I had a 10" Volfenhag sub in my car with a 500 watt amp. After a while i noticed my lights dimming. I later removed the sub and amp, and ended up replacing my alternator due to the fact that it was old and ended up dying on me.

I want to re-install my sub and a new amp, but I'm not sure if I should buy a capacitor to help with the load on the electrical system. I dont have any other accesories installed on my car, but I just want to be safe.

What do you all think? Should I buy a cap just to be safe and to keep the lights from dimming, and putting a strain on my electrical system, or do you think I will be fine?

TIA for your help

 

I think you should be worried less about dimming headlights and more about the possibility of your car burning to the ground with that Volfenhag garbage...

I installed a set of Volf 12's and a matching amp in a customer's Lumina, and he came back a week to show me the carnage in his trunk when the amp caught on fire.

But if you're insistant on keeping it, if the amp & sub is exceeding the capability of your alternator, a cap will not help.

 

Damn..... didnt know that could happen. Im not going to be running a Volfenhag amp, just the sub. I didnt have problems with it before, and I used it for 2+ years in 2 different cars.

What is the normal capability of a stock alternator? Im not going to go with huge bass, just looking to add a little more bass that is more clear than what the speakers put out. So, to sum it up, Im not looking to go with more than 400 watts. Could it have been that my old alternator was just on its last leg and this new one might be better to handle the load?

Sorry for the newbish questions. Ive been out of the car stereo game for a while, and have focused more on suspension and motor stuff

 

If your only running about 500 watts your alternator should be fine. What you need to do is this:

Upgade the wire from your ALT. to the Batt., and your ground cables with bigger wire. If your batt. is old, replace it.

You should be fine with that. I've ran 1000 watts off of a stock honda alt.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CompressionFed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If your only running about 500 watts your alternator should be fine. What you need to do is this:

Upgade the wire from your ALT. to the Batt., and your ground cables with bigger wire. If your batt. is old, replace it.

You should be fine with that. I've ran 1000 watts off of a stock honda alt.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm running 1000 watts on my sol with a cap with all that upgraded and my lights still dim

Good advice, but I'd probably do what you said then test the system to see if the lights are still dimming. Then, if need be, he can get a cap.

 

Capacitor won't help much with dimming headlights. You'll probably wanna upgrade your alternator and get a separate battery (Ex. Kinetic) for your sub/amp.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RICO_ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Capacitor won't help much with dimming headlights. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I disagree, providing that you're not exceding the limits of you're alternator. Caps do help, but they're not the be-all cure-all.

 

Yeah but should his headlights really be dimming with only 500 watts?? Doesn't seem right to me. My headlights didn't start dimming on my old car till I slapped a 1000watt JL amp on the car. And even with a red top and 1 farad cap. they were still dimming.

 

My headlights starting dimming at 650watts

 

Mine never had a problem till a dropped a 1200 watt amp and 2 12'' subs in, put a 1 farad cap and head light and dash light dimming disappeared.

 

It all depends on what kind of music you listen to. If it's techno, you get a kick drum every now and then, and in between, the cap has time to recharge, therefore, no dimming. But if it's rap with continuous bass, the cap will not do anything.

 

my headlights would dim with a 200W amp...a cap helps, but the best thing to do as someone previously stated above is to replace in this order

1. Alternator (maybe just get the diode swapped out at a local shop, under 100$)
2. wiring, not just some wiring, but all the important wires, from alternator, especailly the ground, grounding is more important than anything, also try to make teh ground from your amp to your car as short as possible, the shorter the ground teh better the power.
3. try a 1 farad cap
4. seperate battery

i am an electrical engineer so i know what i'm talking about

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by schneedrache &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
i am an electrical engineer so i know what i'm talking about</TD></TR></TABLE>

Bwahahahahaa. Sorry but proclaiming you're an engineer does not add any merit to your statements whatsoever. Most engineers (the ones I've met anyways) think they know everything about car audio, but in a real world situation couldn't tell their ears from their ***