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okay guy i got a problem. my lights dim when the bass hits. i have a 1 farhad capacitor and it does seem to be doing what its supposed to do. i got my amp and cap grounded in different areas. when the bass hit the cap shows about 12.2 volts and drops to about 11.5. i know it should be more.

and help would be sweet.

 
Rep Power: 802

First, redo your grounds. What voltage do you have at the alternator? If it's less than 14 volts, get a new one.

 
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when i turn my car on my cap jumps to about 14.5 volts

 
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is there a way to test if i have a good enough ground?

 
Rep Power: 802

Best suggestion I can give you, is add another. What size is your ground wire, and where is it connected to? My ground is bolted directly to the bumper bolts. This is easy in a rabbit. In different cars, just try to use a chassis bolt, not a bolt added through the floor. Rear seat bolt, don't use a suspesion bolt, as they generally have rubber mounts. What ever looks like a bolt that connects directly to the frame/subframe, depending on the car. Also, clean the area, remove any paint if possible. To prevent rust use a little bit of electrolytic grease. It will improve your connection, and keep water out.

 
Rep Power: 728

get a bigger cap, i had 2 12" 600rms each and a 1400rms amp, i used a 3farad cap worked beautifully. and they also sell performance car batteries for lound systems and alternators that give 50+ amps

 
Rep Power: 730

A good rule of thumb for caps is to use a 1 farad for every thousand watts . So for 2000 watts use a 2 farad cap. I would go to a shop and get the battery and alternator checked out first, to make sure they are in good working order. If they are working fine, then get a cap big enuff for your system. If your system is super huge then you might want to invest in a higher output alternator.

 
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ya man, yur battery is on it's way out the door, well in a sense, that if u keep running yur system on it, and have yur cap and amp grounded at the same place, and make sure you sand or scratch the paint or wut ever u have on yur ground. and for yur batt, your alternator is gunna or already hates you for making it work so damn hard, get a new bat, judging by only having 1 one farad cap, u prob aren't runnig TO much power. so u might need yellow top, or u can even get a red or blue top pending on your price range, o and are you 100% positive you charged yur cap? and it's fully charged? that may b yur prob

 
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what do you mean by yellow,red or blue tops?i know the cap is fully charged its got a digital readout. ill try sanding the grounds to see if it helps.

 
Rep Power: 706

I had the same problem with my car. replacing the grounds did the trick.

 
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yellow, red and blue top batteries are just names they haev for them, there optima batteries, they are also deep cell, so u can drain it, and boost it and haved full power again, alot of people have them for there systems

 
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although they do not make optima yellow tops anymore... they have been back ordered for months... did u charge ur cap properly? and its 1frad for every 1000watts rms

 
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ya its charged, it shows on the digital volt metel. and what what be the best tops? re, yellow or blue? i got a 1 farhad cap and my system at the moment is probably running 800rms or lower.

 
Rep Power: 730

Yes, use your meter to check to see if how high the resistance is . For ground the lower the better. Try to shoot for 0.0 ohms, the lower the resistance the better. If by chance, you have a noisy ground use a amplified speaker and magnetic head from an old tape player to find a quiet ground. I dont think you should have a problem with noise tho.

Yellow tops are deep cycle batteries that can be discharged and recharged numerous times before they cant hold charge anymore. Blue tops are marine versions for use in boats but i guess they can work in car tho. I use a redtop personally works pretty well for me. But once again i would go to a good shop and get them to check the alternator and battery checked cuz one may be on the way out. What kinda car is it? what kinda amp/how is the amp being run ? Also what else is on when you are noticing the lights dim?

 
Rep Power: 719

I have the same problem in my car im running probably 900 watts rms to my subs but my amp is a current hungry Sl*t lol so Im working on getting a yellow top for my truck they yellow tops have more cranking amps then a stock battery for example:

my Blazer has a 690 watt Cranking battery

while the yellow top i 850 or 870 cant remember..

When they say the general rule of 1 farad cap to 1000 watts thats incorrect i have worked in an audio shop for about 4 years now and general rule there is 1 battery every 1000 watts. Clearly a Deep cycle optima would be a whole hell of a lot better.

If you have any more questions or if you need a yellow top let me know and ill see if i can get one...

piperis@rogers.com

Also what kind of amp do you have???