So far in my 2001 Ford Windstar I have:

 

2 Alpine Type Rs

Hifonics Brutus 1200 mono at 1 ohm

Kinetik HC1800 under the hood

Big three upgrade

0/1 gauge wire

 

I just had a new 250 amp alternator installed. After hooking up the radio my lights STILL dim and looks as though the amp is dipping. Why am I still having this problem? I thought I had gone through all necessary steps but I guess I'm missing something? What is next a second battery? Any help or input greatly appreciated. -CHRIS

alternator is no substitute for reserve ( battery )

 

 other then that i would say check all your connections again.. also where are you grounded in the rear..

Check all connections. did you sand the paint off on your grounds? Rust can build up over time. And how low does voltage drop... lights aren't always the best indicator.

As stated, check all connections including power and especially grounds.  I always sand off paint and primer and use bolt, star washers, lock washer, and nut through the FRAME, when at all possible.  I also then apply some type of protectant over the connection to prevent corrosion and/or rust.

 

If all connections are very good and you still have the issue, I would then look at the possibility of a 2nd battery.  If you have a multi-meter, check the voltage at the terminal on the amp with the music playing and see what kind of a voltage drop you are looking at.  I would do this both BEFORE and AFTER I did anything to the connections to see if I had made a difference.

 

Good Luck.

Hey guys thanks to everyone for the replies. As far as connections go, all my ends are crimped not soldered (working on this), and my ground I am using is the frame where one of the bucket seats go. I scraped the piss out of it to bare metal too. I should be more specific as I only noticed dimming of the headlights as someone mentioned above. I have ordered an Xscorpion voltage readout and when that comes I could understand the problem better. Car audio can be such a headache sometimes ugh lol.

who made the alt and what is it's specs?

 

What does your battery rest at when the vehicle hasn't been started in 3hrs?

 

Does your lights dim when driving over ~40mph?

who made the alt and what is it's specs?

 

What does your battery rest at when the vehicle hasn't been started in 3hrs?

 

Does your lights dim when driving over ~40mph?

 

Hey schizzon my alternator was bought from ebay from highampspecialist. It is a 240 amp 12v-14v alternator but I just assume its a no name brand. Next time I drive I will see if they dim over 40. I just assumed with only 2 12s and 1 amp all these power issues would be solved with just a basic upgrade. I never would have thought I would need 100s of dollars worth of electrical equipment.

The issue comes in that an alternator cannot react as fast as your bass can hit, so the bass will start and .25-.50 second later the alternator starts really making power.

That small time gap is enough to cause dimming. That is the reason batteries are so important to help with that buffer and offer a reserve.

And only with that, say your car need 100 amps to run, that means you only have 140amp allocated to the system. You can kill that with the sub amp alone. Your after market radio pulls more power. Any lighting. Highs amp. All that add more pull. So you end up pulling more then your alternator can put back.


 

As others have stated, adding even a small battery in the back will probably fix your problems. This is of course assuming the "no name" alt is not made poorly. I would suggest having a rear battery for anything over 500W RMS to be honest.

Thanks again for the replies. I have checked all my grounds and connections it seems like stated above it could be the alternator is made poorly. Can somebody please reccomend me a company that can build me an alternator for my 2001 Ford Windstar Minivan? My amp is now going into protect which leads me to believe I am clipping.

http://store.soundsolutionsaudio.com/categories/electrical/alternators/mechman.html

http://store.soundsolutionsaudio.com/categories/electrical/alternators/mechman.html

 

Thanks jon but do you know which one fits my 3.0 liter v6 2001 ford windstar?

Edited April 6, 201312 yr by Chris1309ny

http://store.soundsolutionsaudio.com/categories/electrical/alternators/mechman.html

Thanks jon but do you know which one fits my 3.0 liter v6 2001 ford windstar?

Check with DC, singer, and mechman. If u cand find anything on their website then ask them for a quote

Tenney and Ohio gen you could look into as well.

Is it just a split second dimm or it goes down and stays dimm?

 

You need to take some voltage readings at front bat,

 and at the amp.