headunit problem

ok heres my new problem first of all i got my car started and at home now (thank god was in a bad area were it was parked) but whenever my subs hit hard or the rpm's go under 1k my headunit shuts off and then comes back on. is this b/c the unit is shot or b/c of bad wiring

how much power are you running to make those subs slap? It sounds like your alternator isn't putting out enough amperage to support the power demand that you system requires..

600 watts but that wouldn't make the headunit turn off when it goes below 1k rpm when the music is off

that sounds more like a wiring issue, maybe a bad connection somewhere. check your ground and the 12v source...

Yeah a bad connection makes sense to me. If it was a weak alternator you would just drain the battery till the car would not want to start. Make sure your power (dist. block) and grounds are connected very well.

nope nope nope. You don't have enough power going to your amp. sub hits hard, drains lots of power from alternator, as result, rpms go down and amp cuts off. all amps will cut off when they recieve less voltage than they require. just like when I didn't have a capacitor, my battery was draining, when it got down to a constant 10 volts my amp would cut off, I would have to reset it by turning the car off then back on. Sounds to me that you just don't have enough power coming from your alternator to support your system. Get a bigger alternator. Also, make sure that your amp isn't a piece of shit. Just about all the the cheaper amps (like the ones that advertise 6000watts for $40, non-brand name) pull a shitload of voltage and also make a lot of heat. They are not designed well; you get what you pay for. I would get a capacitor, 1 farad. When you sub hits, check you voltage gauge on the dash (not sure if 80's Camaros have that. if not, get a voltmeter) if your charging system is in good shape the meter will stay around 12-14volts constantly, if it is around 9-11volts then you need to get a new alternator (maybe new battery, but probably not). There is a possiblility that you've got a couple of wires switched somewhere (positive with negative) or grounding issues, that is causing the problem, but I don't think that is likely. Normally that tye of problem doesn't cause that big of a problem. I say more power.

How long have you had your system? A few months is normally the longest you'll have it before it starts to kill the charging system if there is insuffiecient power. Have you changed anything recently?

600w isnt going to drain his alternator...

600w isnt going to drain his alternator...

sure it can...

get a 1 farad cap and retest

yeah i bet its the alternator

I have a system running at 2000 watts without a cap for about a year now, beyond a slight dim in the headlights I haven't had any problems with it. I had always planned to get a cap but never got around to doing it.

my brothers trans am is doing that same thing, but his does it when he turns it up loud like it overloads the cd player. its a durabrand, it worked fine, but its got a 200 watt sony explode hooked to it and 2 10 inch subs.

I had a 600watt amp with no cap and it didn't do that. I think either the amp has gone bad or there's a bad wiring issue.

that doesnt mean he didnt have a bad alternator in the first place though.

You need a new alternator soon. First check your wires and make sure everything is correct. Its weird that your RPMS affect your radio. If all wires are connected right the next step would be your altenator. 600w can be a load if you have a small altenator.. If you replace your altenator get a good one and a strong battery.. caps do help but are not needed. hope you find the problem good luck

i think it's your GROUND on the back of ur cd player not making good enough connection.

i think your WRONG :)

well i already have a cap and the rpms don't go down when the subs it if the amp turned off the headunit would still stay on but the whole thing looses power (as in all the lights in headunit turn off then back on) and it only seems to do it when it rains

well you should have said that in the first place. then yes i can jump on board with the alternator, but i would also double check the cap and amp grounds. it only does it in the rain because you have so many more accesories on, like wipers headlights and de-fogger (assuming). i dont think your alternator is bad, just that you need a higher output one. do you know what current alternator you have now?

prolly 105 amps i think thats what the stock one is

do you have an advance auto around you? if you do, they do alternator testing for free...

I do not believe it is the alt. You can run a system off of the battery JUST FINE for an hour with no problems. I am starting to think some of you guys don't know how a vehicle electrical system actually works. Sure a capacitor will store energy for big base hits but I don't know a single one of my buddies that had a 600w +- system and needed one. He could have too small of wires being run or a bad connection in the circuit. The first and best thing to do is purchase a multimeter and learn how to use it.

A 600w amplifier on a 12 volt system would use 50 amps. The average car battery is 500-700 cold cranking amps (not even talking about max amps here!). So if I were you I would run the stereo with only the battery. If you can't do that all by itself then there is a problem. You should be able to run that system with just the battery for quite some time. Take the battery and get it load tested (if you are so sure your wiring is fine). I think you have a bad part or wire connection somewhere. GL.

I know my electrical systems. I work on them all the time. but its kinda hard to tell what it is with out any numbers...

yeah, you have to remember that electrical problems are the most difficult to diagnose, and we are trying to diagnose them over the internet, with out direct communication or presence of mind...

I have this tool called the AutoMeter. It tests the battery, alternator, and starter. its a neat little tool.