Headlights dimming on freeway???

[SilverEcstasy]

Okay this was something new. I know that my headlights would sometimes dim while at a stand still with the bass going, but on the freeway???? Something is obviously not right here, considering my subs have been cutting out lately, and something is just not functioning properly anymore. Its only on ONE specific song too. I only have a mono 300 watt amp, i don't crank it loud at all, but it dims noticeably enough to make me concerned about it. I called Circuit City and they suggested a Capacitor, so it wouldn't be taking so much power from the alternator, but instead take it from the capacitor under high load. True? Or no.

[SC/TGrandAm]

Yeah a cap would work but thats only a bandaid for a problem.

If your lights are dimming like that with only a 300 watt amp I'd say you have some alternator troubles just beginning. You really shouldnt need a cap for a 300 watt amp. I would say go get your alternator tested and battery to see if they are functioning to full capacity.

[SilverEcstasy]

Hmm...absolutely wonderful. My troubles are only beginning as the season comes to an end..

I was planning on upgrading the amp and battery soon too, but not this soon.

[brchn1]

I would have to agree that you shouldn't have a problem with a 300 watt amp. Either your battery is bad, the alt is bad, or one of your subs is about to blow and the low ohm load is just about shorting out the amp which is drawing more current then normal. But if that were true you should be able to hear it and/or the amp would blow a fuse. Peace, Lee

[SilverEcstasy]

Well, they have been cutting out on me recently, ever since I removed the box in the first place to go racing at the track. The subs, and amp are covered on the Circuit City warranty plan for 2 years or so. I called them, and they offered to have me come on in and they could check it out, maybe if one of the subs were about to blow, or I may need a cap. Hmm..

[brchn1]

When you took the box out did you pull the fuse on the amp or at least tape up the speaker ends? I really don't think you should need a cap with that small of an amp though. It won't hurt but I don't think it will help either. Peace, Lee

[SilverEcstasy]

Everytime i've pulled the amp, i've just left everything the way it was, left the wires hangin....bad move huh..

[brchn1]

What might have happened is the speaker wires touched and shorted something out in the amp. Now the amp is drawing more current then normal causing the excesive light dimming. The only down fall with this idea is that every time I have seen this the amp either blows a fuse or just completely dies. Yours is still working, correct? Any way since it just started doing it one night then something happened to something. I suggest not buying into the cap idea before testing the alt, battery, amp, and subs. Keep us posted as to whats up. Peace, Lee

[SilverEcstasy]

Thanks Lee. I'll try what you've suggested. Hopefully pay the installers at Circuit City a visit to let them see what's up with my equipment. Hopefully..it won't be too expensive..

[brchn1]

Good luck and like I said keep us posted. And this is why you shop locally, for the local service. Peace, Lee

[BumpinGT]

no matter what the guys at CC say, dont buy a cap. if everything is wired and working properly, your lights would not dim. this means that if its a problem with your alt or battery, adding a cap wont help at all, it may even make it worse. you say your subs are cutting out?? you sure its not your amp that is cutting out?? get things checked out first, but my guess is that its the alt. I blew an alt in my 99 GT before, but it wasn't a gradual thing like yours because it was trying to suck 110 amps from our 105 amp alt.

[SilverEcstasy]

So what alt should I get? I definately going to need one.

[iceman]

Originally posted by brchn1
What might have happened is the speaker wires touched and shorted something out in the amp. Now the amp is drawing more current then normal causing the excesive light dimming. The only down fall with this idea is that every time I have seen this the amp either blows a fuse or just completely dies. Yours is still working, correct? Any way since it just started doing it one night then something happened to something. I suggest not buying into the cap idea before testing the alt, battery, amp, and subs. Keep us posted as to whats up. Peace, Lee

:stupid: Left the wires hanging?? Don't you have a terminal on the box thatll take a banana plug? Anyways, be careful when you do this, you need to tape up your speaker leads or you will dead short the amp. I've done that once.

Alternator is NOT the first mod.. I'd start w/ a battery and some ugpraded primary power / ground cables.

[brchn1]

If you find that you need a new alt rather then a new amp I would suggest one with stock amperage or a little more if you don't plan on upgrading your amp. If you plan on a huge system in the future I would suggest an Ohio Generator. I beleive there is already a thread on this subject that has recently come on. Peace, Lee

[sound_xtreme]

yea i killed my alt a long time ago very sudden for me also. trying to draw 200+ amps just for my audio system alone probably did it. lol

[MattBatt]

Killed my alternator 3 times and I only have a 4 channel amp. (The second two times were becuase AcCrappo batteries leaked acid all over the pos wires and when they repaced the batt and alt at the dealership they didn't repace the wires).

What song do the lights dim on. It might be a frequency thing (this is just a theory follow me if you want to) Subs don't have perfect 4 Ohm response curves accrossed their useable range it goes up to 6 down to 2.5 and that is commmon. If the said song features a certain frequency bass note that correlates with a frequency that the sub has a low impedence (say 2 ohms) then A) the song would sound really loud and B) The amp would pull a heck of alot of current and might cause the lights to dim.
I have never heard of this before but my imagination runs wild sometimes.

We could check it by using a Bass test cd or an occilator to find the frequency that draws the most current.

[SilverEcstasy]

It was "Hip Hop Quotables" on Ludacris' new cd. That beat just made the lights dim. I don't know, i've heard a few people saying that the ACDelco batteries suck, so I may have to upgrade here soon before that melts.

[MattBatt]

Yeah they suck big time they are overpriced and arent that good. If you look for a new battery and dont want to go the optima route, look for cold cranking amps I think that that is the most important feature.

[Molson]

Mike. If you decide to get a cap. PM me, I still got one laying around.