The big three questions

[sittdogg 0]

I did 2 of the big three on my car, the alt. to battery wire and the battery to body ground, both with 4ga wire. I didn't replace the battery to engine ground because the stock wire looks 4ga already.

It seems now like there's either no effect or even worse voltage drop and dimming than before. Any input on what may be wrong. Do I need to shorten the wires more there is a few inches of slack, or maybe replace the stock 4ga wire any I did the right wires right?

[emperorjj1 2]

is it louder? either u somehow didnt get good connections and or made the stock ones worse. or your amp is just sucking more juice

[Booosh 0]

Well I wouldnt use anything smaller than 2/0. As for the slack you want to take out at much as possible because the longer the cables the more resistance

[F3RR3T 1]

Well I wouldnt use anything smaller than 2/0. As for the slack you want to take out at much as possible because the longer the cables the more resistance

a few inches of slack is good.

seeing that the engine does torque side to side somewhat. and you dont want tension on the wires

[KU40 173]

did you remember to sand the paint off the points where you grounded to the body?

[ford302redneck 15]

I did 2 of the big three on my car, the alt. to battery wire and the battery to body ground, both with 4ga wire. I didn't replace the battery to engine ground because the stock wire looks 4ga already.

It seems now like there's either no effect or even worse voltage drop and dimming than before. Any input on what may be wrong. Do I need to shorten the wires more there is a few inches of slack, or maybe replace the stock 4ga wire any I did the right wires right?

When I did my big 3, I didn't notice a change either, but it did make me feel better on the inside.

[///M5 2,833]

You haven't really given us a lot to go on, my guess is your perceptions or your install isn't right. Knowing what amps you have would help as well.

[sittdogg 0]

Yes, I scraped the contact points to the metal. There is not overly to much slack, but easily 5-8 inches xtra. I have a 95 pontiac bonneville sse. The amp I am running is an Alpine mrd-m1005 running 1000 watts RMS at 2 ohm to an Alpine 15" type R r1542d, in obcon sealed box(1in. MDF). The fuse to the amp is a 80 amp. I believe the alternator is either a 105 amp or a 125.

The guy that sold me the car said he installed a 125 amp right before he sold it to me, but I'm not sure it the truth. I am eventually going to install a 140 amp alt. and a battcap. Not to mention eventually an amp for my highs and much more cusomizing and fabrication.

[helotaxi 46]

What size wire did you use for your primary amp power? What grounding point are you using for it? Did you ground the battery to the same point on the sheetmetal as the block was already grounded?

I wouldn't worry about the alt, it should be more than enough for that amp plus a mid-high amp. The battery will help the dimming more.

[johnecon2001 82]

The fact that you upgraded the power wires and not the ground wire is the problem right there.

You can't do that and expect things to get better. Finish the job.

[jonbearsmt 919]

The fact that you upgraded the power wires and not the ground wire is the problem right there.

You can't do that and expect things to get better. Finish the job.

thats what i was thinking.

[emperorjj1 2]

he did do the ground thou... batt ground just not ground to the engine.

The one that makes the most difference is the batt ground

[helotaxi 46]

Of course if the point the battery was grounded to (or more correctly the point on the chassis that was grounded to the battery) has a shitty electrical connection to the point where the amp was grounded, it's worthless, too.

[johnecon2001 82]

he did do the ground thou... batt ground just not ground to the engine.

The one that makes the most difference is the batt ground

I would beg to differ this point. The Engine block to chassis is probably the most important. That's essentially the alternator ground point. Alternator grounds to the engine... where do you think it goes from there?

[emperorjj1 2]

true but the battery is inline from the alternator. if your alt ground is the chit but the batt ground is some corroded 10g then that alt ground isnt doing much good

[helotaxi 46]

Actually nothing is "inline" with anything. The battery and alt are wired in parallel. If either ground is crap the system as a whole will suffer, but a bad connection between the battery and the chassis will limit the battery contribution to the electrical system for any component that uses a chassis ground. Same for the alt if the block ground is bad. The battery connection is most important for transients.

My current car (for the next week until I sell it at least) has a 4ga ground for the battery to the fender and it really isn't relevant for the power delivery for the amps because I don't use a chassis ground. The battery to block connection is 1/0 and the battery to alt wire is 1/0 as well.

[sittdogg 0]

Sorry for the late replies, I had some family emergencies happen this last couple weeks. I will go ahead and change the engine ground, It's probably not a 4ga just looks likt it.

I think it's like one guy here already said, I think it seems a bit louder then before, I think the amp is just sucking more juice.

I will eventually update my profile and change my pics. Now for some upgrades like a cap or batcap, trunk modifications, and possibly custom ported box. I may even a year from now add another 1000 watt rms alpine amp for SPL comp only, then a 140 amp alt.

[helotaxi 46]

Save your money on the cap and get a better battery.