Ok so i was driving my car and then my system out of nowhere started shutting off and coming back on whenever the bass was kind of loud. Also driving at night I noticed that the cluster lights were specially dim until I stepped on the gas and the lights grew brighter. Cluster lights were kind of going with the bass by blinking and such.

Going to get it checked at autozone tomorrow

I asked my friends and they said it is a bad alternator(going to test if it is my alternator)

So i was wondering if the people of ht think its my alternator or something else?

 

Alternator, battery, or maybe you have a loose battery terminal

 

you need a capacitor for your system. have autozone also test your battery, and make sure whatever they replace (battery and/or alternator) they dont sell you cheap quality parts

 

As mentioned have a proper batt./ charging system test done on the car, an AVR test takes a few min. and is free at most batt./alt shops... http://www.interstatebatteries.com/cs_estore/ The AVR test will tell the condition of the batt. and the alt. if they are good you will need to check the "system" and it's wiring

What is the makes and models of the system, HU, amp(s), speakers and sub(s)

What gauge is the amps power cable?

What type of fuse are you using for the amp(s), [ANL, MAXI, BLF, AUG or other]?

What kind of fuse holder?

Where is amp mounted?

How long is the ground lead and where and how is it grounded?

Have you "beefed up" the batt. ground?

All the above need to be answered to be able to properly help you, otherwise we are just guessing.

PS, You may or may not need a cap, it depends on your answers for the above. 94

 

system is:
Alpine CDE-102 headunit
Planet Audio 1000 watt amp-has 2 40 fuses on the amp itself
Power wire has a Aug50 fuse
12" Rockford Fosgate P3 1000 watt sub
Both the power and ground wire are 8 gauge
Ground wire is about 2.5 inches long and is ground to bare metal

Ok I have no spare tire cover or rear carpet, just the mat and the amp is sitting on top of the spare and sub sits right next to the spare tire facing upward. (spare tire is right next to were the jack would be)

Pic below shows my ground for my battery (battery bought from autozone around mid October of 2011)

I dont have a capacitor

 

Auto zone batteries suck and they try to not honor there warranties. Can we get the model numbers of the amps. Not just the names. So we can see what you really have. And what model power wire. Not all wire is the same.

 

Amp is this----> http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Audio-A...ef=pd_sxp_f_pt

Dont know model of the power wire(unless its on the wire) The power,ground, and remote wire was all there before I bought this car, so i just reused it.

going to get the battery/alternator checked today and borrow my friends capacitor and see what happens

 

The first thing I see is your running a 500W DVC 2ohm sub, [I assume VCs are in parallel] on an amp that makes 650W RMS into a 1 ohm load, so power/ground wire gauge, [8ga] is too small, should be 4ga, [unless amp is 4' or less from batt.].

The second thing I see isyou are using a 50A fuse onan amp that needs almost twice that, also AUG fuses suck, be willing to betif you run the system. [loud] for 5min. the fuse and fuse holder will be hot, the amp cutting out is most likely due to lack of current.

I would start by replacing the powerandground leads with 4ga and replace the fuse with an ANL 100A fuse and post and nut type fuse holder, I would also add a 4ga ground from batt. to cars chassis, [along with existing batt. ground].

I know you said amp is grounded to "bare metal" but what bare metal where [it can make a huge differance].

Although a cap can't hurt, I am not sure you will need one. 94

 

Ok so dude at autozone pulled off one of my battery terminals and told me to get everything tighten and run a capacitor

So i got my friends capacitor and ran it and everything works fine, but I am probably going to change my ground and power wire to a 4gauge like fcm said.

Heres where my ground is

 

Two things, move the ground, use a seat belt bolt or any bolt/stud in the the floor-pan of the car, [a sheet-metal screw makes very little contact with the with ground and can not hold the ring terminal to the ground very "tightly" I also do not see paint scraped away under the terminal, I am betting that connection will not pass much current.

The second thing is do not "daisy-chain" the amp ground with the cap, [like you do with the power] run a ground from both the amp and the cap and ground them both to the same ground point, you should also solder all your terminals, [proper size ring terminals] to the power and ground cables, it makes a much better connection that will never oxidize.

The biggest obstacle to getting the best possible performance, [SQ and SPL] from an amplifier is getting current, [power] to it, and more so with sub amps, [takes a lot of power to make low frequencies] so everything and anything that can be done to supply that current, should be done and the little things, [soldering terminals instead of just crimping, better ground point, correct gauge of cable, better fuse and fuse holders] go a long way to insure the amp gets the current it needs.

I have had customers come in with good systems that sounded like crap and all I did was redo all the connections, repace main fuse and holder, and end up with a much better sounding system. 94

 

Ok so your saying change the location of ground and have a separate ground for my amp and cap, but to the same point. Also to change main fuse holder and solder terminals for better connection, if im not mistaken?

 

Yes, and change to 4ga cable. 94