the big 3 without a high output alt

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may03lt

Copper - Posts: 55

Joined: March 06, 2007

Location: Delaware, United States

Posted: November 02, 2007 at 6:19 PM / IP Logged

Some people on another forum are being misguided as far as the big 3 goes, maybe even myself the big 3 without a high output alt -- posted image.

I don't believe there would be a benefit (i.e voltage drop or dimming lights fix) to doing the big 3 without upgrading the alt.

What do you guys think?

2003 Trailblazer LT

2007 Envoy SLT

fakepete

Copper - Posts: 99

Joined: April 21, 2002

Location: United States

Posted: November 02, 2007 at 6:41 PM / IP Logged

The factory wiring is usually not that great. Any system can benefit from the big 3 even with a stock alt.

splaudio

Copper - Posts: 237

Joined: January 22, 2006

Posted: November 02, 2007 at 7:22 PM / IP Logged

yes big 3 on stock alt. these dayz lot of trucks come with a 130+ amp alt with only 6g wiring...

may03lt

Copper - Posts: 55

Joined: March 06, 2007

Location: Delaware, United States

Posted: November 03, 2007 at 10:36 AM / IP Logged

Quite a few Envoy and Trailblazer owners complain about dimming lights and voltage gauge drops after installing audio systems. My cluster dims a little with just my mids and highs on. I am saving the money up to do the alt-batt-big 3 in a one shot deal.

I did the big 3 in my last ride and I did notice a difference in the ouput of the audio system, but the lights still dimmed and the gauge still dropped. I do believe that there is a benefit to the big 3 from the audio standpoint, but Im skeptical that as a stand alone solution, the big 3 will not fix the dimming lights or gauge drops that plague the gmt 360/370 platforms.

2003 Trailblazer LT

2007 Envoy SLT

DYohn

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Joined: April 22, 2003

Location: Arizona, United States

Posted: November 03, 2007 at 12:49 PM / IP Logged

Nobody ever claimed (here at least) that the Big 3 by itself will "fix dimming lights." In some cases it can probably help, and in all cases it will improve the performance of your electrical system. But if your audio system is overloading your alternator, the only thing that will permanently fix that is to install a higher output alternator.

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may03lt

Copper - Posts: 55

Joined: March 06, 2007

Location: Delaware, United States

Posted: November 03, 2007 at 5:03 PM / IP Logged

Thanks DYohn......thats what I was looking for the big 3 without a high output alt -- posted image.

2003 Trailblazer LT

2007 Envoy SLT

aznboi3644

Gold - Posts: 2,600

This member consistently provides reliable information

Joined: May 01, 2006

Location: United States

Posted: November 04, 2007 at 1:08 PM / IP Logged

My lights used to dim when I would just turn my fan on high...the voltage would drop but NOT recover.

After the big three the voltage drops but recovers back very quickly.

My voltage used to drop and not recover with a 500 watt amp

now it barely dims and the voltage jumps back quickly

mrarff

Copper - Posts: 71

Joined: February 23, 2006

Location: South Carolina, United States

Posted: November 07, 2007 at 1:09 PM / IP Logged

Always be sure, ground anything that DOESN'T move(lol)even without aftermarket audio, vechiles do much better with the upgrade. Alls you need is to get the appropriate length battery calbe from the local parts house, and dig in.

evileagletalon

Copper - Posts: 65

Joined: November 17, 2006

Location: United States

Posted: November 07, 2007 at 6:07 PM / IP Logged

I think it is much more involving then just throwing in a bunch of larger gauge power and ground wires and calling it a day.

Most people don't take into consideration that different parts of the car will have different resistances. If you choose a ground point for your amplifier that has a pretty high resistance, the amplifier has to work harder to complete the circuit. If you bust out your DMM, you can test different places and ground your amplifier on the location that has the lowest resistance.

I've fixed many cases of bad grounds, engine whine, dimming light, etc, where I just changed the location on the ground to one with much less resistance, and fixed the issue in a matter of minutes.

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jmelton86

Gold - Posts: 1,228

Joined: February 07, 2007

Location: South Carolina, United States

Posted: November 07, 2007 at 6:44 PM / IP Logged

I noticed a HUGE improvement.

How is 105amps (max, BTW) supposed to get through the wimpy 12g (max) wire that came on my car? It simply can't. How about when some vehicle makers go cheap on all the grounds, too?

4g surely fixed it up! I can now run my 95a max audio system WFO with the lights on with NO dimming. At idle, noless.

2013 Kia Rio -90a alternator

DDX470HD GTO14001 GTO1014D (x3)

Big3 in 1/0G

1/0G to GTO14001

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