Can a bad power wire cause bad voltage drops at the amp?

[Omega5002]

i would be worried about the alternator tbh

it is 14 yrs old and i can imagine u have been beating on it since long ago

Well, I am the third owner of the car, it has 213k miles, so I don't think the alt is in the best shape ever. I did get a quote from Mike Singer for a 260 amp alt that I just need to get funds for.

[tacomabanga1986]

if its the serviceable kind, check the water level in your battery or is a agm?

your in fl so i dont think its due to cold weather

my truck did this when i took out my second battery to put in my sons powerwheels, 1000wrms, 450w mids n highs off everstart maxx with big 3, but i did have 4guage going to the sub amp at that time, when i put my 2 10's back in there n ran 1guage welding cable to the amp with other battery i have little to no voltage drop and its cold here

what is your lpf set to? i keep mine a little above 50htz with ssf off, but box is ported to 32htz so that dont really help much lol, are u running bass boost? and what settings u got on hu, u got on loud?

[Autruche]

Is the meter taking readings at the amp or up front? If it's at the amp, then disconnect it and hook it up up front. Play the same song and make note of the voltage drops. If there is a significant difference from front to back then it may be your power wire. But if you are only pulling 60 amps at most, then it should be fine. To me it sounds like your alternator is going out on you.

[Omega5002]

if its the serviceable kind, check the water level in your battery or is a agm?

your in fl so i dont think its due to cold weather

my truck did this when i took out my second battery to put in my sons powerwheels, 1000wrms, 450w mids n highs off everstart maxx with big 3, but i did have 4guage going to the sub amp at that time, when i put my 2 10's back in there n ran 1guage welding cable to the amp with other battery i have little to no voltage drop and its cold here

what is your lpf set to? i keep mine a little above 50htz with ssf off, but box is ported to 32htz so that dont really help much lol, are u running bass boost? and what settings u got on hu, u got on loud?

AGM

It's a little cold, but not very

LPF set to 80hz, SSF on 25hz, box tuned to 33hz, no bass boost, settings on zero, no loud. Amp tuned with a dd-1

[tacomabanga1986]

oh, ya my alt goes back n forth with voltage like yours, with truck running at stop light voltage is like 11.6 to 12.8v, then at about 1500rpm it goes to 13.6 to 14.0 without bass on, but stays around the 13's but i have 2 batterys tho

u check the ground where the amp is at? i changed mine around a little and it got better, i also sanded down my terminal to get that chrome looking shit off and went to str8 copper to bare metal and it helped a bit

[Omega5002]

Is the meter taking readings at the amp or up front? If it's at the amp, then disconnect it and hook it up up front. Play the same song and make note of the voltage drops. If there is a significant difference from front to back then it may be your power wire. But if you are only pulling 60 amps at most, then it should be fine. To me it sounds like your alternator is going out on you.

I'll try that out as well when I can. Well, I hope I can get the fund for the HO alt I want to get before it does, but I do have a second alt that was given to me, laying around just incase.

[Omega5002]

oh, ya my alt goes back n forth with voltage like yours, with truck running at stop light voltage is like 11.6 to 12.8v, then at about 1500rpm it goes to 13.6 to 14.0 without bass on, but stays around the 13's but i have 2 batterys tho

u check the ground where the amp is at? i changed mine around a little and it got better, i also sanded down my terminal to get that chrome looking shit off and went to str8 copper to bare metal and it helped a bit

I have my amp grounded to the frame, which I sanded down as well, and I have a large copper piece as well in between, which I tested outta curiosity,and saw some gain in voltage.

[tacomabanga1986]

with that small of an amp i dont see how u getting voltage drop

i had a little bit of light dimming with just my rf amp wired active and no subs, and it has 60amps of fusing so i dunno

hell i ran my mtx 500d wired to 1ohm, and its only 2ohm stable with a cap and with headlights on and on bright with 100w halogens voltage stayed at 14.3 full tilt, it was weird

could be bad alt, you could try to charge your battery with a charger, and then try that, battery might not be fully charged yet, somedays i drive around without bumping and voltage stays around 14.4-14.6 and goes down to 13.4 while bumping after a while

only things i can think of

[Omega5002]

Well, by ear, after the doing the Big 5, my amp sounds a lot louder, and cleaner, even with the same voltage drops, doesn't got hot either, which is why I think it's the power wire.

I should probably charge my battery too, saw 12.5 when I turned on my voltmeter before starting the car, though I don't have an agm charger, I do have a second battery(stock) laying around that my friend told I should charge overnight with to top off my battery with.

I guess my alt does suck

[matt14]

Where did you get the power source from for the volt meter? On those, the B+ cable that goes from the battery to the fuse box corrodes badly at the fuse box. Its four 10g wires in a loom going from the batt to the fusebox. On yours, its the cable with the wingnut on the positve terminal, and also appears to be stock/factory.