Grounding an amplifier

[Cygnus X-1]

I want to know where do you guys ground your amplifier(s). I have a 94 1.6L with no fold down rear seats. I take out the seat and use one of the bolt that put in place the back seat as my ground. I remove the paint and all that but I have very noticeble dimming lights with an Optima Red Top bat and a 1.5 Raptor cap(cheap ass hell) and just 1 mono amplifier with 3 20amp fuses. I remove the cap, because I read is crap and do not work, and I do the "big 2" with 4gauge cable. The engine block ground is too hard to take it out, thats why I call it the big 2. I know I don't have to take it out, just add another cable, but I don't know what else to use as eng block ground. Is my ground in a bad place? I don't have a lot experience in sound system so I want the opinion of most experience guys. Thanks, and sorry for my english!

[Cygnus X-1]

Wow, nobody!!!!

[MrGiggles]

I just grounded my amplifier to the sheet metal below the rear of the seat. Use a short self-tapping screw, or be really careful where you are drilling. The last thing you want is to poke a hole in your gas tank. I have some dimming with only 500 watts. I haven't done the Big 3 yet but I don't think it will help much. I'm not sure why I have so much dimming, since my voltage doesn't even drop half a volt.

You can just attach an engine ground to anywhere on the engine, although it's probably best to do it close to the alternator mount.

These are unibody cars though, so I would do a resistance check on your connections. First check from your grounding point to the battery negative, then a direct connection with a wire to the battery. If there is a very big difference I would search for a better ground, or even maybe run a separate ground wire.

[BigDAT]

I have 2 amps (350, 650) both are grounded to a bolt that holds the steering column to the firewall, never had any issues.

[gameguru1360]

you might want to consider getting a 2nd battery like a Shuriken or Kinetik. After I added a Kinetik HC1400, my lights stopped dimming. I've got a duralast gold battery, plus a battery isolator for the Kinetik.

My rear seats fold down, so like other peeps, I've used the bolt on the rear part of the fold down seats as my ground.

You might want to consider switching out that red top for the yellow top optima if you don't want to add a 2nd battery. I think the yellow top has much more cold cranking amps than the red top. The red top is usually for vehicle applications like adding fog lights or running lights, not for car audio. The yellow top optimas are geared for car audio.

As for the Big 3 or your Big 2, you don't really want to replace the existing wire. It's easier just to add 4ga or 2ga cable.