Last question for a while from me:

At what point should I be using a capacitor?
Aside from my project that I've been asking about, I have a friend who
wants me to put a system together for him. He'll be pumping a ten and
a twelve with about 300 watts rms total (150 each) at 2 ohms. It'll be
in a power-everything type of car, and I'm just hoping to avoid
instrument panel and headlight dimming...

Suggestions?
Mister.Lull

Use the biggest gauge wire you can afford and you won't need a cap.
They don't do much.

Use the biggest gauge wire you can afford and you won't need a cap.
They don't do much.

The wiring has absolutely nothing to do with the degree to which the
headlights/instrument cluster will dim.

Last question for a while from me:

At what point should I be using a capacitor?
Aside from my project that I've been asking about, I have a friend who
wants me to put a system together for him. He'll be pumping a ten and
a twelve with about 300 watts rms total (150 each) at 2 ohms. It'll be
in a power-everything type of car, and I'm just hoping to avoid
instrument panel and headlight dimming...

Suggestions?

It's very difficult to predict. I suggest you read the capacitor section of
the FAQ, starting he

http://www.mobileaudio.com/rac-faq/rac-faq_2.html#SEC22

MZ,

You have proven yourself, in my book, The Shiznit.

Thank you for all of your help!
Mister.Lull

Well it worked for me. I was using 8ga and switched to 1ga and noticed
a huge decrease in the dimming effect.

Well it worked for me. I was using 8ga and switched to 1ga and noticed
a huge decrease in the dimming effect.

What amplifiers were you using?

A Hifonics z8000 5 channel amp.

wrote in message
ups.com...
Well it worked for me. I was using 8ga and switched to 1ga and noticed
a huge decrease in the dimming effect.


That shouldn't have made a decreased the dimming. In theory, it should get
worse if you move to 1ga wire. Now the amp has a better opportunity to draw
power from the charging system.

Well it worked for me. I was using 8ga and switched to 1ga and noticed
a huge decrease in the dimming effect.


That shouldn't have made a decreased the dimming. In theory, it should
get
worse if you move to 1ga wire. Now the amp has a better opportunity to
draw
power from the charging system.

Yeah, it's puzzling. I don't know what else may have been changed in his
system, perhaps inadvertantly, but increasing the size of the wire alone
isn't going to help your dimming problem. Maybe if he had a capacitor
already installed...

In article ,
Bruce Chang wrote:

wrote in message
oups.com...
Well it worked for me. I was using 8ga and switched to 1ga and noticed
a huge decrease in the dimming effect.


That shouldn't have made a decreased the dimming. In theory, it should get
worse if you move to 1ga wire. Now the amp has a better opportunity to draw
power from the charging system.

That doesn't make sense, certainly not if the amp has a regulated power
supply. At lower voltage (caused by resistive drop in the undersized
wire) the amp will simply use more current -- disproportionately more,
because of the loss to resistive heating of the wire -- to produce the
same output SPL.

Using a thicker wire means the amp will see a higher voltage; it will
draw less current; there will be less energy lost to resistance in the
wire; you will see more power available for other electrical loads in
the system, which is what ephedralover described.

--
Thor Lancelot Simon

"The inconsistency is startling, though admittedly, if consistency is to be
abandoned or transcended, there is no problem." - Noam Chomsky

Could it be that the grounding was not sufficient with the 8ga??

That shouldn't have made a decreased the dimming. In theory, it should
get
worse if you move to 1ga wire. Now the amp has a better opportunity to
draw
power from the charging system.

That doesn't make sense, certainly not if the amp has a regulated power
supply.

But that's the point. Most of them do NOT have fully regulated power
supplies. Even if you look at the amplifier specs, you'll often find a 12v
rating and a 14v rating, and you'll see that the 14v rating is almost always
higher than the 12v rating. Yes, there are a few amps out there designed to
draw more current at lower voltages, and that's why I asked him what amp he
was using.

Are most JL amps regulated? They seem to have the same power under any
input voltage.

Are most JL amps regulated? They seem to have the same power under any
input voltage.

JL amps are a strange breed. I'm not sure how they work, actually.