So I've had the quite common problem of having headlights and other things dim whenever my subs hit. Just drawing too much power.. I want to know if there is a way to reduce this. Would new ground wires even do a thing? And I've heard of other remedies. Like capacitors. Are these useful??

 

caps are CRAP DO NOT BUY THEM...

i would first upgrade the ground wires in the engine bay, theres 3, tranny to passenger rail, battery to strut tower, and front drivers side motor to radiator support. and maybe the alternators charging wire to the battery.
at least 4gauge wires if not larger. i got I/0 gauge on my 99 as wel as a fullsize battery under the hood and it prevented quite a bit of dimming from my system BUT since i still had stock alternator it wasnt that great but did help....

if you really want to help knock out dimming then i would sugest getting a high output alternator as well as upgrading the wires.... thats the only way to prevent diming because the alternator is what MAKES POWER... its the most important thing for the electrical system!

 

Capacitors just cause more of a strain on your battery/alternator.
Your alternator is only made to pump out so much power.
If you put another battery back there, the same thing happens=> Strain.
If you tunethe alternatorto push out more power, you're just shortening the life of it.
There are higher output alternators that you can throw in.

 

By the way, there are quite a few posts regarding the same question.
Just to let you know.

 

o ya just so ya know the stock alt is only like 70amps....
ive had amplifiers easily pull that much power alone! they tried to keep weight down and do the smallest setup they could that would get the job done in a stock car. which is what makes a honda so cheap so its a good thing, unless you add extras.

 

Tbh, and not to be offensive or anything but, the majority of people who claim caps are bad are usually just going by what other people say. I myself also would not use a capacitor, but they are not bad at all. When a sub hits, the amount of drain per millisecond shoots up by thousands (I believe in watts, but may actually be amps, I'll have to find my notes to check).

When you install a capacitor, the drain does not fully come out of the capacitor, but it is shared with the capacitor and the battery and the alternator. Now, inbetween sub hits the capacitor and battery charge up, and when the next sub hit goes, it drains from more than 1 area, it distributes power drain, so that way when your sub hits the majority of the drain does NOT come from the alternator. Yes it's true, your alternator still can only push out a certain amount, but since inbetween sub hits the capacitor is able to charge up again, and the sub amp is still draining the same amount, the amp's power source is distributed, therefore since it shares b/w three items (cap batt alt) your lights will not dim, or dim less. Now, like I said this still does mean that you're straining your alt. regardless, but you'd be straining it more if with every sub hit, all your power is coming from 1 or 2 sources (batt + alt) rather than 3.

The reason that caps are not nearly as good as batteries, although, is because a capacitor is measured in amp seconds whereas a battery is measured in amp hours. As well as the fact that they are deep cycle they are much better suited for an amplifier, which means they offer higher efficiency, as well I have to remention amp hours

Deep cycle also are meant to be discharged and charged frequently, and can be discharged up to 80% before charging again.

Now with a second battery you face the same issues as a cap, your alternator can only push out so much, so what do you do? Let it sit, let it charge, don't play music.

Alternator tunes aren't as bad as you think, they will lower the life expectancy of your alt but depends on how much you tune them and whether or not you increase your wire size. The larger the wire from your alt. to your batt. the better, as for engine grounds they should all be grounded to the battery, not the bay, you'd just be creating plausible ground loops and greater resistance.

A high amp alternator is def suggested though, can go as low as 130 on ebay, and if you get that you wouldn't even need a 2nd batt or cap


Now, all I said is basically true to the best of my knowledge
if i made a mistake feel free to correct me but i am 99% sure what i stated above is true

 

I completely concur with imshrazy.

If you're not going to get an aftermarket alternator, I'd recommend a product called the "BatCap."


Google it.

Oh, and if you're going to opt for the cheaper, but less efficient capacitor - make sure you match 1 farad for every 1000 Watts your system is capable of.

A quick, "on the safe side" way to do this: (RMS Wattage * # Channels * 2)/1000 Watts = How many farads you'll need. Always round up, and add one farad for the hell of it

 

what im going to do with my install id get a high amp alternator and i have a red top optima laying around im toing to install that and then i might intall a cap just to add a little more ohhhh and ahhhh to my system but the battery will help alot

 

My lights used to dim a lot, but i installed a cap, and they dont dim as much, and the subs can keep up better with the cap.