Audio Question - Alternator
06-11-2004, 02:07 PM
#1
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I just bought two 15" Diamond Audio CM3's for my tib. They used to be in a Lincoln Mark 8 and the guy said it hit 148.? twice. It's running on a bd500 amp 40htz. I love the sound... rattled both of my license plate screws out last night :ermm: one was lost on the road, and the other fell out in the parking lot.
I'm worried about cracking the fiberglass molding on my rear bumper... I need dynomat badly (never had a need until now).
My question is this:
The guy I bought it from said he lost 2 alternators in his Lincoln because of the subs. How would the Tiburon alternator hold up with these two 15" subs? My interior dome lights dimmed to almost nothing last night when it was hitting I don't really feel like replacing the alt too often. The box is built to Diamond specs, it's 6 cu. ft. sealed and the subs are hitting into the spare tire well (box is just upside-down with spare-tire well cover and tire removed).
Question #2: Would getting a 1 Farad capacitor protect my alternator or just lessen the likelihood that it'd die?
Question #3: I have the remote(signal) wire soldered to the wiring harness and connected to the amp. I tried it on two different amps, and the same thing happens. Even when my car is off, I have constant power going to the amp. What could I be doing wrong?
I'm worried about cracking the fiberglass molding on my rear bumper... I need dynomat badly (never had a need until now).
My question is this:
The guy I bought it from said he lost 2 alternators in his Lincoln because of the subs. How would the Tiburon alternator hold up with these two 15" subs? My interior dome lights dimmed to almost nothing last night when it was hitting I don't really feel like replacing the alt too often. The box is built to Diamond specs, it's 6 cu. ft. sealed and the subs are hitting into the spare tire well (box is just upside-down with spare-tire well cover and tire removed).
Question #2: Would getting a 1 Farad capacitor protect my alternator or just lessen the likelihood that it'd die?
Question #3: I have the remote(signal) wire soldered to the wiring harness and connected to the amp. I tried it on two different amps, and the same thing happens. Even when my car is off, I have constant power going to the amp. What could I be doing wrong?
06-11-2004, 02:55 PM
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GET DYNAMAT NOW!!!!!!!!
if the subs are really hitting that hard you may want to do 2 or more layers of extreme.......another possibility is to aim them thru the back seats.....that will allieviate some of the air pressure on your molded body panels.
1.) Its not the subs that'll destroy your alt. its the amp and the current being pulled. Easy fix........buy an amp (lower power) that still meets the minimum RMS requirements of the subs. On another note.......he may have still been using the stock alt., there are upgraded ones that are compatible w/ tibs......but i dont remember where to find them....try searching on HP. I Read about them a couple of places there. Real-Engineering also has one made by tigerlilly at 160 amps. but i dont know the price or what car its for (but most of his stuff is geared towards tibs).....try pm'ing rick/racereal.
2.) Caps do have a place in some systems but will never be a replacement for an up-rated alt.
3.) Its probably soldered to the wrong wire......say the one that keeps the time on the clock correct. You need it to be on one that only gets power when BOTH the head unit AND the ignition are on, not one or the other, but BOTH.
Contact MADTIB......hes an audio guy and could probably answer the questions more thoroughly than i did.
if the subs are really hitting that hard you may want to do 2 or more layers of extreme.......another possibility is to aim them thru the back seats.....that will allieviate some of the air pressure on your molded body panels.
1.) Its not the subs that'll destroy your alt. its the amp and the current being pulled. Easy fix........buy an amp (lower power) that still meets the minimum RMS requirements of the subs. On another note.......he may have still been using the stock alt., there are upgraded ones that are compatible w/ tibs......but i dont remember where to find them....try searching on HP. I Read about them a couple of places there. Real-Engineering also has one made by tigerlilly at 160 amps. but i dont know the price or what car its for (but most of his stuff is geared towards tibs).....try pm'ing rick/racereal.
2.) Caps do have a place in some systems but will never be a replacement for an up-rated alt.
3.) Its probably soldered to the wrong wire......say the one that keeps the time on the clock correct. You need it to be on one that only gets power when BOTH the head unit AND the ignition are on, not one or the other, but BOTH.
Contact MADTIB......hes an audio guy and could probably answer the questions more thoroughly than i did.
06-11-2004, 03:20 PM
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another thing you might want to invest in is a yellowtop battery. its deep cycle so its made to better handle being drained then recharged without losing the original amount of power it could hold.
and a 1 farad cap probabyl isnt gonna do that much to eleviate the stress put on your alternator, it will help, but not as much as youd expect.
and for the dynomat Q, i say go thru these guys http://www.secondskinaudio.com/secondskin.html i got 20 feet in my trunk and wow what a difference, and 20 ft isnt that much at all, they are really good guys to deal with too, when i ordered this they were a week late on my order and said with my next purchase ill get 50% off, and i didnt have to ask!
heres link that wil lget you their products even cheaper cuz they're running a summer sale right now to previous customers http://www.secondskinaudio.com/specialpricing.html
hope that helps.
and a 1 farad cap probabyl isnt gonna do that much to eleviate the stress put on your alternator, it will help, but not as much as youd expect.
and for the dynomat Q, i say go thru these guys http://www.secondskinaudio.com/secondskin.html i got 20 feet in my trunk and wow what a difference, and 20 ft isnt that much at all, they are really good guys to deal with too, when i ordered this they were a week late on my order and said with my next purchase ill get 50% off, and i didnt have to ask!
heres link that wil lget you their products even cheaper cuz they're running a summer sale right now to previous customers http://www.secondskinaudio.com/specialpricing.html
hope that helps.
06-11-2004, 03:31 PM
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Who is from the UK
QUOTE
Question #3: I have the remote(signal) wire soldered to the wiring harness and connected to the amp. I tried it on two different amps, and the same thing happens. Even when my car is off, I have constant power going to the amp. What could I be doing wrong?
When the car is off,is the hu lighting still on? When you turn on the hu do you notice that the clock,FM station presets,and other stored info is no longer stored? Answer me this,and I'll have a better idea of what's up.I have a couple ideas now,but wanna be sure.
06-11-2004, 06:30 PM
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the head unit is off when the car is off. I am able to push a button to eject the CD or something, but no lights are on or anything.
All head unit info is still stored when I turn it back on (presets, clock, etc).
I tried touching the signal wire to the other available wires, but it doesn't do anything. There aren't many unused wires, so I'm guessing it's the right one, but obviously not.
I was considering getting a Blue Top Optima to match the engine. Is a replacement alternator necessary? Will proper grounding, large enough cap, and Optima battery work? I want to know exactly what will save me from buying alternators every couple months. What size capacitor would you guys recommend? How big is our stock alt?
All head unit info is still stored when I turn it back on (presets, clock, etc).
I tried touching the signal wire to the other available wires, but it doesn't do anything. There aren't many unused wires, so I'm guessing it's the right one, but obviously not.
I was considering getting a Blue Top Optima to match the engine. Is a replacement alternator necessary? Will proper grounding, large enough cap, and Optima battery work? I want to know exactly what will save me from buying alternators every couple months. What size capacitor would you guys recommend? How big is our stock alt?
06-11-2004, 06:47 PM
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It sounds like you are using a continous 12v wire for the remote amp turn on.Are you using the factory hu or aftermarket? If you are using aftermarket,there should be a solid blue wire(maybe blue with a white stripe,don't recall exactly) that is used to turn on the amps.The name of it is 'amplifier remote turn on'.If you are using the factory hu,then you need to find the ignition 12v wire that turns it on,and tap into that for the amp.It's either that or get a line out converter that generates a turn on voltage.
Alts for us are 90A,which is so-so. What is the RMS and Peak/max power rating of your amp??
Alts for us are 90A,which is so-so. What is the RMS and Peak/max power rating of your amp??
06-11-2004, 08:07 PM
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I'm not sure on the specs... it's an RF bd500
It's an aftermarket HU... Sony CDX-M630
It's connected to a blue wire, not sure if it has a white stripe or not.
I touched the remote wire to all the other wires to see if it'd work (turn the amp on at least) but it didn't.
It's an aftermarket HU... Sony CDX-M630
It's connected to a blue wire, not sure if it has a white stripe or not.
I touched the remote wire to all the other wires to see if it'd work (turn the amp on at least) but it didn't.
QUOTE
Stardust class ultra high efficiency
Adjustable 24dB LP crossover
Remote variable Punch Bass
1 Channel
#5 Heatsink
RMS Power 4ohms 300x1
RMS Power 2ohms 500x1
Adjustable 24dB LP crossover
Remote variable Punch Bass
1 Channel
#5 Heatsink
RMS Power 4ohms 300x1
RMS Power 2ohms 500x1
06-11-2004, 08:37 PM
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I don't understand what other wires you touched it to.There's only one wire it needs to go to,and that's the one you laid under the carpet going back to the amp for the remote turn on.
You'd be better off using a voltmeter to check wires with.It's not good practise to be touching wires to each other,especially if you don't know what they do.
You'd be better off using a voltmeter to check wires with.It's not good practise to be touching wires to each other,especially if you don't know what they do.
06-11-2004, 10:00 PM
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Okay,so one of them should only have power when the hu is on.
As for the power.......................A 1F cap, make sure you have the proper gauge power and ground,Optima batt,and you may want to do the under hood power cable upgrade known as 'the big 3'.After that if things aren't good enough,then look at a 120a or greater alt.
Also just a FYI....................deep cycle batteries can be drained pretty low and brought back to life.But, you can't drain and recharge an infinite amount of times.I don't remember now, but it might be like 10 or 20 times.The main positive to using a deep cycle is that it has an extreamly low internal resistance, so the battery is able to put out alot of current pretty quick.
As for the power.......................A 1F cap, make sure you have the proper gauge power and ground,Optima batt,and you may want to do the under hood power cable upgrade known as 'the big 3'.After that if things aren't good enough,then look at a 120a or greater alt.
Also just a FYI....................deep cycle batteries can be drained pretty low and brought back to life.But, you can't drain and recharge an infinite amount of times.I don't remember now, but it might be like 10 or 20 times.The main positive to using a deep cycle is that it has an extreamly low internal resistance, so the battery is able to put out alot of current pretty quick.