dimming lights and such

[ncc74656]

so i just got done rebuilding my stereo system and i have some pretty substantial gauge dimming. here is what im running: 1/0 ga OFC to a kx2500.1 on a sp4, 1/0 cca to a block with 2 8ga ofc out to a audiobahn 250w amp and a eclipse 800w amp and a kicker kx3. remote ons are relayed off this same 0ga feed. wires to to a plate of copper with anl fuses in the engine bay and connect to 2 group 29 900CCA AGM batteries. alternator is a mechman 320A with small pully. all wires are soldered and crimped and all grounds have been upgraded.

should i add my factory alt back into the system or add more batteries OR isolate the vehicle electrical? i do not drop below 13V on my gauge regardless of how much i crank the system. i was thinking that an option may be to add a cap and a diode isolation from my batteries to my factory fuse distro center. my thinking is this would allow for smooth power to be supplied to my factory equipment with out the stereo pulling power from it. total power required for the vehicle to operate while running is about 35-40A.

thoughts?

[B-Sh0t]

Have you done the big 3? Pix of under hood may be helpful. you have plenty of alt to run what you have proper and then some unless you are clipping the hell out of the amp or have a bad power/ ground connection or bottleneck.

[ncc74656]

i will need to take new pics as the ones i have are all of the old setup. but here it is from passenger side engine bay over and back to amps.

group 49 battery with marine terminals, 3/0ga ground to block (factory), 4ga ground to body (ofc), 1/0ga ground to frame (ofc), 0ga ground to alt (ofc):: 0ga power to alt (ofc), 0ga power to 3/8" plate of copper on driver side (cca):: driver side battery:: 0ga power to 3/8" copper plate:: 0ga ground to frame (cca), 4ga ground to body (ofc), 0ga ground to block (cca), 4/0GA starter power wire (factory)::Fuse block (3/8" copper plate):: 2 0ga inputs from both batteries, 350A, 700A, 200A fuse ouputs, 350A ANL fuse to 0ga (ofc) along 14' to kicker kx2500.1, 700A 3/0ga (ofc) power wire to recovery winch, 200A 0ga (cca) to small distro block (4 8ga outs) 10' run ::distro block:: 4ga out to eclipse amp (ofc) 4' run, 8ga out to audiobahn 3' run (ofc), 15ga out to relay for remote on and 20ga out to KX3. kx2500.1 grounded via 2' 0ga run to frame rail (cca), audiobahn grounded via 8ga (cca) run to rear seat body mount, eclipse grounded to other side of rear seat body mount via 8ga kicker wire.

[ncc74656]

i will need to take new pics as the ones i have are all of the old setup. but here it is from passenger side engine bay over and back to amps.

GROUND SIDE OF PASSENGER BATTERY: group 49 battery with marine terminals, 3/0ga ground to block (factory), 4ga ground to body (ofc), 1/0ga ground to frame (ofc), 0ga ground to alt (ofc) :

:POWER SIDE OF PASSENGER BATTERY: 0ga power to alt (ofc), 0ga power to 3/8" plate of copper on driver side (cca)::

:POWER SIDE OF DRIVER BATTERY: group 49 with marine terminals. driver side battery:: 0ga power to 3/8" copper plate:

:GROUND SIDE OF DRIVER BATTERY : 0ga ground to frame (cca), 4ga ground to body (ofc), 0ga ground to block (cca), 4/0GA starter power wire (factory)

:UNDER HOOD FUSE BLOCK:Fuse block (3/8" copper plate):: 2 0ga inputs from both batteries, 350A, 700A, 200A fuse ouputs, 350A ANL fuse to 0ga (ofc) along 14' to kicker kx2500.1, 700A 3/0ga (ofc) power wire to recovery winch, 200A 0ga (cca) to small distro block (4 8ga outs) 10' run.

:REAR OF CAB DISTRO BLOCK:distro block:: 4ga out to eclipse amp (ofc) 4' run, 8ga out to audiobahn 3' run (ofc), 15ga out to relay for remote on and 20ga out to KX3.

:AMP GROUNDS:: kx2500.1 grounded via 2' 0ga run to frame rail (cca), audiobahn grounded via 8ga (cca) run to rear seat body mount, eclipse grounded to other side of rear seat body mount via 8ga kicker wire.

[Skullz]

Did you disconnect any of the stock wiring that was there as you added the big 3 kit, if you removed anything that was stock, you will want to reconnect it and see how it goes.

Check every single connection, especially the one from the alt to the battery, pull on that fucker really hard as it should not pull the lugs off, and if it does you know that you found your problem.

[ncc74656]

ill double check. ALL connections are crimped and soldered. the frame grounds are bolted in with brass hardware

[ncc74656]

i rebuild a couple grounds and also added a 3rd frame ground to the passenger side. my voltage now stays steady at about 14 instead of 13 and so long as im over 1200rpm i seem to remain stable with the exception of long drawn out bass notes in which case i need to be over 1700rpm to hold at around 13.5. however my lights still dimm, i can have it at 1/2 volume and when the bass hits they dimm just the same at 600rpm as they do at 2500rpm.