ok i have a 12 inch pioneer sub and a 800 watt kenwood amp, and when i crank it up, my lights will dim to the beat.. like my headlights and my gauge in the truck for the battery thing bounces too.. what the heck do i need to do....

 

Get a different alternator. Someone on here was going to get an F-150 alternator I think...I don't know if they did or not. An Optima wouldn't hurt either.

 

sweet man i apreciate it.. do allot of people go through this?

 

I'm not really into audio so I'm not too sure, but I bet a lot of people with stock charging systems and lots of audio upgrades do.

 

Here's an old thread on upgrading the alternator...

https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...ght=alternator

 

You could also get a capacitor, in a sense its a extra battery that your amp will draw from.

 

When's the last time you've had your battery services/checked? Also your alternator is probably not at full efficiency anymore (if it's a 92). You should probably upgrade the alternator, and check into that battery.

 

I agree, get that stuff checked out. For 800 watts you shouldn't see too much of a dimming to the beat in your headlights and gauges... unless you weren't moving, then thats a different story.

 

well i put a new battery in about 2 or 3 years ago and well i suppose ill just deal with it... i really have no money to spend on audio right now the only reason i have a sub and amp is cause most of it was free...

 

batterys in cars are meant for a slow charge, slow discharge...

your amp is quickly charging and discharging....

also, car batteries arent meant to last for 5 years...some just do....

check the output on your alternator, u may have to up that....a new batt. may help...a capacitor will help u're amp be more efficient...i'm runnin a 1 farad capacitor on a 200w amp....

hope it helps some...

fords alternators are crap...they should put out more power than they should

 

 

My truck does the same thing, but it only happens when i crank it and i'm stopped. sometimes it doesn't hit as hard as it should until i start driving again. you should be fine just get a capacitor when you get some extra money.

 

^^^ u have an alternator problem then....

 

FYI, autozone will check your alternator and battery for free.

 

It will dim when you are turned up at a stop, that is were the generator is least efficient. It needs to spin faster to charge faster. The capacitor will help with this as the amplifier will draw from that and the generator will charge it up as needed.

I would have to say that you generator is not bad, you are just overworking it. I had 2 kenwood 12s and a KAC-929 1000 watt amp and my lights dim at a stop when turned up, IT GOING TO HAPPEN.

 

This is becouse your amps to drawing so much juice off your battery that its pulling all the power away from you headlights and other lights. The easiest way to stop this is by putting stiffning capacitor. Just like everyone else said. Its cheaper then a new alternator and a new battery and will keep juice in it so when your subs hit hard the amp will draw from it instead off your battery. When it dims your lights it is also bad your your electrical system. Depleats your battery live and over works you alternator. Go with a 1farad or even a 1/2 farad will clear up your problem.

 

OK there is two things you can do.

Get a stiffing Cap. with 1 Farad

-or-

A 200 watt Alt. with Optima Red top.

Do this ASAP because it WILL damage your electrical system and do some costly damage.

 

in class we were talking about that but for other reasons and then hes like " well this will happen with you and your road squeegies with your big boom boxes the lights will flicker" and went on to say that most of the time you can just put an in a capasitor (spelling?) and it will solve the prob

 

A Stiffing Capacitor will be the easiest and cheapest fix. Get a 1 Farad to be on the safe side.

 

please avoid caps like the plague. the altenator provides electric currant to run the vehicle. when the amperage draw exceeds the output of the alt it begins to consume power off the battery. the battery is there for starting purposes.

an 800w amp draws roughly 60 amps. stock altenators of our (speaking from experneice with the ****ty ford alts from the pre 3G era) put out around 20A at idle and 75A at max output around 2,000 rpm. so in essence ur coming close to drawing all the currant from the alt so it'll dim the headlights. a cap will help but will only add more to the charging system to recover and will still not fix the problem.

a different battery will only yield more time the battery can run with the engine off. a cap will alliviate the dimming headlights but its a band aid to other issues.

i dont know how the altenators mount on a 1992 ranger but u may want to look into a large case 3G swap. these babies out out 80-105A at idle and 160A at max output...plus are avaible at ur local junkyard for a fraction of what a new one will cost. just a suggestion...im sure if the mounting holes on ur alt bracket are at 12/6 u can get it to work with a little engineering.

 

i was going to say the same thing: the cap is only a band-aid, it will provide power for a little bit, then it runs out and now your further down then you were becuase you just adding carging the cap back up to your list of electrical problems, mine dimmed pretty bad on a 99 blazer stock alt and everstart maxx batt, 2300rms dosent like stock elecrtical, now i have a 200a alt that does 110amps @ 500rpms and 200+@1800rpms, dosent dim going down the road but does when stopped, i have the 2300rms and then 85x2 rms for my components

 

an optima yellow top can handle quick discharges and recharges, but is not intended for a starting battery, a redtop is more of a starting batt