Amp dropout problem

[D-Man]

where's my facepalm picture gone? bah! There's so many things wrong with this quote I don't know where to start.

Anyway, a capacitor will not solve your problems. They are not a magical source of power and won't let you play your stereo for extended periods of time. In simple terms, all a stiffening capacitor does is reduce the voltage drop when the amp draws a high amount of current, such as when a deep bass note is played. Even then, in a real world situation you most probably won't even notice the difference when adding a capacitor to a system. I think they main selling point for a car audio capacitor is to add a blingy looking voltmeter to your boot.

If you want to stop your dimming/drop out problems there's a few things you can try:
1. Make sure you have a good grounding point. The child seat bolt in the parcel shelf is not a very good ground, try the back seat seat belt bolt and sand away the paint first so that you can achieve a good connection to the chassis.
2. Upgrade the factory ground wires.. battery to chassis, battery to engine etc
3. Upgrade the stereo power wiring, however looking at the specs of the amps you are running you shouldnt need to (I don't really know the current draw of a gamecube however).

a capacitor in this sense is just like a battery, the engine makes power, that in turn charges the main battery, in this case with a capacitor set up this will also charge the capacitor (essentially a second battery (which holds electricity(for those who didnt know )) then essentially what you have is a battery.

so then tell me how does this not let me play my stereo over extended periods. if the capacitor is a storage device for power (aka - battery)

 

[bezz]

a capacitor in this sense is just like a battery, the engine makes power, that in turn charges the main battery, in this case with a capacitor set up this will also charge the capacitor (essentially a second battery (which holds electricity(for those who didnt know )) then essentially what you have is a battery.

so then tell me how does this not let me play my stereo over extended periods. if the capacitor is a storage device for power (aka - battery)

Lets clear this up. A capacitor is not a battery. My suggestion is you do a bit more reading before you come up with more crap advice like you have offered above.

I'd like to hope I know a little bit about electronics, otherwise I'd have wasted the last 5 years of my life and should hand in my resignation at work tomorrow :bang:

 

[holdenboy]

FFS....THEY DO NOT WORK.....ive been installing car audio for over 10 years (including many capacitors) and they make jack sh*t difference. If they did why dont serious DB drag cars use them? They need every 0.1v of a volt to increase their score and if a capacitor magically provided that extra power im sure we'd see them everywhere in these cars.

Anyways, back to the problem at hand. I would be checking the voltage at the battery with the high beams on and the fan (a/c) on max. Get yourself a mulitmeter and check this out, anything in the range of 13.0-14.0v is normal. Its strange that its only happening at night and your driving slow/reversing. Which from an electrical point of view is when:

A) The headlights are on
B) The reversing/brake lights are on
C) The car isnt revving much / is idling (alternator is spinning slowly).

Get yourself a multimeter and check this out.

 

[RoboticCherry-Coke]

Well the distribution block I have has a voltmeter built into it. I plan on going out a bit later on so before I drive off I will check what thats reading with everything on and running.
I know when I have the car off and all the audio gear running it reads about 12.4v which is what I would have expected but never looked with everything else running.

 

[RoboticCherry-Coke]

Ok, well I checked it out earlier on and with the car idling, high beams on and fan out flat out with the stereo turned up fairly loud the voltmeter was only reading 11.4 - 11.6v.

When testing this the amp for the 2 channel speakers cut out (the mono block kept pumping away happily) until I turned the high beams off. I then put the car in reverse and it cut out again for a second then came back. Got driving and all was good. So really its only a problem when the alternator is spinning slowly and everything is running.

 

[holdenboy]

Just double check your amp wiring connection at the battery to make sure its got a good solid connection to the battery. Also worth checking the wire on the back of the alternator, i read somewhere on here with the ecotec engines the alternator terminal can burn out a little. It may need replacing.

If you do all this and still havent got atleast 12.5v at the D.B. then i would be getting another / new alternator im sorry to say. Also best to take it to an auto electrician and get them to test the alternator. I know with my car it drops from 14.2v to 13.4v with the high beams on and a/c fan on max. I would assume thats around normal (with just a stock battery in the front).

 

[RoboticCherry-Coke]

Ok cheers holdenboy, I will check all that out tomorrow when I get a chance and hope like hell its something simple and I dont need a new alternator.

 

[holdenboy]

No worries, heres the link about the wire on the back of the alternator....

https://forums.justcommodores.com.au/threads/vs-v6-owners-check-out.5910

 

[shiftySLE]

DB drags and SPL comp cars dont have caps?????? Ha, thats a new one just like car racers dont have superchargers. What comps are you going to?? They are a bling thing??? Most people hide them anyway coz they just look like a big battery, unless you get the crap with the readings and LED's all over them.

 

[holdenboy]

LOL, matey im at most if not all DB Drag Racing competitions held in NSW....i have the loudest commodore in Australia at the moment, am in 2nd place for my class in Australia (Street C) and know the current Australian record holders for Street A, Street B, Street C and Street Max. I can tell you NONE of those guys use caps, and for good reason.
Ive posted this before in another arguement about caps, but this was a test one of my good friends did when he was competing:
Technical - Capacitors Tried & Tested - Mobile Electronics Australia

Anyway this is not the place for an arguement.....this has been discussed to death and we're never going to come to an agreement. If you think caps are worth the money and do make a difference thats fine by me. Also, if you wish to "voice" your opinion on forums about caps thats fine too, but be aware that others (like me) will voice our opinions too. In the end its up to the topic starter / person asking for advice to choose which advice they take.