some amps arent 1 ohm stable or 2 ohm stable and they cut out when run at those loads at high current. Even those that say they are cant sustain it very long sometimes. However, you can't wire dual 4 ohm VCs for 4 ohms, you can only end up with an 8 ohm or 2 ohm load.

I may have mispoke earlier... If i am not mistaken, series will add the impedance and parrelel should divide.

 

so I am screwed then yes?

 

haha the subwoofer is wired to 2 ohms at the wire connection on the subwoofer box, meaning its most likely a dual 4 ohm sub, pre wired to 2 ohms. nevaeh said the amps do not heat up after extended use, so the ohm loads are fine. if the ohm loads were off (like a 1 ohm load to a 2 ohm stable amp) the amp would heat up and get VERY hot and then cut out, but since they are staying normal temperature, it has to be something in the wiring. also, if you know anything about car audio, you will know that Alpine is one of the best brands you can buy, along with JL, so they arent lying when they say it is 1 ohm stable. they arent worth almost $600 for no reason. he wont need a cap for 1000 watts

upon further inspection of the subwoofer system, the Final Impedance is 2 ohms, and the subwoofer model is a D4, confirming what I said above.

no, you arent screwed, dont let him scare you. another thing you can do to also make sure it isnt the amp messing up, next time ur system cuts out, let it stay cut out while you go look at the amps themselves. if they are overheating or somethings wrong with them, the red protect light will be on instead of the green power light. check that out.

 

I can say that the protect mode kicks in its on blue like and one red light and when that happens it is not hot at all!

 

been dealing with car audio for roughly 15, carry the 1 .... 17 years now. Alpine use to be a very high end brand, but now what you are buying is the name. Its the same deal with Rockford Fosgate, use to be great when they had the punch series amplifiers, but now, they are garbage but still sell for crazy prices because of the name that is established.

Anyway, i wasnt trying to scare him, i was trying to figure out what was going on and figure out what the possible solution would be. He obviously doesnt need an alternator... but i'd hate to tell ya, with 1000 watts RMS, which is quite a lot if its actual RMS, and lights are dimming when the base hits, you really only have a few solutions... either 1, his ground wire is too small for the system and/or isnt forming a good bond with the chassis, 2, his feed line going to the amp is not big enough, or 3, the current draw with his system is too large for his setup and he needs a cap. That is the bottom line... whether you have 2 yrs or 20 yrs experience in car audio, for lights that dim when the base hits, those are the solutions for that symptom.

 

I can tell you that off of each amp there is a 4g 2ft wire coming off to a sanded down point bolted down on the chassis... making -0.02 resistance between another point anywhere nearby on the chassis, and the hex bolt on each amp.

This wire is also 4g up until the d-block, and then it splits into two 2 1/2ft 8g wires... one amp has a 60A inline AGU fuse, and the other has a 80A AGU fuse

I do not know the answer to this question, but I can tell you that I just tested the system letting it play for a while, even when the amp cuts out, both amps are extremely cool to the touch; the 600 mono-block may be a little warm, but not hot to the touch.

If anything pops its just the Alpine amp, and even then there is one blue light and one red light, a simple flip of the kill switch will remedy it..

I measured the volts on the RCAs coming into the amp, they are 0.02.
I also measured the volts coming out of the amp into the speaker, it ranges anywhere from 37 to 53 volts

I hope this information helps

 

judging by that... id try the cap

if it works, please post so i can bend over and pick a clean spot to have some lips planted

 

So again here we are with the OP I have read how to wire up a second battery. A second battery is in theory is safer then a cap. A cap could potentially discharge backwards.... I'll start with the big three I have to find a shop out here that sells wire by the foot maybe a welding shop or something

 

i know RF has gone down in quality like you said, but ive seen a lot of new alpine amps that still perform really great......hmmm and ive run a 1600 watt RMS system on the stock battery, stock alt, and no cap and the lights only barely dimmed if it was even noticeable. its weird that his system is causing his lights to really dim as much as he says, and that his amps keep going into protect even when everything is hooked up right....

if you dont have an upgraded alternator, a second battery will harm your electrical system because then the same one alternator has to charge 2 batteries.

 

i am not sure what caps you have been reading about or heard about, but just about every cap on the market has some sort of protection system just like your amp does. The one i have or rather had on my last setup, actually my last 4 setups... all had line in, line out and a remote. Some had power in with power out, others had power in and power out on the same lead and a groud with remote.... whatever the design of your cap is, the odds of them just discharging backwards as you put it is very slim.... but, even if it does, where is the charge going but to your battery at the same voltage it already has. I'm not sure if you know what a cap actually is... but more or less its a filter, but in this use its a regulator, it doesnt do anything but insure the voltage in your system is constant... which helps with dimming lights and amps cutting off for what im guessing is an overloaded condition.

 

I can say that according to both amps birth sheets both the amps are underrated... the lights only dim on heavy bass notes... I am finding the sweet spots with the amp to help with the cutting out, but it still cuts out on a long bass drop, its a little embarrassing.

I am going go ahead with the cap install, and big 3 upgrade; can I have some a list of some good caps... also will this cap need to power both amps? or just tied into the 600rms amp? i can say that the fosgate doesn't pull nearly as much as power as the Alpine. It would be smart to tie the cap in the main power wire yes? If so how many farads should I get? 1 or 1.5?

 

i would get at least a 1.5, and put it before the d-block

 

it should be inline with the main power feed. You can either run it before the dblock or off of a non fused lead of the dblock. On my last big setup, i had 2 gauge going into the dblock and then there were 2 other feeds for the d block on the side which i fed 1 into the cap. 1.5 should be good... stinger is a decent brand, but there are other out there as well. Honestly though, a cap is a cap.... as long as it is at least 1.5 farad, and has some sort of protection circuit built in, you are doing fine. Good luck

 

well every feed going into the dblock, and leaving the dblock is fused, I have a 150ANL fuse off the main feed, and a 60A and a 80A going to each amp... would a fused power feed create a problem?

 

im also upwards of 1000w rms. When i noticed my light were dimming, i put a fatter wire on the battery ground to chassis and put in a 2.0 f cap before the sub and voila no more dimming lights at all