A little help please.

[jrdz2120]

Hi,

I was in need of a little help with my electrical. I recently udgraded from my old system to what I currently have now consisting of a

Pioneer 880prs

hertz mille 165 mlk comps

4x6 eclipse point source rear fill on head unit power

(2) 12 inch kicker l5 subs

diamond D6 1500.1

diamond D6 600.4

Optima yellow top

Alterstart 180 amp alternator

First everything was running off of the stock 105 amp alternator and I was dipping down as low as 11 volts if not lower on the dash gauge and also on the one on the stereo display and blew the sub amp. Luckily I had a back up d6 1500 and installed it. then my alternator gave out yesterday so I went down to alterstart and picked up a 180 amp alternator and installed it along with all fresh 2 guage big three wiring. The stereo shop that did my install also did the big three with 4 guage aluminum wire so I took that crap out. I hold steady at around 13 to 13.5 on full volume with real bass heavy songs but still light dimming. I even had the shop test the alternator and give me the read out before I bought it. I did notice that the stereo shop installed a single 4 guage kit to power both amps, not sure if this might be the problem. Any input will be geatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Guest]

if your voltage deviates even .1 volt, you'll have light dimming

[graham0599]

I'd try running a 1/0 gauge wire to a distributor with 2- 4ga outputs

[rockFord_Expedition]

Without looking up your amp specs I would guess that you are pulling approx. 250 amps, maybe a little less, between the two. Is this the only aftermarket electrical in your vehicle? If the factory alternator was raed at 105 amps, and you upgraded to 180, you only gave yourself an extra 75 to play with, in addition to whatever your vehicle could spare from the 105. Keep in mind that these are (generally) max ratings, so if you are running at idle you are usually getting quite a bit less. Also, what kind of battery setup do you have? a single 180 amp alternator with a single stock battery is probably not enough electrical. I would add an adequate AGM battery in the back. Also, I am not sure how long your runs of wire are, but I would reccommend 1/0 for at least your longest runs, as well as all of your grounds. If you can, running all 1/0 would be ideal.

I'll check in later when I have mre time.

[jrdz2120]

Well,

I was looking at the ground in the back where the amp is and it is sandwiched beteween the seat bracket and body using a crimp connector and factory seat nut. I think this may be the problem but I am still gonna run new 1/0 cable and see how I can fit a battery in the back. I know the second battery should be as close as possible the amps , but could I run it from the auxilary battery tray under the hood and still be affective?