Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Audio New alt ...still odd stuff

I put a new alternator in my car "200amp" and yesterday I rewired everything, now I have 4 gauge wires coming from the alternator to the battery! but light still dim like a biotch when the bass hit's ...also at the stop light at night at idle , the lights dim some with no radio on at all , then if I rev it up a tab it jumps up to almost 14V , does this mean the alternator starts charging at a certain RMP ? ? What the heck am I supposed to do?

i believe the alternator does charge above idle, it charges the battery while driving which means when its above idle.

Wish there way a way to keep it at 13/14 volts at idle

Redo your grounds as well. If your main grounds are bad, the beefed up alternator cable is useless. Do both the short ground from the battery to the chassis, and do the ground from engine/chassis ground as well.

I have no cap, just redid my big three wires and I have no dimming at pretty much any volume.

well, i didnt think about using those alternatives. but just so you know, the cap helps alot. i had a 1 farad on a 1200 watt amp and it cut the dimming out and gave me tighter bass response. but if theres an easier way to fix that, i sure would. good luck man.

Thanks i will look into a farad cap , what do you advise me to get ?

well okay......lets see, if you are runnin between 400-800, you should get a .5 farad and if you are running 800-1200 you should get a 1 farad. i had a lightning audio 1 farad digital cap. got it for like 150 or so. let me know if you have any more questions.

OK great , I will see what i can do
Does it matter if battery is in the trunk ? might be some of my problems