Any Car audio guys in here? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

fastss · 01-22-2009, 10:25 PM

A couple quick questions involving my amp and sub.

I have a 2channel AudioBahn Amp giving power to My Audiobahn Aw1200V Sub.

So my lights would dim everytime my sub would hit. I decided i'd get a capacitor installed. After i got it installed, my sub would pulsate to the sound of my car running and everything i did electrically. Such as flashing my brights and such. They said oh it could be your rca wires. I take it back to them and they said the reason was cause my amp's RCA jacks are loose. But why would that have anything to do with my sub hitting when i could flash my brights or something. The ground and power is all good.

So now i'm going to just get a new amp and see if that is the problem.. But for some reason i think the capacitor is bad due to my lights dimming still when my sub hits. Could it be that a need a stronger battery and better terminals?

Any answers or possibilities?

Fiox789 · 01-22-2009, 10:34 PM

I'm not sure why it would do that. When I installed my subs every time I would start my car my subs would go berserk.

***Eye8Pussies*** · 01-22-2009, 11:30 PM

a capacitor will not prevent your lights from dimming, so that's not the problem

two things to check at this point- check your grounds, and also your rca wires to see where they are run- if they are close to the capacitor or not. the pulsation is coming from a voltage change, and your cap is basically one big electric current that will add a lot of noise to your signals if it's anywhere close to it

fastss · 01-23-2009, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eye8Pussies

a capacitor will not prevent your lights from dimming, so that's not the problem

two things to check at this point- check your grounds, and also your rca wires to see where they are run- if they are close to the capacitor or not. the pulsation is coming from a voltage change, and your cap is basically one big electric current that will add a lot of noise to your signals if it's anywhere close to it

so maybe trying to move my amp and rca wires away from the capacitor might help?
could it still be a bad amp?

angel_rolla · 01-23-2009, 01:41 AM

buy a high amp alternator.

flex1016 · 01-23-2009, 02:54 AM

lose the cap! and get a better batterys and run a bigger wire from you alt to your battery ad upgrade all ground wires and make sure ur ground whave a nice clean ground scrap off ne pait mak sure its bear metal ...and also try grounding the body of you radio to your rca jack .. if that dont help let me know ....after this u should be fine ...

the94camryman · 01-23-2009, 08:10 AM

look into a yellow top, and possibly the big three upgrade. i personally have never heard or experienced a cap doing that. caps are supposed to, in a way, absorb voltage spikes to protect your equipment. it also supplies power when it is most needed. in the case of a subwoofer and amp, it supplies voltage when the amp is drawing too much.
but if the yellow top doesnt work then look into an HO alternator.
its more than likely not a bad amp.
like eye8pussies said, seperate the two.
if they are in the trunk, move the amp to one side, and the cap to the other.
btw, if they are close to each other right now, then how are your wires run?
is the power and rca cables run on the same side? if so then seperate those as well.

BigDog4All · 01-23-2009, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flex1016

lose the cap! and get a better batterys and run a bigger wire from you alt to your battery ad upgrade all ground wires and make sure ur ground whave a nice clean ground scrap off ne pait mak sure its bear metal ...and also try grounding the body of you radio to your rca jack .. if that dont help let me know ....after this u should be fine ...

Dump the Cap................I concur.

Get you 0 or 4 Gauge Power cables. Run on Drivers side of car. Go directly to Battery for both AMPs.
Run all signal & RCA cables on passenger side, even remote cable.
Grind frame of car to bare metal for Ground. Again, 4 Gauge, if possible and short as possible, with start washers.
A GOOD strong battery is helpful.
Check output of alternator.

This should do it. I hooked up dual AudioBahn AMPS, in my son's 99' Camry. No noise.....no blinks....nuttin but POWER. He likes them Blue Lights to glow in da dark.

Albuynp Ryeno · 01-23-2009, 04:59 PM

Keep the cap, CAPS are really useful in car audio systems. The whole point of a cap is to supply a quick burst of power to the amp. A bigger battery wont do that.

Anyway for your problem. Upgrade the ground wire from the car chasis to a gauge 1 or 0 wire. (also if you want to be baller finsh the big 3 upgrade with guage 0/1 to the alternator and the engine ground.

frojoe · 01-23-2009, 06:22 PM

lose the cap, they are not a cure all for lack of power, and can only help with certain particular problems with car audio. Dimming lights result from a lack of total power, and a capacitor is useless for that. Agreeing with what has been said, check grounds, big 3, and i guess a new battery, but I would say that's less important unless you run with the engine off. If you really want to stop it, a h.o. alt is the only real solution.

Manny1337 · 01-24-2009, 01:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eye8Pussies

a capacitor will not prevent your lights from dimming, so that's not the problem

thats the whole point of them to take strain off the battery/alt so i would take your alternator check the voltage and same with the battery they could be the weak point

and for the interference try a ground loop isolator they work miracles

Albuynp Ryeno · 01-24-2009, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manny1337

yes it will.... thats the whole point of them to take strain off the battery/alt

uhm no. the whole point is to give a QUICK BURST of power to the amp, so that you can deliver those power hungry bass notes.

It doesnt take any strain off anything. Infact i am fairly certain it actually increases the strain on your electrical system since your adding a component.

But yes a cap will minimize dimming. Because the amp will take power from the cap instead of the rest of your electrical system.

Manny1337 · 01-24-2009, 01:57 AM

either way check the alt and battery for the correct volts they do it free at autozone i believe

Manny1337 · 01-24-2009, 02:00 AM

and one question how many watts rms is that amp and how many wats rms is that sub? in my camry i have a 160rms rockford amp powering some of my polks in the rear i dont have any problems. just curious

***Eye8Pussies*** · 01-24-2009, 03:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Albuynp Ryeno

uhm no. the whole point is to give a QUICK BURST of power to the amp, so that you can deliver those power hungry bass notes.

It doesnt take any strain off anything. Infact i am fairly certain it actually increases the strain on your electrical system since your adding a component.

But yes a cap will minimize dimming. Because the amp will take power from the cap instead of the rest of your electrical system.

sorry, just to correct that, a cap does NOT help with dimming.

a cap helps the amp from clipping due to not getting power fast enough. But the cap itself also recharges fast enough to make the lights dim. Therefore, only a high output alternator that can replace that power pulled will reduce dimming. It doesn't increase any strain on the electrical system though, per se. at least not while its not really needed.