hopefully a quick question

For my daughters b-day i went and installed a new HU, amp, and sub. A co worker gave me the amp and sub and the wife chose the HU.

HU = Sony mex-BT5700U (the wife liked the hands free stuff)
AMP = cheap 700w insignia
Sub = 12" JBL

All in a small Mitsu Lancer SE.

everything seems to work fine and sounds half decent. The issue i have is that the lights dim when the base hits.

after many hours on the net i assume i have the following options.

the Big 3...
A new beefed up alternator...
a cap (i know most here do not think much of this)...
a new battery...

The Big 3 and a new alternator seem to be too costly and too much work for this old man so I am leaning towards upgrading the battery. If i do, i think i am leaning towards an Optima Red Top. I would go with the red top over the yellow top because of price and the fact that she will not be running the stereo without the engine being on.

here is the question(s)...will upgrading the battery solve my issue? Is the red top better for this application over the yellow top? Is there anything easer and/or cheaper that might solve the issue?

I appreciate any advice you can provide!!

 

i do not have an RMS voltmeter. I do have a standard multimeter. I can throw it on to the battery while it is on to see how low it drops.

I think i will go ahead and do both the battery upgrade (as my daughters battery is already 3 years old) and the big 3 upgrade.

where can i get 0 ga wire?

am i correct when i say the following three wires need to be upgraded.

Bat Neg to Chasis/frame ground.
Bat Neg to Engine ground.
Alternator Pos to Bat Pos.


One other question...is it necessary to have an inline fuse on one of the wires...and if so...which one?

thanks guys....you have been very helpful!!

 

I found the sticky on the big 3 in the auto electrical forum which answered most of the questions. I ust need to know where i can buy some 4 ga or bigger wire so i can do the upgrade. Any ideas? thanks.

 

Ok...i upgraded the big 3, following the instructions in the sticky in the automotive electronics section. The good news is that it was not as hard as i thought it would be...mostly because i was able the get to the alternator positive from the top of the car instead of getting to it from under like i originally thought. I used 4 gauge high strand oxygen free wire. I grounded the Battery Negative to the shock tower (after having ground the area to bare metal with a dermal tool). I grounded the engine to the Battery negative. I left all the original wiring in place so the new wiring is in addition to what was already there.
Now for the bad news, It seemed to work just fine for about 20 minutes and then the lights started dimming again. I do not know if this is because the battery is weak or what. It seemed to start again after I had moved the amp around in the back (I was adjusting the rug in the trunk so the sub would not move). After moving the amp and sub, I noticed a slight squeal/hiss coming from the sub. I assumed it was a poor the ground from the amp to the chassis so I moved it to a better location (e.g. I drilled my own hole and ground it down to bare metal). This seemed to help a little with the squeal/hiss but did nothing to help with the dimming lights.
I would like to upgrade the amp kit from 6 gauge to 4 gauge (I have plenty of wire left over from the big 3 upgrade)…but the amp only has slots big enough for the 6 gauge wire.
Any ideas on how to fit 4 gauge wire into an area only designed for 6 gauge? Will upgrading the amp kit help with the dimming lights? Any other possibilities or things I should try to fix the dimming lights…short of up grading the alternator?