Ever since I have got my setup together I have not been able to turn my SUB all the way up to +15 on the head unit (gain at amp is set to about 85% max). When I turn it up high on the HU, the odometer lights start to dim to the bass hits and it gets really annoying. To solve this I bought a power capacitor (1.6F) to help resolve this issue.

I've read on many sites that you're supposed to use separate grounds for the amp and capacitor. On the box of my capacitor it states otherwise that I should just use the same ground.

What is the deal? Here is my setup.

Alpine CDA105 Head Unit
Alpine Type R Components (all 4 interior speakers w/ tweeters)
Alpine KTP-445 Plug n Play Amp for Components
JL 10w6 Sub in ported box
Alpine MRP-M500 Amp (powers sub)


Thanks for the clarification. Here is the capacitor I purchased.

http://www.amazon.com/Lanzar-LQ16CAP...9946080&sr=8-1

 

Anyone? I'd like to go ahead and install this today.

 

I would use the same ground as in the same ground to the chassis that the amp uses. Not the ground at the amp itself.

 

1. Return the capacitor.

2. How is the sub wired? I bet you wired it for a low load, so it's drawing too much current from the electrical system. This is said, assuming everything else is up to snuff. What gauge is the wiring? How is the system grounded? Did you install the gear, yourself?

 

I didn't do the original wiring I had a system put in with the power wire and ground wires ran by the shop. Years later, I bought a new amp and sub and put installed it myself. 8ga power wire ran and not sure on the ground. All is running from the battery (stock) with 60amp fuse.

Got the capacitor hooked up and it seems to be working. I grounded it to a separate spot from where I grounded the sub amp. Is it supposed to run 24/7 even when keys are out?

 

Here's the situation: You have a fairly insensitive sub that needs a lot of power to get going, and a car that effectively cancels out the bass on its own. As a result, one tries to overpower the car by throwing power into the driver and hoping that it can overcome the constraints. It's probably safe to assume that you have the woofer wired for 2 Ohms. This will draw significantly more current from the electrical system than a sub wired for a higher load. This is your first problem. If you're not sure about the wiring, replace it with quality 4awg - knukonceptz.com is a good place for wire. Same goes for the ground. Go through the wiring and make sure the amp is grounded correctly. The problem exists on a root level. A cap won't help at best, and will drain your electrical system at worst.

It it were me, this is what I would do: Run new wire and identify a good ground. Sell the W6 and buy a driver better-suited for the project. If you want a 10", an ID IDQ10V2 is very good for this, but there are other choices, as well.

Oh, man. At the very least, take your car to a non-chain car audio shop and have them help you. Good luck.

 

Thanks for your advice FJF and for the website referral.

I realized the Cap isn't staying on 24/7 at all...just didn't give enough time to turn off.

 

Best of luck with this. I looked at your profile and saw that you work with recordings. Are you an engineer?

 

Yes in a way. I have my own home studio that I run when I'm home on the weekends or clients email me stuff to mix over email.

Right now I'm in Greensboro, NC working on my Information Technology degree at UNC-Greensboro..so that keeps me quite busy for now but I love music..all aspects of it. If it paid as well as IT I would be all over it.