dharris2488 Posted May 18, 2014 Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 Good morning everyone. I'm posting this because I was up until 2am diagnosing a voltage drop problem, after installing my additional battery bank (2 Advanced AutoParts Platinum AGM's, 2 in rear, 1 up front). After installing the bank, I went from 13.8 volts at idle, to 13.4. I was scratching my head saying WTF??? Now, my voltage drop steadied out drastically, but I still lost a critical .4 volts somewhere. I want it back! What happened??? Well, I checked all my grounds in the rear. One from negative battery post of one battery straight to amp. Another from same negative battery post to chassis. All good! Move to the front of my car to check what I thought was my Big 3, or 4 in my case. Checked the Chassis to Negative battery post, Good. Checked Alt to Bat Positive, Good. Checked Alt casing to battery negative, Good. I thought this would suffice as an Engine to Chassis ground, as it was tied into the same ground wire that came from my chassis. MAN WAS I WRONG!!!! I FINALLY located the braided wire that went from the top of my engine block to the chassis. I added a 12" piece of 1/0 OFC from engine block ground, straight to the strut tower. BAM!!! SOCK!!! BOOM!!! (Remember the old Batman episodes? Some may be to young to remember. Anyway, off point now. Damn ADHD!), my voltage immediately came up from 13.45 to 13.9! I gained .45 volts with the addition of that one wire! HELL TO THE YEAH!!!! Now, I will be adding a second ground in the rear from the second battery in the bank, to the chassis. That battery has no grounds coming off it, so I will give it a dedicated ground as well. Maybe I can gain another 1/10th or .2 and finally get my voltage over 14? I will be back later to confirm my results... Just thought I would post this to reiterate the IMPORTANCE of proper grounding. Everyone, myself included, is always concerned about POWER POWER POWER, while proper grounding always takes a backseat in our heads. At least it does in mine, and I am being brutally honest right now. I have now learned that your grounds are just as, if not more important than the actual positive runs in the car. I can't stress enough how important is to ground properly people. If this helps at least one person out there, then I'm glad I took the time to post this. Good luck out there! 2013 Toyota Camry SE 240a MechMan HO Alternator 1/0 Welding Flex Cable Big 3 CT Sounds 4000.1D Kenwood XR400-4 Mid/High Amp SoundQubed Q4-120 Mid Amp Infinity Kappa 6.5 components Kappa 6x9's for rear deck fill (coming out) (4) 8" PRV 8MB450's Set of SoundQubed SuperTweets (2) DSS Ethos 12's D2's @32.5hz (building 4th order enclosure) (2) SQ HDC3 10's @ 33.5hz (current build, loving them) Pioneer AVH-X4600BT 100 sq/ft Stinger RoadKill Sound Deadner 120 sq/ft QMat Sound Deadener (4) Juice Box Black Cherries Lots and Lots of feet of SHCA wire, along with 50' of Welding 1/0 2 Runs of 1/0 Positive front to back ToolMaker Everywhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evermaxx Posted May 18, 2014 Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 nice. just noticed your not far from me Team Subsonic Lows Get your garbage EMF products of my amp bitch Man....it makes a nice work bench Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowDrifter Posted May 18, 2014 Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 Glad you found it Although I have to wonder about your other connections in your big 3. Alt grounded to battery, battery grounded to chassis in the way you have it. Should do an adequate job. Makes me question the quality/location of your connections ~~~~~~~~SAY NO TO PHOTOBUCKET~~~~~~~~ Snow's DD-1 tracks here: https://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/topic/167433-snows-dd-1-tracks/ My take on OFC vs CCA: https://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/topic/110381-things-that-piss-you-off-in-the-car-audio-world/?do=findComment&comment=2461444 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dharris2488 Posted May 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 Glad you found it Although I have to wonder about your other connections in your big 3. Alt grounded to battery, battery grounded to chassis in the way you have it. Should do an adequate job. Makes me question the quality/location of your connections I'm definitely open to suggestions.... Like I mentioned, I've been rolling around with what I thought was the "correct" Big 3 or 4, coming to find out last night that it wasn't correct. If you have any suggestions on better places to ground to, i'm all ears. Appreciate any advise I can get. If it increases my voltage, even a 1/10th, it's worth it to me. 2013 Toyota Camry SE 240a MechMan HO Alternator 1/0 Welding Flex Cable Big 3 CT Sounds 4000.1D Kenwood XR400-4 Mid/High Amp SoundQubed Q4-120 Mid Amp Infinity Kappa 6.5 components Kappa 6x9's for rear deck fill (coming out) (4) 8" PRV 8MB450's Set of SoundQubed SuperTweets (2) DSS Ethos 12's D2's @32.5hz (building 4th order enclosure) (2) SQ HDC3 10's @ 33.5hz (current build, loving them) Pioneer AVH-X4600BT 100 sq/ft Stinger RoadKill Sound Deadner 120 sq/ft QMat Sound Deadener (4) Juice Box Black Cherries Lots and Lots of feet of SHCA wire, along with 50' of Welding 1/0 2 Runs of 1/0 Positive front to back ToolMaker Everywhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dharris2488 Posted May 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 Glad you found it Although I have to wonder about your other connections in your big 3. Alt grounded to battery, battery grounded to chassis in the way you have it. Should do an adequate job. Makes me question the quality/location of your connections Mechman told me to run the ground wire directly to the negative post on my battery terminal. That's why I did that... Run my positive alt to pos bat, and run another 1/0 run from bolt connection of bracket of alternator to the negative post of battery. If I need to make another run (say to chassis), while keeping the bracket run to negative post as Mechman recommended, I will consider it. 2013 Toyota Camry SE 240a MechMan HO Alternator 1/0 Welding Flex Cable Big 3 CT Sounds 4000.1D Kenwood XR400-4 Mid/High Amp SoundQubed Q4-120 Mid Amp Infinity Kappa 6.5 components Kappa 6x9's for rear deck fill (coming out) (4) 8" PRV 8MB450's Set of SoundQubed SuperTweets (2) DSS Ethos 12's D2's @32.5hz (building 4th order enclosure) (2) SQ HDC3 10's @ 33.5hz (current build, loving them) Pioneer AVH-X4600BT 100 sq/ft Stinger RoadKill Sound Deadner 120 sq/ft QMat Sound Deadener (4) Juice Box Black Cherries Lots and Lots of feet of SHCA wire, along with 50' of Welding 1/0 2 Runs of 1/0 Positive front to back ToolMaker Everywhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dharris2488 Posted May 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 nice. just noticed your not far from me What part of Houston? North side? 2013 Toyota Camry SE 240a MechMan HO Alternator 1/0 Welding Flex Cable Big 3 CT Sounds 4000.1D Kenwood XR400-4 Mid/High Amp SoundQubed Q4-120 Mid Amp Infinity Kappa 6.5 components Kappa 6x9's for rear deck fill (coming out) (4) 8" PRV 8MB450's Set of SoundQubed SuperTweets (2) DSS Ethos 12's D2's @32.5hz (building 4th order enclosure) (2) SQ HDC3 10's @ 33.5hz (current build, loving them) Pioneer AVH-X4600BT 100 sq/ft Stinger RoadKill Sound Deadner 120 sq/ft QMat Sound Deadener (4) Juice Box Black Cherries Lots and Lots of feet of SHCA wire, along with 50' of Welding 1/0 2 Runs of 1/0 Positive front to back ToolMaker Everywhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evermaxx Posted May 18, 2014 Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 I10 and hwy6 Team Subsonic Lows Get your garbage EMF products of my amp bitch Man....it makes a nice work bench Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dharris2488 Posted May 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 Gotcha... I'm on that side of town every once in a while. I make a few sales calls over their off Chronicle Rd. I think? Anyway, maybe we meet sometime at a local show sometime... 2013 Toyota Camry SE 240a MechMan HO Alternator 1/0 Welding Flex Cable Big 3 CT Sounds 4000.1D Kenwood XR400-4 Mid/High Amp SoundQubed Q4-120 Mid Amp Infinity Kappa 6.5 components Kappa 6x9's for rear deck fill (coming out) (4) 8" PRV 8MB450's Set of SoundQubed SuperTweets (2) DSS Ethos 12's D2's @32.5hz (building 4th order enclosure) (2) SQ HDC3 10's @ 33.5hz (current build, loving them) Pioneer AVH-X4600BT 100 sq/ft Stinger RoadKill Sound Deadner 120 sq/ft QMat Sound Deadener (4) Juice Box Black Cherries Lots and Lots of feet of SHCA wire, along with 50' of Welding 1/0 2 Runs of 1/0 Positive front to back ToolMaker Everywhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evermaxx Posted May 18, 2014 Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 For sure man. House Of Sounds is hosting an event June 29th Team Subsonic Lows Get your garbage EMF products of my amp bitch Man....it makes a nice work bench Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dharris2488 Posted May 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 For sure man. House Of Sounds is hosting an event June 29th Suppose I can find the info on the interwebz? I would like to attend the show... Thanks for the heads up. 2013 Toyota Camry SE 240a MechMan HO Alternator 1/0 Welding Flex Cable Big 3 CT Sounds 4000.1D Kenwood XR400-4 Mid/High Amp SoundQubed Q4-120 Mid Amp Infinity Kappa 6.5 components Kappa 6x9's for rear deck fill (coming out) (4) 8" PRV 8MB450's Set of SoundQubed SuperTweets (2) DSS Ethos 12's D2's @32.5hz (building 4th order enclosure) (2) SQ HDC3 10's @ 33.5hz (current build, loving them) Pioneer AVH-X4600BT 100 sq/ft Stinger RoadKill Sound Deadner 120 sq/ft QMat Sound Deadener (4) Juice Box Black Cherries Lots and Lots of feet of SHCA wire, along with 50' of Welding 1/0 2 Runs of 1/0 Positive front to back ToolMaker Everywhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.