Can your system dimm your lights if not properly grounded? The system does 1200 watts rms .. this is my current battery -->http://www.autozone.com/R,4499241/ve...ductDetail.htm if it helps.

i currently have the amp ground to the metal underneath the seats

now this weekend i tried the big 3 upgrade (but lights still dimm) and i did all 3 but this ground wire that goes from cab to chasis as shown on this pic(not actually mine) my truck has that ground cable but much smaller. Now i tried the big 3 because it much cheaper than buying a high output alternator and i dont want to waste my money on a capacitor which i hear it only helps cleaning your audio and not actually helping electrical wise. Now can i get any suggestions or tips please?

 

second battery
alternator

 

Finish the Big 4 up.

Then well need to move on to other options. Which Hifonics is that? (BXI-1206?)

 

Yes, Anything else i could do with out buying a new alternator or a second battery? Im a little low on cash till next month but i want to fix this asap (with out spending more benjamins)

What if i upgrade the ground cable form cab to chasis as shown on the second pic? Would that do any difference? Since the stock ground cable is around 16 awg maybe even smaller. Thx for the input.

 

Yes, all of the grounds should be upgraded

 

Well ya' know what, I did the Big 4 on my 08' F150, with all 1/0 gage..... then later, I read a really technical thread on another car audio forum, where one car audio guru explained why the Big 3 is typically useless, and a waste of $$$ :-( Because of how he explained it (in a nutshell, very short runs don't cause enough resistence to make any appreciable difference) I now pretty much agree with him. Looks cool though :-)

"IF" I were to do the Big 3 to another vehicle, I certainly would not go any heavier than 4 gage.

Now, with that said, I would definately run some heavy gage power cable from the battery, to the amp.... especially if you had a fairly long run like I do.... about 15 feet from my batt to my amp. Again, it's the length of the run that matters more with resistance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyway, I'm also pushing about 1200 watts (per the birthsheet of my actual amp) and I have "zero" headlight dimming..... Even with the truck turned off.... and the headlights turned on ! Not that I'd recommend doing that. I was just a dum-bass, and forgot to turn off my headlights, as I parked under a street light and hadn't noticed ! Doh !
30 minutes of hard-core pounding, motor off, headlights on ! Yikes ! But the truck fired right up :-)

Oh, factory alternator, but fat, upgraded battery... 930 CCA.

Peace,
Fish

 

That "guru" is an idiot. The stock grounds are normally only strong enough for an extra 20% over the max output of alt. I personally have watched a few body grounds smoke before due to an overloaded wire.

 

whether you like the guy or not, has nothing to do with how much he knows. I don't think I ever developed any personal opinions about the guy one way or the other. He seemed to know his $#!+ though.

Like I said, I upgraded all of my wiring with 1/0 gage. But that was total overkill. 4 gage would have been MORE than enough. {btw, we left the original wiring in place... and added 1/0 along side it}

I'm not sure where you get that '20%' of headroom, but I do know that few, if any {without a rediculously over the top system... 10kw... 20kw... etc} have been able to show in actual numbers, any substantial gains in the end product.

But hey, about that 'idiot'.... He seems to have pretty much 'won' that thread / argument. So does that mean he knows more than you ? ....or, that he's just a better debater ? I mean come on.... you were there too.

I 'wish' you and some of the others would have proven that guy wrong, and been able to provide solid proof of the benefits of the Big 3. Then I wouldn't feel like I wasted my money.

Hmmmm,
Fish

PS, Again, 'long runs' of your main power cable are a different story. 1/0 for sure.

Oh hey Low_E Not doubting you, but I'd wonder if their were other issues going on there as well (poor connections, corrosion, etc). It would also have been interesting to see the actual electrical #'s in those systems before and after the upgrade.

 

Where was this? I need to get involved.

 

Okay man, I assumed when you said, "That's guys an idiot"..... that you knew who I was talking about.... and that you hung out on that forum too (DIY.com) as I know some of the guys from here do hang there. My bad.

But anyway > "That guy might in fact, be an idiot". I didn't follow enough of his posts to get an opinion on that. It's just that his reasoning, and explanation of why the Big 3 was typically a "Fail" was written too well for an electrical dummy like me to argue with..... and apparently, pretty much anyone else on the DIY forums as well.

Oh but hey Low_e, since > I did do the Big 3 < (4 actually) your saying I'm actually smarter than that guru guy I speak of ? Why thank you :-) LOL

Peace,
Fish

 

Give me a link please.

 

Here you go; http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/...t-big-3-a.html

The guru guys name is Andy W. He speaks up on this first page, but the thread is long, and he comes back several times.

Peace,
fish

 

my stock cab to frame ground was discolored like it had been burnt.. I upgraded that to 4ga

 

4 gage was a good choice. Like I say, if ever I were to do the Big 3 on another vehicle, I'd use 4 gage too.

The only thing I'd still use 1/0 for is a long run from the batt to the amp.

Peace,
Fish

 

that chits useless on a stock charging system the alt's only capable of putting out so many amps and the factory wiring will handle all of those amps safely no problems. (if it couldnt then auto makers would be having alot of recalls on burnt wiring in factory vehicles).just because you increase the size of the wire does not mean that the stock alt will magically output more amps than it was designed to without upgrading it with bigger rectifiers and changing out the windings.
i had the lights dimming in my truck and did yalls suggested upgrades "the big 4" didnt do chit lights still dim alt still only puts out so many amps.