swear by them, myself included, others hate them as it places more strain on the charging system.

Ah right, thanks i'll take a look.

Like I said, I'm not all that bothered about it- if I can fix it cheap I will... but not keen on spending loads on it. They don't dip that much.

IME avoid power caps as theyre better paper weights than anything else. as said look into the big 3.

the main thing you can do is beef up the 3 cables between the battery and chassis and alternator with at least 4guage good quality.

Power caps do nothing in the main.

They are simply a big storage device for current, however after the first big power demand they are next to useless.

This is because the power cable / charging system can't provide enough power to keep the system going and re charge the capacitor BEFORE the next bass hits (Bass is what draws the power).

Therefore, 99% of the capacitors installed are essentially a lump of empty expensive mess after the first current draw.

As said, a search around Talkaudio will reveal all and a lot more

i had one in my previous car and have now sold it to my mate at work.

i found that it tightenned up the bass and made the bass loads tighter. so it sounds a lot better than it stopped the lights from dimming.

my mate who has it now says that his lights dont dimm quite so much now but because of the sound difference he is going to keep it and just put up with the lights dimming a bit. he said that he can live with it. he just turns the radio down a tad when going through the country lanes.

Please dont fit a capacitor it only acts as a small battery,After the amp uses the current inside the cap it then draws it from the vehicles charging and battery system and loads it.

Caps have always been open to debate. On a whole you wont get any extra DB from your sub but they have been proven to stabilize voltage. This fixing your problem of the head lights dimming when the sub takes a big hit.

Simply it acts as a 2nd battery, the amp draws the power from that first and not the battery, allowing the battery to supply other electrical toys with in the car. Like I say its a matter of opinion have a look on youtube for some videos, guys have shown that they do stop voltage drops. Other than your lights not dimming it wont provide anything else unless you go really big on your system.

You do need to fix it though, however you do it. The dipping lights will lead to premature bulb failure, the bulbs like a nice constant supply. The dipping voltage kills the filaments.

Oh right.... :(

I'll have to find the easiest / cheapest way then!

Could it be my earth from the amp? I've put it on one of the seat belt bolts but I didn't sand anything down.

Could possibly be the earth, mybe find something more direct onto the car body. There is plenty of metalwork behind the boot carpet.

Could possibly be the earth, mybe find something more direct onto the car body. There is plenty of metalwork behind the boot carpet.

Well the seat buckle bolt is pretty direct I reckon? I'm sure that's what other folks have done.

I've only got a 300watt amp and a 10" sub, it's not really a hefty install.

Hmmm, maybe i'll have a look at the bolt and see, maybe even sand a bit of the base off and cover it in vaseline!

Make sure you have good wire from the alternator to the battery with clean connections.

A power cap will as stated above act as a smoother, so depending on how powerful the sub is and how frequent it is making a big note depends on how effective the cap it.

1F is a f**k load of capacitance so IMHO should keep a dub going for a little while, eg unless you were emptying the cap it should be able to last out a song and charge fully in the break between tunes.

The belt mounting points on the seat base would be pretty good for getting an earth but you would want to make sure that wherever the earth is you get a good connection.

Are you using decent cable to the earthing point, or the bell wire stuff that comes with some amps. I'd say for 300w 4Guage is a bit excessive and just a decent 8 would be fine.

EDIT: That should help Recommended Power and Ground Cable Sizes

I got this package here;

http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/product/products_id/4901.html

With this wiring kit;

http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/product/products_id/1007.html

10 gauge, guessing it's ok paired as it comes with the amp/sub.

If the 10 guage came with it then it is probably fine, however you want to keep the cable length to a minimum and make sure you have a good connection to the chassis.

Worth making sure the alternator connections are clean too.