All lights dimming when bass hits

[ccarr8705]

I dont want my lights to flicker. Actually I dont care about any of the lights dimming except my underbodies. When my amp draws power for bass my undercar lights dim and get bright again. I dont want this to happen. They are the kind of lights that are controlled by the bass. I have my undercar lights wired to my cig lighter wires because I lost my long fuse wire and stuff. I still have the transformer so I just used that and spliced and messed around and now they work but they dim and shit when the bass hits. Any way to get rid of this?

[RocketFast321]

Sounds like you need a cap for your system

[ccarr8705]

yeah im stupid when it comes to this stuff. So what is a cap?

[RomeoGAOC]

a cap (capacitor) is an electronic device that stores an electrical charge, and when put in series with the amp, the cap releases its charge when the bass hits. so when the bass draws that surge of electricity, the cap makes up for it

[Aaron]

A capacitor, think of the function of a watertower and that's how they work. I've heard mixed things about them. It works like a battery that can dump its current very quickly and be recharged fairly fast. Dig around in this forum and you shouldn't have any trouble finding a bunch of posts related to capacitors/lights dimming.

[Pte Socks]

k first.. forget the cap. A cap does shit all .. ask anyone who knows about cars here and they will tell you you are just wasting your money of them. What you have is the same problem as I. All your lights dim. This includes my interior neons, my underbody neons and my head/fog lights, which all dim when my bass hits. The only way to solve this is a HO alternator and upgrade the wires from your alternator to your battery. Forget the cap.. it aint worth the dough.

[nineteen88ga]

If your charging system is weak, and can not produce the power to back up the draw your giving it, your lights are going to dim. Definately a high powered stereo system is going to draw a lot of current, and with aux. lighting, that is also going to draw a lot of current. Your putting more strain on your charging system then it's expected to put out, so your going to have to bump it up some how.

What kind of power are you running for your stereo system (sub amp(s), 4 channel amp, etc..) ? What gauge power wire do you have running from your battery back to your amp? How old is your vehicles battery and what kind is it...stock AC Delco? Have you ever had your alternator replaced? These are a few things your going to have to look into to help get your problem solved.

Another thing, Your underbody would definately benift from being connected directly to your battery, If its flickering just slightly, having it going through your cig. lighter might do that.

[Pte Socks]

well 1988GA brought up some good points.. these are usually good spots to check if your lights are dimming. However.. if those all seem ok.. definatly think about gettin a HO alternator. Im still trying to save up for one. and honestly... thicker wire is a good thing to consider but if you have lets say 4 gage wire for your stereo and 14 or 16 gage for your interior lights.. thicker wire wont do crap all because its already very thick.

[nineteen88ga]

Most stock alternators now-a-days are lucky if they're 100 amps. Get a car with a few miles on itand you can bet that the alternator is getting tired, so you can almost bet that the laternator isn't putting out its full. I was once told that for every $1 you put into your Stereo system, lighting system etc. you should invest $5 into upgrading your charging system.

I think www.alternatorparts.com sells beefed up alternators on line. If thats not the site, give me a day and next time I'm at work I can get you a place that does sell higher amp alternators.

[SikMindz]

Or:

www.mralternator.com

They have 160 amp replacements for most year GA's. Just email them before hand. Like everyone else said, upgrade the stock wiring as well. I have a very very VERY small system and I was getting the same probs as you...switched to an HO alt. and it helped a bit but adding a 4 awg wire from the new alt to the battery helped tons!

[Mr03SC/T]

nobody has mentioned the extra noise you will get in your system should you upgrade your alternator. Alternator whine is very, very annoying.

[ccarr8705]

I am getting the whine of the alternator. I am getting my windows tinted with my next pay so I wont have money for the alt.

[jtonkin]

I know most people are gonna disagree :argue: but I found that my cap helped my system. I get no dimming at all. I used to in my probe GT and that only had a 250 watt mtx amp. I'm sure the alternators were different but I can't imagine that the Probe's was that much crappier. Anyways, I got a buddy of mine who has a very high wattage audiobahn system and he's got a 3F cap and a stock alternator on his cherokee and he has no problems. He did get a better battery though.
Just a little side note, the cap has to be in parallel with your amp not series as was mentioned in the beginning. Once a cap is charged, it acts like an open to DC power. A cap is also nice in that it can act as a filter for alternator noise. I experienced these problems before in my other car but have neither now so I'm happy with my cap. Never a dim moment. :D

[btchn1]

I am very impresed that no-one mentioned just adding a second battery. As it is a bad idea because it will become just another draw on the electrical system. Now in my opinion a cap will work but only as a bandade to the real problem. I do agree with the higher output alt such as Ohio Generator. Don't worry about alt. wine if you have good equipment and good wiring. All this is my opinion as long as you have proper gauge wire to all your equipment. My last suggestion is to cunsult your trusted local stereo shop. Peace out, Lee

[matts]

a second battery isn't practical for most peoples stereo. ive never heard of a second battery being a drain on your electrical system though. ive been told by numerous people that adding a second battery would help tremendously. if its such a strain on your charging system then why do so many people that compete add them? im not trying to be rude or start a fight, im just saying. even some of the people that i know that are into major competitions have told me to add a second battery. one guy told me that it would take something like 6-1 farad capacitors to equal the power of 1 marine battery.

[jtonkin]

Additional batteries aren't that much of a strain on the electrical system of a car. Technically it is a bit of a load on your alternator because it often is recharging the battery but not enough of a load to make a huge difference. Adding another battery in parallel with the other battery serves the same purpose as a cap. It is much better than a cap but bigger and much heavier. The ideal location for an additional charge source, be it a cap or a battery is as close to the amp(s) as possible. So if you don't mind having a battery in your trunk then another battery is definately the way to go. Most people don't want a 35 pound marine battery chillin in their trunk though, that's why there's caps.:agree:

[btchn1]

Yes in competition a battery is better than a cap because of the amount of juice it can hold. In a consumers everyday driver it is a bad idea if your problem is dimming lights. The most common reason your lights dim is because your alt. can't charge your battery, run your cars normal electrical stuff, and run a power hungry amp. So lets say you add a battery to this equation and now your alt. has another battery to charge on top of everything else. Why is it charging that battery you ask? because if the alt can't make enough amperage to run everything then where does the amp gets its power, except from the battery. The only reason an average system would need a second battery is for key off play time. This is all in my opinion though and you are free to do as you please. I'm not saying I know all I have just messed around with all these ideas and that is what I have come up with. Peace out, Lee