Hey guys, when i crank the volume in my car, when the bass hits i watch my volt meter drop, sometimes my car will stall, only if i stop, or let off the gas (when the RPM's are low) I kno its my system cuz this only happens when its really loud. Would a capacitor fix this? or should I get a hi amp altenator?.......what do you guys think i should do.
P.S. I have a RF 800.2 amp pushing 2 10's (946 watts)

Thanks, Ted

 

c'mon guys..........anybody?

 

i'd say check your alternator first as that's probably the culprit.

I think you can disconnect the battery while the car is running and the alternator should keep it running... if it doesn't its a bad alternator

 

ok, i'll have to try that. But I think my alternator is fine because the car will only stall wen i have the bass cranking, like i can have it loud enough that it shakes my mirrors and vibrates my teeth a bit.. ,but if i go any louder it will sometimes stall. I think i just need a higher amp altenator, but i want other peoples opinions as well as what i think.

 

I think you are experiencing extreme Voltage drop. The problem is, a stock alternator doesnt kick out enough voltage at idle, especially with the stock pulley. Putting a smaller pulley than the one you have will spin the Alt. faster at idle, but I dont think that will help very much. I'd go with the cheapest thing first. Caps are not cheap, but it will more than likely help you out a great deal.

If that doesnt work, next would be a High Amp alternator. If that doesnt work, then youre looking at an isolator with multiple batterys. Which is what I had for a while. One battery for the Acc.'s and one for the Car, to put it simply.

If you have a simple Voltage Meter, test the Alt. and Batt. with the car running at idle, and the stereo off. Then do the same thing with the stereo on. See what kind of numbers you get, as a starting point.

Also what kind of equipment do you have, wire gauges, etc..?

 

adding a second battery is going to make it harder for your alternator to charge them up. your alternator doesnt put out the rated amperage/voltage at idle, they're rated at higher rpms.. a capacitor will help you out of your lights dim on a bass note but then return to normal after that.. for a problem like you described, a cap would not help you at all--your call will still die. you have a couple options: get a new stock alternator, the one you have may be old and not producing as much as it should.. get a higher amperage alternator (probably your best bet).. get your alternator rebuilt (if its not producing)... or stop playing your stereo so loud..

the louder you play your music, the harder your amps have to work, and the more current they need.. your alternator isnt meeting their needs, so thats the primary problem you need to fix. you may in fact want to get a capacitor after you get your alternator squared away, but dont think that its a magic wand that will alleviate all your electrical charging problems, because its not.

 

oh, and dont disconnect your battery while the car is running.. there was just a big thread about this in electronics, its not a good thing to do.. the summary of the thread was that you risk frying your ecm and your entire electrical system.. to test if your alternator is good, measure your battery voltage with the car running (at around 1000-1500 rpms).. you should have 13.5-14.4 volts, compared to 12-something when the car is off.. just for kicks you could try measuring it at idle too, most likely you'll have less than at 1000-1500

 

instead of putting in another battery or alt, have you upgraded the wiring under your hood yet? i believe the stock stuff between the battery, alt, and ground are at biggest 8 or 4 ga. try adding another 4 ga line between all of these.

 

A cap would help out, but you might want to get a bigger alt. I'd get one with the highest amp rating that you can find.

 

*sigh* in this situation, all a cap will help out with is draining your pocketbook. caps are not superheroes that save all of your amperage problems, they have very specific purposes, and in those isolated scenarios they work wonderful.. in situations like this, it would be a waste of money better spent elsewhere

 

you cant charge a cap when the alternator cant supply enough to anything, extra caps and batteries will NOT help him, get a bigger alternator...

 

Thanks guys, I think i'll start saving up and soon get a higher amp alternator. and also i think i'll upgrade my wiring.

oh yea, another thing> my lights don't even go dim, the car will just stall.......its really weird.

 

buying a cap or beefing up your alternator would definatly help, but if you wanna try the cheap way you can replace all the wires from your altenator (ground, battery lead, etc.) with four gauge wire.