okay, this is my second install for a system. my first system got jacked but whatever i gota new one. The first time i installed i grounded the amp to that spot right next to your relay fuse. BAD IDEA because after it got jacked it caused that relay fuse to blow. Now I have it grounded to the positive terminal on my battery. I was wondering where the best place to ground your amp because where i have it now causes my headlights nd my gauges to dim when the subs hit... neone have any ideas? help would be appreciated thank u

 

theres a bolt on the left of the trunk(where i grounded) ive also heard that the back part where the rear seats bolt down is a good ground...jst get all of the paint off

 

doubtful that your lights dimming have anything to do with a bad ground or power connection. It could be, but I would bet that you need a cap for your system.

What amp/sub combo do you have and what size wire are you using?

 

Easiest places to ground are in the front by the driver and passenger kick panels, underneath the back seats(TWO BOLTS), or any of the bolts under the carpet in the trunk. Im guessing that your amp is probably in your trunk so the best place to ground would be, well the bolts under the carpet. Hope this helps.

 

Ground your amp to any bolt in the trunk. As long as what you ground to is connect to the chassis somewhere, it will be fine.

To solve your dim when the sub(s) hit, get a cap. To be on the safe side, get a 1 farad cap.

 

Before shelling out the loot for a cap, upgrade your underhood electrical connections. Use some 4gauge, or larger if you like, and add a wire from the battery(-) to the chassis, battery(-) to your block(sounds like a grounding kit so far right?) and add a wire from teh battery(+) to the positive on the alternator(fusing this is a good idea also). This should help dimming issues by reducing the resistance of your electrical system. Its equivalent to upgrading your exhaust for less back pressure if that analogy helps.

A large stiffening capacitor wasn't intended to add extra power to a system. It was supposed to be used as a filter for erratic, but small, fluxuations in the power supplied to smooth out response and increase sound quality. It actually can increase dimming because it is just another draw on an already taxed electrical system. Another analogy for this would be running a turbo on our cars without doing anything to the fuel system except a bored out fuel rail. Once your running Xpsi of boost, your fuel pump isn't going to be able to keep up. Same thing with running Xwatts on your stock electrical system. Did I make any sense?

Now there is someone reading my post now already typing a response " Well I had dimming then threw in a 1F cap and now I don't have any dimming!". You must've not had too much dimming in the 1st place, maybe just a flicker. Lucky you.


Oh yeah, find the best ground you can, they do make quite a bit of difference. Thats where most noise comes from.

 

^ Awesome explanation!

 

Not being a hater but please say that "Now I have it grounded to the positive terminal on my battery." isn't true.


m~

 

I think we're all wondering about that one too

 

it scared the shiat outta me... i was like ground + positive = huge problems, u dont think thats the problem, do u?

 

there woulda been smoke or the amp wouldgo straight to prtect mode. I gotta hope that was some kinda typo too.