Good afternoon everyone, I noticed at times when I am blasting music that the volume would increase and also decrease without me doing anything. I had my music system the beginning of last summer and everything was perfect. I noticed when the weather got colder the lights started dimming and my volume and bass did not kick as loud and hard. Now the summer is back and the volume is stronger but noting compared to when I first go it installed. I do not know what seems to be the problem and need some help on what I can check or what might be wrong. ..... HiFonics Brutus 1200-Watts Mono 1 Channel D-Class (Bass) HiFonics Zues 4-Channel (Voice) 1.5 Capacitor Pioneer Component Speakers Stock Radio (Honda Accord 98, V6 Couple)
Im not sure but it sounds like an alternator problem. I dont know how temperature would effect that though. Im sure someone who knows what theyre doing will know.
RE: ramos & weird22person Well i just replaced the battery about 6 months ago. I keep hearing about upgrading my alternator, i currently have the stock. The only reason i have not changed the alternator is because after reading a lot of people make it seem like it becomes a headace and that the price for an alternator is expensive. Can anyone give me a good site where i can get one for a reasonable price. Also why is it that i few of my friends are running on stock alternators with real good music system but are not having the same trouble as me with the timming the lights and music volume going up and down? Even with their cars being of an older model then mines.
Well sir , depends on what kind of older vehicles really . Most cars electrical systems weren't designed to handle the extra load that amplifiers draw. Some older ( larger ) vehicles had quite large alt's in them from the factory.
First, disconnect the Big capacitor from your system, that will only make any problems you may have with your electrical system WORSE...those things are a waste of money and DO NOT help. They show as a serious dead short in a discharged state, and the quick repeated charging ofthem always show as a relatively low impedance short to the electrical system, not a good thing... Next, lets check the battery voltage, use a meter (vom), if you dont know how, have some one help you that does know how to use it. MEasure the battery voltage with the car off. Should be around 12.7-13 volt.....Ifs it lower than about 12, get a new battery Next start the car, at idle with all lights, audio , fan etc off... you should have at least 13.4 volts thats minimum really, ideally you should see 14 volts or a little higher. Now hold the throttle at around 2500 rpm, should have at least 14.2 volts. If not you have a bad alternator or regulator. Or possibly some bad wiring If the alternator and battery check out under those conditions, lets put a load on the alternator.........Start the car, turn on the lights, a/c on high and blower turned up all the way, heck turn on the rear defroster if you have one.....again, with the engine running 2500 rpm, you should see at least 14 volts at the battery. If it is lower than this, not good, maybe a bad alternator again..... Doing the same as in the prior paragraph, nest crank up your stereo a make it go boom boom......you will get a fluctuating reeading, but if it slowly drops to lower than 13.5 volts, you alternator is not keeping up with the audio system. This is a very general test of the electrical system, and will guide in a direstion to asses the issue. As far as volume going up and down in your audio ouput, that doesnt make a whole lot of sense really, I thought that Hifonics used regulated power supplies, so they arent THAT effected by voltage drops. Could be the radio is defective and the audio circuit in it may be "wandering" in volume without it showing on the display. I would toss in another Head unit (borrow or trade one with a trusted buddy for a day or two) then see what happens BTW, what make and year is the car?????????
RE:The Viking & aznboi3644 Thank you for the reply guys. My car is a Honda Accord V6 Coupe. People say that the cap does not really help but it does not do any damange, but i guess that is wrong from what you guys are saying. I noticed on the digital display on the cap that when i crank up the music it stays between 13v and when i really crank up the music that the bass is really hitting hard it drops to around 11-12v. I know that it dropping so low is really not good so if i remove the cap will not that make it worst? Also what do you say about buying an extra batteries (two in total) or will that be a waste of money?
An extra battery is useless. You still have the same amount of power (maybe a tiny bit more) just distibuted to 2 batteries. Your best bet is to go for an HO alternator. The stock alt wont be able to fully charge both batteries so your volts might go down even more.(not sure though)
An extra battery will not solve your problem. It would only allow you more reserve play time of your audio system when the two battereis are fully charged. The charged state of your batteries would not last long once you crank it up, because the alternator cannot put out enough current, even for one battery. From the voltage reading on your cap, you almost surely have TOO SMALL of an alternator. As a mattter of fact, running the amp continuously at such a low voltage is not good! Power supplies in amps HATE that!!! Please ditch the cap, especially in your situation, it only makes matters worse, sell it to some sucker for what you can and put the money towards an alernator! You will be glad you did!
Viking says a cap will show a dead short when in a discharged state. When is a cap ever in a discharged state? I removed my 2 farad cap and left it on a work bench for 3 days, I put a meter on it and it still read 12.8 volts after 3 days without being hooked up to a battery. just wondering how they become discharged? are they not just an energy storage device, to pull large amounts of current from them instead from your battery or alternator. Please educate me!!!!
Gladly...... A cap is an enrgy storage device, it does not make energy. A well made cap will store an energy potential for YEARS. As a matter of fact, touch the leads of a flyback cap in an old tv sittin in the junkyard for 10 years! (no, dont do that!) A cap does not make ANY energy, it only stores it VERY quickly, and releases it VERy quickly.. Take a cap, any value, and touch the leads together to make sure it is discharged, measure it with a VOM, it shows pretty much a dead short. of couurse the reading will change as the meters voltage brings it up to voltage. Why do you think a cap makes a HUGE spark when it is initially hooked up to a bettery? anyone??????? Its due to the inrush of current. the instantanious charge. durning that initial moment of charge, the impedance is low, basically 0 ohms at the moment of contact. The impedance rises quickly as it charges, to infinity as it becomes level with the battery voltage. A cap becomes discharged in use, as when the amp draws power, It gives all it current (in theory) when the voltage potential of the power wire, becomes less than the voltage of the cap...... Now, why do we need a cap? we dont. because first of all, amplifiers already have caps in them, both in the power supply and output sections, to be used as filtering and power reserves.. Second, the caps that are all the craze in the audio circle show intermmittant dead shorts to the electrical system, diodes in talternators hate that. Third reason we dont need them is due to the fact that any gain that "might " be realized is not enough to matter. Why installa cap when a higher voltage potential from an alternator is more beneficial? They are waste of money. the only reason I ever used them was in the extreme high spl systems, and then, they were wired directly to the circuit boards. When .2 dB matters, thats a good thing. These amps were alteady on the edge of self destruct, so the extra boost helped, in a day to day boomer system that needs continuous current and is taxed by a marginal electrical system as most are, they are of no good. money is better spent on an alternator. That will give long term performance and reliability over a cap ANY day.
