too much power?

This is generally gonna wind up being a big 3 thread.

In my car I have a MMATS 1000.1D powering two 12" Alpine type R's.

So I'm workin with 1000w RMS. Enough to dim the headlights. I completely ruined my last battery with this system. (at the time I also had a JBL 75.4 II, and a stinger 1 Farad cap). I want to install the JBL 4 channel again, but I'm already worried that I'm working my electrical system too hard. My question is:

Does everybody who pushes 1000W RMS have to either:

-keep the volume down to prevent ruining their battery?

-upgrade their Big 3 to prevent ruining their battery?


Or is there possibly some OTHER variable that I can fix?


I've got a 0 ga power supply going to a 4 ga D Block. It comes from a stinger battery terminal and it's solid.

The ground could "possibly" use a little improvement, but I know that won't solve the problem. It's a 3 ft 4ga wire, and it's got a pretty solid connection too.

In school I learned about this technique where you run a ground wire from your battery to your alternator, to your block, then to your chassis, then back to your battery again or something like that... can anybody explain that in detail because I heard, and heard in detail why it works wonders for stereos and also improves horsepower by giving fuel injectors a much better power supply. I just can't remember it all clearly. I do remember it sounding absolutely brilliant though.

And on this topic... My head unit is an audiovox in dash dvd player. It dims dramatically at high volumes when the bass hits. That's not pimp. I spliced into the factory ground wire and added a new ground to the chassis, and it may have helped a little... okay it did help a tiny bit, but not enough.

Mainly what I'm lookin for is some advice from people who already have dealt with these problems and know exactly what I should be looking for/fixing. I envision a ridiculous amount of troubleshooting otherwise. I know the problem isn't worth all that.

Do I absolutely need to upgrade my big 3? Is my head unit always going to dim no matter what? Does everyone with 1000W RMS have to upgrade big 3 to prevent my problem?


thanks in advance,
Rick

For me I was dimming (radio and lights) at 250 wrms (I think) and when I changed my amp to the pa I automatically did the big 3. It solved the lights but tonight I noticed very faint radio dimming. I am also running at 440 wrms now too. So I would do the big 3 just to be safe. I got all of my wires from walmart for really cheap. Thank god for clearanced starter wires. But that thing you learned would have to go from negative to alt casing (not the output cause that could cause fire) from casing to engine from engine to body then to negative. Which is almost exactly the same as the big 3 but your adding in the alt part.

Nope I was running over 1200 wrms on stock electrical an I too have an In-dash, but only at idle was i dimming headlights SLIGHTLY but my HU never dimmed but it may be a quality issue(either product because Audiovox is not, or install). Just do the big 3...its cheap...no reason not too. Also upgrade to a dry cell battery. Should be fine then with only 1kw. I dunno about the grounding routine you mentioned...but I'm sure it doesnt effect the way the FI work or flow. In my past race prepped auto's FI flow was monitered by computer an tuned that way, so they perform how commanded.

I would suggest working with your alternator. Going that route, your options are tweaking your alt for more power if it's externally regulated, buying a new high output, (H.O.), alt if you can't tweak it, or rewinding your current alt if finding a H.O. alt for your vehicle is too hard/expensive or too involved as far as fabricating parts to make it fit.

That's my suggestions.....

thanks guys, good shit

I know this is alittle old but Rick hyper voltage and hyper grounding kits (kinda like the big 3 but are on newer race cars mainly tuner cars) have shown about 2.5 or so increase in horsepower per kit. So basically if you was to recreate one of those kits it should help you out power wise.

I dunno about the grounding routine you mentioned...but I'm sure it doesnt effect the way the FI work or flow. In my past race prepped auto's FI flow was monitered by computer an tuned that way, so they perform how commanded.

I guess what I should have said was that the FI's would work more effieciently, providing more power for other stuff. I don't know much about engines, so I can't explain it, but I do have a good understanding of electrical issues, and when I heard the explanation of this technique, it was absolutely brilliant, and I was told that it showed gains of UP TO 10 HP on the dyno.

I was told this by my instructors at the Installer's Institute in Daytona Beach. I'm sure they wouldn't have told us if it was hear say. But I'm also sure that I don't understand it completely anymore, so I probably explained it wrong.

I guess what I should have said was that the FI's would work more effieciently, providing more power for other stuff. I don't know much about engines, so I can't explain it, but I do have a good understanding of electrical issues, and when I heard the explanation of this technique, it was absolutely brilliant, and I was told that it showed gains of UP TO 10 HP on the dyno.

I was told this by my instructors at the Installer's Institute in Daytona Beach. I'm sure they wouldn't have told us if it was hear say. But I'm also sure that I don't understand it completely anymore, so I probably explained it wrong.

Not heard wrong. I think JUN auto offers hyper grounding and voltage kits...google it and check it out.

With a 1kW amp you will definitely want a high output alternator. When your amp is producing 1kW you will draw 83 amps at 12 volt (battery alone) and 69 amp at 14.4 (alternator + battery) volts using ohm's law. This does not take into account the power required for lights, recharging from starting or running systems like ABS.