I just installed a 10" solobaric and a rockford fosgate 601s.. When its turned up my lights dim and its a little annoying.

Whats the best way to fix this.

 

A) Make sure you dont have an electrical system problem. IE: Bad alt, battery.

1) Big 3 wire upgrade
2) Alternator or Battery upgrade (whichever you want to do first, i suggest alternator)

 

i just bought a red top optima a year ago.. so I hope its not the battery..

I guess I will check on the alternater first..

 

Kale is correct. Chances are good that you need a bigger alternator. This would require a big 3 upgrade. A big 3 upgrade did not help the dimming on my daily driver at all (200A total fuse rating, 90A alt).

What is the total fuse rating of all your amps?

 

I am surprised noone has mentioned the fact that with a RF 601 alone your lights should not dim unless there is something wrong with your basic electrical system. Make sure your battery is still good, check your wiring and then upgrade the big three. Do this before you consider a new alt. You do not need a new HO alt for a what, 600 watt amp. You current alt might be going bad, and you might need yo replace that, but if it's still good, you don't need a 200 amp alt for only a 601s.

 

That is why I asked what his total fuse rating is.

He may have multiple amps.

 

He may also be running 10 gauge wire.

 

Do the big three upgrade first, and make sure your power/ground for the amp is big enough (at least 4 gauge, preferably 2 gauge or bigger).

 

the 601s is a 2 channel 1800w total amp and is the only amp i'm running. I'm running 4 guage wire. The only speaker the amp is pushing is the 10" solobaric.

This is why I cant see just this little bit of power dimming the lights.

I'm not sure what you mean by the big 3 upgrade

 

That amp is rated at 150 watts RMS x 2 at 4 ohms, 300 watts RMS x 2 at 2 ohms, or 600 watts RMS x 1 bridged output at 4 ohms. You will get nowhere near 1800W from that amp. I am guessing that this amp is using a 60A fuse. Your stock charging system should be able to handle this load. IMO. with no real amplifier power going to your mains your system is going to be all bass and the SQ will probably be bad.

The "Big 3" upgrade is a wiring upgrade to your stock electrical system. It looks something like this:


Click image for a larger view

 

Rockford Fosgate Punch 601S AMPLIFIER-AMP CAR Stereo 1800W 2-CHANNEL Remote

thats what it says about the amp .. thats where I got the numbers..
It doesnt hit as hard because of the limited space in the sealed box, but thats what I wanted just a little more tight bass. I'm not wanting to rattle my teeth so its suits me fine.

It seems like a lot of work for the big 3 upgrade of wires. Is there anyway to test my alternator..

 

The amp will at best do 600x1, it probably does less. Look at the model number "601s" -> 600 watts, 1 channel. See here:

RF 601s Page

1800W is a total peak power marketing number that is thrown around to look nice on the shelf at Best Buy. This amp will not get anywhere near that. A real 1800W RMS would require at least a 150a fuse and zero gauge power wire because it would be pulling over 130a of current from a 14V electrical system. I am guessing that this amp uses a 60a fuse and it has an 8 gauge wiring block.

In any event, the amp should be just fine for your setup, especially since you are not amping your mains. Make sure you are giving the amp a 4-ohm load. With the DVC Solobaric you would need to be running a dual 2-ohm sub with the dual voice coils wired in series. Sending this amp an impedance lower than 4-ohms when bridged would probably overheat it and maybe burn it out.

I doubt that you would need to do a full big 3 upgrade with just this amp (60A fuse on it, correct?). Make sure that your alternator, battery, and charging system are all in proper working order. Run 2 gauge cable from the negative batt terminal to bare metal on the car's frame as a minimum to provide a good return path for your amp's ground.

 

Yeah just like rbartick says make sure first everything is in working order, battery, alt and wiring, before considering things like a new alt.

Check your connections first. Mine were loose and that made my lights dim. I fixed it and there was a lot less to no dimming.

 

real good info guys,..

Hey rbartick..
I do have it bridged and running the 600 x 1.. Should I change that...
My ground is to a bolt under the center console lid.. I get no feeback or anything but it could be a little tighter.. Maybe I should check that, but I'm not sure where else to ground it to.

 

4 gauge wire should be enough for that amp.

I would consider a 1 farad capacitor. It is draining the alternator when the amp hits some high current transients.

Remember, even tho you are directly connected to the battery, the alt is providing most of the go juice.

The battery is not totally isolated from the charging circuit.


[Modified by bogus, 10:23 PM 4/8/2004]

 

Hey Bayou, how do you like the Solobaric ?

 

That may be your problem. Thats not a bad place to ground if you already have the wire run there, but you might want to consider taping a new bolt and make sure you clean the paint off really good. I'm grounded along the rear shelf where my amp rack is.

You can always check it with an ohm meter to be sure its good.





[Modified by leolufse, 10:35 AM 4/9/2004]

 

hey Mix.. speaker is great..

I wish i could get a little more air space out of the box, but the center compartment is just so big.. The main problem I have is when its set just right on some songs they throw in that extra hard bass note one or two times and it kinda bottoms out because of the limited space.. so I have to be careful and set it down a few notches just in case..

Just need to get this dimming thing fixed..

 

600x1 mode is perfect. Just make sure you are showing the amp a 4-ohm load. With a Solobaric you should be using a dual 2-ohm version with the dual 2-ohm voice coils wired in series.



Read page 2 of this document ---> Kicker Manual

 

He has the 4 ohm Round Solabaric.

Bayou, I just went through what you are going through. Believe it or not it was a combo of things that led to my dimming. My glove compartment light was not going off when I closed the lid. Therefore it was draining my battery little by little. My lights were also dimming to the beat more and more and I didn't understand why. I was in the General Forum and I found out about the glove compartment issue, fixed that. Unfortunately it was too late to save my battery, which died soon thereafter. I exchanged it at Walmart, got another Everstart Maxx and my dimming has been almost non-existent, and that's with almost 1300 watts of power, two amps and stock alt. That's also with listening to club music that has mostly deep constant bass.