Voltage drops with system

[rman]

When i'm slammin, my idle surges and my headlights dim a bit....Should i get a cap?

I have a new yellowtop that i never got around to putting in my pickup truck...I was thinking of wiring it to that and putting getting like a stinger isolator or something so i can run dual batteries, one for the system, one for starting, and the isolator to charge the yellowtop.

Will this help the voltage drops? Otherwise i'll have to wait until i can afford a hi-po alternator....wherever the fuck i can find one for this car.

[jnolte]

a c43 alternator has higher amp out put

[audiophile]

Originally posted by rman
When i'm slammin, my idle surges and my headlights dim a bit....Should i get a cap?

I have a new yellowtop that i never got around to putting in my pickup truck...I was thinking of wiring it to that and putting getting like a stinger isolator or something so i can run dual batteries, one for the system, one for starting, and the isolator to charge the yellowtop.

Will this help the voltage drops? Otherwise i'll have to wait until i can afford a hi-po alternator....wherever the fuck i can find one for this car. a cap would help alot. also the dual battery idea is good too. but the cap is the fastest way to stabalize the voltage to your system other than the alterantor.

[rman]

Originally posted by audiophile
a cap would help alot. also the dual battery idea is good too. but the cap is the fastest way to stabalize the voltage to your system other than the alterantor.

maybe i can sell my yellow top and get a batcap!

[audiophile]

i've always wanted to see if those things really work. those things weigh nothing. the radio weighs more.
does anybody have one of these?

[Proven Guilty]

caps work great. the stock battery that comes with your w202 is actually a pretty strong battery, so i don't really expect a yellow top could out-perform it so to speak.

soundstream makes some pretty affordable caps, and they also have an integrated voltage meter on them. however, they do come with cheesy blue LEDs all over them, so not sure if you're into that thing.. heh

[audiophile]

the stock battery isn't that great. the yellow top out performs it hands down. it's a sealed battery so you don't have to worry about it leaking and spilling acid.

[benzonline]

Wow what exactly you running in your car?


I know my 12 inch sub with amp under high volume makes the inside lights dim slightly to the bass.

[rman]

I'm either going to add teh yellow top and an isolator for a dual battery setup, or run the yellow top as my primary and get a batcap on the amp.

[rman]

it's not a massive drop -

i'm running about 500wrms to 2-10s, but i see the dimming in the headlights (ever-so-slightly) and the tach needle does move a bit. And this is when i'm slumpin around not just regular comfortable listening volume....

[benzonline]

Is this a must to have or is it ok for the car with slight dimming?

[harryt]

Well I think it depends how much the lights dim.... if its ok enough to be able to see at night, then I'd just leave it. Other wise you'd have to do something about it, if it's very dim....

[rman]

your lights dimming means that the lights are competing with the other electical components with a large draw, i.e. amps.

i'm pretty sure it's bad for your alternator, and in the past, i've had some bad experiences with it. Namely it destroying my battery and alternator and having the car die on me while driving. But nothing severe.

[therock2689]

Im running about 1000 watt and i have a 2 farad cap and still have some voltage drop, but nothing like before the caps. Before it would go from 14.0 volts down to like 12.2 volts. Know with the cap it stays about 14.0 to ~13.0 volts. Heres what i did, i took a 52mm voltmeter and it seems that it fit into the pocket right under the radio/head unit. I hvae a 2000 C230K, but i would think it would work in most W202's. I did it to keep tabs on the voltage since the MB doesnt have one, i think it looks good and it gives you piece of mind. Just hook it up to any 12 volt circuit of like i did, conect that the most powerful amp and keep tabs from there. Here are some pics.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j275/therock2689/Picture_002.jpg
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j275/therock2689/Picture_001.jpg