thizzkid

ok so i done some trouble shooting to figure out why im still getting voltage drops, light dimming, and why my subs turn off when i play heavy bass songs, and this is what i came across so today i measured for bad grounds, first i measured the battery with the car off, 12.6volts. secound i measured from the neg side of batt to chassis ground, got 0.01 as a reading on the DMM, so that means mininum resistance which is good right? i turned my car on, turned on the wiper blades front and rear, turned high beams and headlights on, and put my heater on MAX i put my HU to about 26/35 and measured the battery and it never went less than 13volts so with everything still on, i measured the power cable and ground cable AT THE AMP, same reading 13-14 volts this is the part where im confused, so with all that being done, my lights still dim, and when the heavy bass drops when im driving and listening to music, my amp seems like it cut offs, but the green light always stays on, so really its just my subs that cut off for like 1-3 seconds so is it a bad ground at the amp? i have 17 feet of power cable and im running 1200 watts, do i need to upgrade my power wire to 2 gauge? Should i be worried that this will ruin my amp? heres a little background info -1995 ford explorer -130-140 amp alternator -BIG 3, 4 gauge everywhere -4 gauge amp kit from ebay -Hifonics BXI1210D 1200 watts at 1 ohm -2 12" pioneer subs -kenwood mpc 205 HU, 2 volt pre-outs thanks guys for all feed back

great thanks

anyone care to revise what all this means?

bump?

= (

bump? what do you meaan M5?

im just want to set my amp the right way so im lookin for people in my area

i dont know if this is the right spot to post, but i was just wondering if there is anyone out in northern cali, the bay area, or near the vallejo/fairfield area, that has a O-scope that can charge me to set my gains on my amp. the right way?

???

another thing i forgot to mention is that when i measured for voltage drops at the neg and positive post at the battery, not only did i use my DMM, i used my diehard 950 portable battery, with voltage display and i used it just like the voltmeter, placed the clamps on the post to measure voltage drops, and its reading was the same aswell, so out of curiosity do you think that the portable battery can detect voltage drops, or would it be in the same category as the DMM, which it cant read voltage drops since it has really fast voltage spikes? Heres the link to the pic of my portable battery to show you guys what im talkin about picture

so what should i do? if my DMM cant read voltage drops, how can i be able to even set my gain? whats the point in even using a DMM if my amp is clipping at the rated power it claims, and if so how would i know setting it at 1000 watts is really going to be set at 1000 watts if my meter cant read it? from what every said about me set-up i thought i would be ok, but what your telling me is making me really nervous

ok so whats not picking up the voltage drop? my meter? im at a 1 ohm load so 1200 watt rms at 1 ohm is 34.46volts are you trieng to say that right now my amp and subs is clipping? please explain clearer, thanks again though for the feed back

with the harbor freight tool DMM, i used that to set my gains, just turned the dial to 200 ACV and measured for 34.0 no aftermarket lights, just stock

all soldered, thanks though

sweet thanks guys

thanks again guys for the help, so should i measure my amp ground with a DMM to see if its faulty? if so, please if you can do so nicely direct me on how to measure it. do you guys think my amp will be alright? i dont want to loose my baby.

and in case your wondering, this is my air compressor, you cant see my alternator, since its on the other side of the engine block. You cant see the bolt on the pic, but its a little below the pic

Just wondering, when connecting from engine block to chassis ground, can I mount from the air compressor bolt to chassis ground? the air compressor is all metal, so i assume its grounded, since it lays on top of the engine. thanks in advance

great, my chassis ground is all metal no paint on it, my car is a 95' ford explorer btw. thanks guys for the feed back

so will using the air compressor be as effective as the alternator, or even a effective at all?

thanks guys, for the help

hi everyone, i want to upgrade my current subs into something with more SPL, and SQ if possible OVERVIEW: -2 12" pioneer ts-W308D4 rated 400 wrms per-sub -Hifonics BXI-1210D, 1 ohm load to subs, so subs are seeing 1200 wrms, 600 wrms per sub -both subs are in a ported box that looks like this Dual ported sub box so which set of subs should i get that can actually take 600 wrms per sub? Starting from budget subs to higher grade? if i bought 2 kicker 08 CVR 15" to use for my amp, would my setup be louder and deeper than my 2 12"s? thanks for the feedback everyone

hi guys this is my set-up, I purchased a new hifonics BXI1210D from vminovations to connect to my set of pioneer ts308D4 at 1 ohm in a dual ported box, should i be alright? any tips in makin my install better? Any good ideas on setting the gain or any other settings? current set up on my Ford 1995 Explorer 4 dr -kenwood mpc205 HU with 2volts at the sub preout -2 12" 308D4 pioneer 400rms each, final impedance is 1 ohm -Ported box at 1.65-1.70 cu per chamber (rough estimate) -4 gauge wiring from ebay -1000 cold cranking amp everstart battery from walmart -partial big 3, 4 gauge from + battery to + on alternator -80 amp fuse 12 inches from battery -level 1/2 up, LPF 1/3 up, SUBsonic filter 1/2 up -stock alternator -stock speakers my HU maxes out at 35, and when i turn my volume up to like 25, with my headlamps start to dim, when the bass drops, so I think i should complete the BIG 3 and hopefully this will go away right? if not i want to get a 3-6 farad capacitor, I hear alot of people talkin down on capacitors, saying that it will cause more stress on my electrical system, but i hear alot of people saying that it cures light dimming problem, so whats the issue behind this guys? thanks for any feedback in advance guys

As for the tuning of my box, i currently dont know what it is, i can give you measurements, length width, height, etc. my original post at the top has a link to a pic of my box. As for budget, like i said, im willing to spend around 200-350 dollars for subwoofer, if i buy 15"s im going to have to spend money on a box aswell

well my budget on a pair of subs either 2 12"s or 2 15"s is $200-$350 i started off with pioneer budget woofers, what would be the next step up? kickers? Sundown? RE? FI? DD? lets just say i have adequate room. My car is a 1995 4 door ford explorer, so i have enough room in the back for 2 12s, or budget 2 15s right?