Alternator problem?
 

So I have been running a 2500 watt amp for a couple months, well it recently failed but everything else was working fine. Then I put in an old amp from another car with a lot less watts 1300 or something very small. Now when I am driving with music at decent volume the car struggles. The shifts are miserable and I can see its sucking power due to my lights dimming with the beat ( ohh ricey :) ) anyways do you think the alternator is going ? or needs to be upgraded? or is it the amp just not working right? Thanks in advance! :thewave:

yea its probably your alternator, are you on stock battery? try the yellow top optima battery

not original battery but it can't be the battery if it happens while the car is running can it?

Sounds like you need some capacitors.

true car audio experts say no to capacitors. try doing the big 3, it helped me a little bit

also u got a nice g, like the works, but why kinetix camber kit???

How you know I got a Kinetix camber kit?

lol it was chillin in your trunk with the gauges and other stuff

could be that the larger amp was more efficent and the new amp is not

what was the model of the blown amp?
model of new amp?

I ran a rockford 800@2 for a long time and got dimming
switched to a nine.1 and no dimming, even tohugh its a larger amp

Yep thats my conclusion to the problem. I'm getting a replacement for my old amp.

I am currently going through the exact same deal: https://g35driver.com/forums/audio-v...tor-whine.html.

I am taking my car to Corner 3 tomorrow. I'll let you know how that turns out.

You stalkin' me?:o

So what was the outcome?

The lower end amps using too much power thus dimming the lights and taking power away from the car.

First, what amps are you running and what were you running? Stating that your amp puts out a certain amount of wattage is not enough for a few reasons.

1. You may be stating max wattage for either or both.
2. The smaller amp can put out more power possibly.
3. One amp may be more efficient than the other.

Also, what's the fuse size for both, and how many? Don't get a cap, because if you are having issues with voltage it's not going to help. A cap is only going to benefit an electrical system that is already stout, and if it's already stout, then it's really not needed unless you are going for looks.

To quickly explain why a cap is not useful with a needy electrical system, realize that the cap is a bandaid. Imagine your voltage drop being a gash in your leg about 10" long and pretty deep, will a bandaid help? Certainly not. A cap stores and releases at such constant rates that it can't keep up with the music. It has to do this in such a quick manner that its discharge rate is horrible, in which case a battery is a much better idea since charging and discharging rates are immensely better.