Headlights dimming

finkle636 · Post by **finkle636** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 5:53 pm

I've not yet bought a capacitor (i know its needed) but i have 2 questions

The headlights dim REALLY badly, worse than any other car i've had, its a BMW 330 and the RSD amp pulls 600w RMS,

1, My first question is will this damage any part of the cars electrical
system by it doing this, as its quite severe (i have to turn the LPL down).

2, I know the caps make the sound clearer by reducing noise/ripple etc, does it make a difference if you run your sub amp AND speaker amp off the same cap, or should you use 2, one for each amp?

oldskoolmseriesfan · Post by **oldskoolmseriesfan** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:27 pm

finkle636 wrote:I've not yet bought a capacitor (i know its needed) but i have 2 questions

The headlights dim REALLY badly, worse than any other car i've had, its a BMW 330 and the RSD amp pulls 600w RMS,

1, My first question is will this damage any part of the cars electrical
system by it doing this, as its quite severe (i have to turn the LPL down).

2, I know the caps make the sound clearer by reducing noise/ripple etc, does it make a difference if you run your sub amp AND speaker amp off the same cap, or should you use 2, one for each amp?

Im driving your regular old generic crapfire(pontiac) im running my sub and my speaker amp all off a 1 farad pg cap.It made abig difference in my headlights dimming to not dimming nearly as much. I read on a different thread that 1 farad per 1000w. Im running just under that. hope that helps.

Post by **stipud** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:33 pm

It should be obvious, but turn off the bass boost completely, and ensure the gains are set properly:
http://phoenixphorum.com/gain-setting-w ... vt280.html

You can run two amps with a single cap.

That amp should have 4 gauge power and ground. The grounding spot should be sanded down under the paint (or directly to your battery, if it's in the back). Upgrade the wire from the alt to the battery, and the battery to the frame if you can.

finkle636 · Post by **finkle636** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:50 pm

Direct to battery in boot using PG 4 gauge wire.

Boost is off but im not 100% sure the gain is correct as i just set it 2/3rds and use the LPL to vary between the set 0 - 2/3rd gain range dependant on the song.

The head unit in a nak cd-400, the sub output is set to 6 (out of 10) as the sounds is clearer when its set to 6 rather than 10.

I tried setting it to 0 (as it ranges from -10 to + 10) and used a line driver to up the volume and set the amp to its lowest gain, but it sounded wrong so i removed it.

Post by **Bfowler** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 9:10 am

what alternator does the 330 have, if it has the 140amp like my 328 does, you should not be getting dim headlights.

also, i DO run my xenon 600.1 and 200.2 off the same 1 farad capacitor.

but if your headlights are dimming it will get discharged quickly.

i think you have to bring out the trusty multi-meter

maka78 · Post by **maka78** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:15 pm

I'm pretty sure the problem with your dimming is the way you have your Head Unit/line driver/amp gains set up. Make sure you don't give any bass boost from your head unit (if bass goes from -10 to +10, make sure you always stay in the negative, or 0). You can cover the rest of the bass needed by turning the amp or line driver gains to where it's needed. Get the gains figured out with the DMM and your dimming should go away.

finkle636 · Post by **finkle636** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 3:08 pm

maka78 wrote:I'm pretty sure the problem with your dimming is the way you have your Head Unit/line driver/amp gains set up. Make sure you don't give any bass boost from your head unit (if bass goes from -10 to +10, make sure you always stay in the negative, or 0). You can cover the rest of the bass needed by turning the amp or line driver gains to where it's needed. Get the gains figured out with the DMM and your dimming should go away.

When i do this (set the head unit to 0 and use line driver), the line driver is at max and i'm still having to use the gain setting on the amp to get the volume up.

Does this sound right as i've used this PG line driver before and i could turn the gain right down on the amp and just adjust it up on the line driver itself.

Oh and bass boost is off. no other Head Unit bass is increased (flat Eq)

drivingdadevil · Post by **drivingdadevil** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 3:26 pm

You can also do the big three. Witch is run a 1/0 ga or 4 ga power wire from your alt to your battery + and one from your battery ground to the chassis and the grounds to the engine block. I did this to my Volvo and it made a big difference. Heres the link to help you out.

http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/for ... 73496&PN=1

Post by **VW337** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 4:34 pm

Are you running a single sub or two subs? if running a single sub, is it dual voice coil?

I would suspect if your headlights are dimming with the RSd 6001 then you have a wiring or electrical issue somewhere.

Verify the phase on the sub(s) if running 2 subs disconnect 1 see if the bass increases, if you're running a dual voice coil single sub disconnect one coil see if its louder. You may be getting cancellation.

Next check the voltage of your battery before driving anywhere first thing in the morning. it should be near 12.6 volts. if it's 12.4 or lower you are looking at possible battery issues. Check your voltage with the car idling it should be 13.2-14.4 on average. If it is about the same as the reading at the battery without running then you have and alternator problem.

Headlights dimming

Headlights dimming

Re: Headlights dimming