head unt dims when bass hits
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=6262
Printed Date: June 07, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Topic: head unt dims when bass hits
Posted By: carguy411
Subject: head unt dims when bass hits
Date Posted: December 04, 2002 at 10:53 PM
ok heres a quick one. i have an alpine cva1003 head unit. now when my system hit nothing else dims(i have a cap on the system) but the green lights on my HU. now should i run the constant 12v right to the battery with like a 10ga fused wire. also hooked up to the 12v behind ther is the indash dvd and 1 or 2 relaysfor the system and the tv bypass. also in a few weeks im adding the xm tuner so that needs 12v as well. now will going to the battery stop the dimming and will it kill the battery or will it be ok.(its a optima yellow top) what you guys think
Replies:
Posted By: carguy411
Date Posted: December 05, 2002 at 8:33 AM
noone on this knows at all?? please post if you know thanks you
Posted By: bberman1
Date Posted: December 05, 2002 at 8:54 AM
Are you taking all this power off your stock heads power leads in the dash? If you are then do as you said run a fused power cable from your battery to the memory/ constant of your head unit and hopefully your dimming will stop.
Posted By: carguy411
Date Posted: December 05, 2002 at 9:53 PM
ok kool thats what im gonna do. the 10 ga wire is think enought right i think 8 will be overkill? thanks
Posted By: bberman1
Date Posted: December 05, 2002 at 10:46 PM
Yes the 10 is more will be more than enough just remember to fuse it within 18 inches of the battery
Posted By: TeeRizo
Date Posted: December 08, 2002 at 8:48 PM
The reason why your head unit is dimming when your bass hits is because your factory wiring harness power wire is not large enough. Don't upgrade the memory wire, just run it straight to the battery. For the power wire use 14 ga and run it to your ignition switch. Check for voltage when the Ign switch is in the Acc position. then hook it up to that terminal. Make sure you fuse the wire, for 14 ga use a 10 amp fuse. Depending on the car you have, you may be able to do this with a "switched" wire in the fuse box.
Posted By: carguy411
Date Posted: December 09, 2002 at 11:15 PM
y wouldnt i upgrade the memory wire and upgrade the ignition wire instead? i thought it was the other way around???
Posted By: ricetech
Date Posted: December 10, 2002 at 1:19 AM
the 12 volt memory wire is actually what supplys power to the hu the ign is only to activate the electronic switch in the hu to turn it on. if upgrading the wire doesnt help try running a cap to the hu. hope this helps
Posted By: GSaquarius
Date Posted: December 10, 2002 at 5:47 AM
what kind of vehicle do you drive ? have you tested the resistance to ground ? ------------- MECP 1st Class and Basic
Posted By: carguy411
Date Posted: December 10, 2002 at 8:17 AM
i have a 2001 nissan xterra. now i didnt test for that. thats what i thought the constatnt supplys the power so what wire should i up grade? thanks
Posted By: bberman1
Date Posted: December 10, 2002 at 11:01 AM
Run the 10 gauge fused power cable from the battery to the constant/memory in the back of your head unit. Also find another source for your ground and upgrade that to a 10 gauge as well make sure that you properly sand it so you are grounding to bare metal. Now in your post above you said that you were running the in dash DVD and some relays off the stock power wires back there. Now that’s probably what’s causing the head to dim but once you upgrade the power cable the dimming should go away.
Posted By: Aznpanther98
Date Posted: December 10, 2002 at 2:22 PM
i got an amp system and was wondering can i tap into my amp power wire i'm gettin an alpine mp3 player so could i use that it's an 8GA power wire so i won't have to run anotherwire through the firewall
Posted By: bberman1
Date Posted: December 10, 2002 at 2:54 PM
Yes just put a distribution block on your main 8 gauge power cable so you create a Y. Run one cable to your amp and another one to the mp3 player. Just make sure that your main cable is the correct gauge for the amount off current you are using.
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