I have two amplifiers on my 2000 Integra. PPI PCX2400 (RMS 400W X 2, Max 1800W X 1) and Pioneer Premier GM-X1032 (RMS 60W X 4, Max 130W X4). Neither running full gain. Maybe half at most. I have 2 Pioneer Premier PRS12 subs in a sealed enclosure and the four corners each have a 6.5 and tweeter. Focal Polykevlar up front and Boston Rally in the rear.
I originally had the OEM alternator (80 Amp) which was quite insufficient. I installed a 150 Amp alternator from Alterstart in Texas. The thing is that the lights and dash still dim on heavy bass notes but not as severely. I have a 1 Farad Stinger cap. Now bear with me on this. I am trying to educate myself first before I do any more work to my car.
Will I have to run a larger gauge wire from the alternator Positive post to the battery Positive and/or run a larger gauge Ground wire from the battery post to chassis?
I have not wired the cap into the system yet. From what I understand, a capacitor is NOT a fix from a starved electrical system. I have a Stinger Deep Cycle battery that has also not been installed yet. I chose not to install these components until the heart of the charging system is running properly. I do not want to mask any problems with a large capacitor and NEW battery.
Any info that you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Preferably facts rather than opinions. Thanks very much.
Larger gauge wire will help out alot. What is the cca & how old is the battery you have installed now?
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The first step you should take is to upgrade the factory wiring such as the negative battery post to the chassis and the Positive post to the alternator. This would help the eliminate any restrictions that your system has with the transfer of current to and from the battery/alternator. This should help with the cure.
Dimming lights don't always mean *big* trouble. You have done all the right steps and seem to be on your way to the perfect charging system. Do what you said and upgrade all the wiring involved between the alternator and the battery then upgrade the negative wire from the battery to chassis just like fuseblower said in the above post. Then test and see what kind of improvments it made. Then install the cap and you should be all set. My fog lights were dimming very badly running from the same power source as my amps. Even with my 130 amp alternator. After I installed a cap and an optima battery the problem dissapeared almost all together.
I will run a 4 gauge power wire from the Alternator to the Battery Positive and I have some 0 gauge Power wire to use for the Battery Negative to Chassis ground. I will update this post when I get it done. Thanks.