garfull

first question which is the remote wire. im using a blue one(not the front speaker wire) and the amp wont turn off.

how come the tC's charging system seems underpowered????

i just put in ONE amp to power ONE 10" bazooka and when it thumps the lights get dim(nightime driving). full charge reading 14.2V and when the bass hits its around 12V. and this is with the lower bass setting and the gains all the way down. btw it an old fosgate punch amp 1000Wx1 bridged. i am try a 250x1 amp tomorrow.

should i be concerned with this. i would assume it is putting an extra load on the alternator which i dont know how bad that is?

i look at the stugg Neil Tjin / Verone project tC show car has and i how is this possible. i didnt happen to see alternator as a upgrade.

any advice?

Archivez2005TC

i have a kicker 1200 + a nav system pulling alot of power so i NEEDED a yellow cap. i suggest u get 1 too. no flickerin at all

randode

iTrader: (-2)

i'm running a 600 and 700 watt amp. My lights did the same thing. My battery took a dump shortly after. Last week I installed a yellow top, and the lights dont dim at all.

Surgeon_L

You need a capacitor. It provides instant electricity when your amp needs it. The battery provides long term electricity but doesn't do as well with fluctuations. You need power that does both, lasts long and can fluctuate. You need to add a Capacitor to your system. I have a 1 farad cap sitting around my house. I upgraded to a 3 farad Cap, so if you are interested, I can sell it to you for $60 shipped. I can send pics. You need 1 farad cap for every 1000 watts your amps put out.

reagulator

try doing the magic 3 too. increase the wire guage for alt.-battery, battery-ground, engine block-ground

Max2k

Stupidity.hurting.brain.

J_A_Trevino

my lights dim also, i have a 1 farad cap and a yellow top and upgraded my bat - wire from the batt to the frame and added another ground from my alt bracket to the frame and i still dim all i have is a single rf power bd 500 not even 1000 watts i am trying to save up and get like a bat cap or similar 35 farad or higher capacitor

garfull

yeah i got a yellow top in there. it was my friends and was drained for a while. i trickled charged it back up but it been flickering since. im going to put the oem one back in to see if that does better and if it does then my yellow top is bad.

L337Biker

... pretty much haha

Pioneer 8600mp, RF p8002 amp, RF 1 Farad Cap, 2x RF P3 10", stock battery... no dimming. I dunno about you guys but I like being able to hear. Not only in general, but also being able to hear every bit of a song... not just the bass... not just the high tones. There's this thing called being excessive and unfortunately most people are

Sure my speakers/tweeters are stock, but I've had nothing but people drooling over how clear the highs/mids/lows sound in the car. Anyways, use a cap.. or two

mandos

I'm sorry...but there are things that make electricity, and things that use electricity. Hint: Caps don't make it.

Upgrade your battery, that'll fix your problems. Still having them, upgrade the big three. Still have them...well...you've got a choice....upgrade your alt, deal w/ the dimming, or turn the stereo down.

I've got a 2kw substage....my lights damn near turn off right now. I've got a yellow top and wires for the big 3 waiting though ;)

toastbox

I'm sorry, but no one ever said cap's make electricity. Why would you spend that much extra money on upgrading your alt/batt/wiring when adding a cap (in the correct manner) is so much cheaper, and better solution????

For those who don't know, capacitors are energy reservoirs that store necessary power your amp needs to punch those big bass notes. They store power during when it is not required, (read: most of the time) and release it when a short term transient demand exceeds what is available from the car's power system.

So, by your advice, you'd upgrade the power to generate/supply electricity *all* the time, even though you only need more power at infrequent intervals??? The analogy you are suggesting is: I want my car to go faster, I'll just add a jet engine to it. Sure, that will work, but its not economical, nor necessary.

L337Biker

AMEN

mandos

But a cap is just a band-aid to a larger problem...it's not a real solution.

Realistically, sure...go ahead and get a cap. They are a constant drain on your electrical system rather than a small burst drain...you are still taking the same power out of your alt/battery...you're just spreading it out so that it's always an extra drain. In some cases it helps. But why not upgrade the wires under your hood first? That takes care of dimming more often than not. I had the same stereo I do now in my Neon...upgraded big 3, dimming went away.

so...less than $20 in wire....or a cap which you aren't going to get that cheap.

I'm not saying go blow the money on a battery and alt if you don't have it, but they are surely better solutions to not having enough power than a cap is...and upgrading wire should ALWAYS be the first step...you may not even need the cap.

Sorry I put things in the wrong order the first time...upgrade your wire first

I guess it's just the kind of person I am....I'm not going to get the band-aid solution to a problem in my car....I'll just fix the problem at it's source=power supply under the hood.

So...I guess what I'm trying to say. Some people believe in caps, others don't. I'm a don't. Nothing wrong if you do, you'll just never see me suggest one, I'll always suggest an actual electrical system upgrade.

Where's the :beer: smiley....

Max2k

A capacitor takes a long time to charge and a very short time to discharge. If you're rocking out to the point where your headlights are dimming, you're probably listening to some extremely bass-heavy music that stays bass heavy. Thus, the capacitor won't have time to recharge in time for the next bass hit.

TJ

Hey Randode, which model of yellow top did ya get?


n/m found it :)

toastbox

Let me pose this question...if caps don't work, why is it that nearly everyone who competes in car stereo competitions, has one??

In the 15 shows I've been to, I've never seen *anyone* without a cap win. It could be just coincedental, but I doubt it.

Max2k

Because they also have upgraded electrical systems and batteries.

toastbox

I'm gonna post this reply and then not going to argue the point any more.....I definitely agree with you on the upgraded wire point (meant to say that to both you and mandos earlier), but not at all on the upgrading Alt/batt over the cap. If you think otherwise, that's your opinion, and you are entitled to it, and I respect that.

From my point of view, a battery and alternator are going to run you more than a 1F cap. I don't think anyone is going to disagree with that. And if putting in a cap fixes the problem, then to me, it isn't a bandaid fix, it's a solution. One that cost less money, and takes less time to install, and also is one less component to troubleshoot if something goes wrong.

But again, that's just my opinion.

oneslowxa

upgrade power and ground wires to the biggest possible, to the amp, from the alternator to battery, and from the battery to ground points... if that doesn't fix it and...

you use your system moderately, but play it hard sometimes... get a cap...
you use your system excessively, or on long trips get an alternator...

ScionRI

Comparing a cap to a jet engine is the most ignorant thing i've read on scion life in a while. Maybe you can help me here, but a cap takes over 5 seconds to recharge and less than 1 second to discharge. So if you have a note that hits for longer than a second and more frequently than once every 5 seconds, then you've got no solution.

Also, a cap makes your alternator work harder (it has to recharge the cap AND run everything else).

I'm not saying they're useless, but they shouldn't be considered a quick fix to an electrical problem that is seated in a lack of appropriate power.