ICE fitters, and a power problem...!

[Number86]

Hey dudes.

I've given up attempting to fit everyhting in the car myself (such a balllllacccheee!!)

Does anyone know any Leon experienced fitters (so they don't rip the car to shreds) that I can fling some cash to to finish it off, and roughly how much I should expect to pay?

Most of the stuff is done now. I just neet the front door speakers fitted. Possibly also the HU cage and speaker cable down one side (if I don't do this myself)

Got the 2 amps all wired up and done. One is powering the sub, and the other is waiting to power the front speakers.

--

My next question.

I noticed this the other day while driving back on the motorway quite late. I had the music up reasonably loud (not earth shatteringly) and noticed that with every thud of the sub, the headlights (but as far as I could tell, no interior lights) would dim. This obviously got worse the louder I turned up the system.

I'd guess it was either the alternator or the battery???
Any ideas or suggestions for things to check??

 

[Big_daddy]

Yeh battery cant keep up with it! this is putting alot of strain, recommned you get a power cap or atleast upgrade the batttery to a heavy duty version.

 

[Super_Cupra_7]

Or,
Just pump up the volume during day when no lights are needed and then chill out at night

That's wot I do!

 

[stpete]

Cap wont really help much with light dimming to be honest, it gets drained then puts a extra load on battery most of the time albeit the big drains are smoothed so lights are slightly dimm all the time rather than up and down! Better bet is to make sure your earth is good same size cable as power, upgrade battery to ground with same guage cable and better ground on alternator! these will all help!! then if you want add a cap!!

 

[stpete]

see here to clarify a bit
http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/vbb/showthread.php?t=20973

 

[stuart86]

dont bother with a power cap it will just put another load on your battery

uprate your battery for a yellow top ultima or run 2 batterys with a spli charge

if your going for big power then look first to uprate your ground wires before anything else

 

[RobM]

As soon as I saw somebody suggest a power cap I thought... oh god... this is going to be another one of *those* threads where I preach and people ignore me because their mates, brothers, dog walkers, cousin once fitted a stereo and said they are good. But guys... stpete and stu... I love you (In an entirely non-sexual, manly way, of course)

 

[lard44]

Seriously - no pwer cap. More load on the charging system. If it bothers you upgrade the battery or the alternator.

Don't know your location but I'm sending mine in to Paragon Audio in Braintree. Because of the weather, bad back and general arse ache I can't be arsed.

To run ALL cables, find an earth, change the front speakers (supplying the power, earth, speaker and remote cables themselves) for a shade over £100. They did some work on my Punto and more recently by Ibiza, and my sister's Nova - all spotless.

And they're not amateurs - most of the garages in Braintree use them to fit/refit gear to their cars - the garage is usually chocka of some really nice cars - I saw a Hummer a few weeks back.

 

[stpete]

Rob glad i saved you a bit of grief, if i'm honest I have a cap but its an SQ system and mainly its there for the voltage display!!!

 

[stpete]

This is very good and I should have remembered Pete at icecavern
http://www.icecavern.com/faq.php?cat_idx=1

 

[stpete]

Number86 if i were you mate I'd take it slow and do it myself the feel good factor of finishing it yourself you cant buy!!! You can do a door in an hour or two, then move on to wiring! I got very daunted when doing my boot but six months later i have made my own custom amp holder and stealthy custom sub box! Feels great and sounds better!!!

 

[stuart86]

Rob glad i saved you a bit of grief, if i'm honest I have a cap but its an SQ system and mainly its there for the voltage display!!!

scrap the cap and just get a voltage reader.. a lot less drain

 

[stpete]

Yeah its on the list mate but gonna redo whole side of boot at same time so it
more a question of time!

 

[Icecavern]

A cap is good at the job it's meant to be used for, smoothing out high frequency transients in power. Not to support a failing electrical system.

The problem is 99x the earthing not right. Upgrade the earth from battery -ve to chassis earth. And use a good earth for your amps. Also check you're using the correct size cable for your power. Too thin and you get more voltage drop as the amp tries to pull more current.

Pete

 

[stpete]

What took ya so long Pete thought you could smell this type of thread???

 

[Icecavern]

Sorry I had a busy evening..

 

[Number86]

I would.

But I've just become too lazy now.

Because it's all a learning process as well it takes soo blooody long. By the sounds of it, 50 smackers should be enough to get someone to sort it out. Which is good enough for me.

As far as the dimming lights go, the thing is, it's only a cheapo 12" sub, and (without checking exactly) circa 300w amp. My old Hyundai never had any problems powering that. So I'm a bit disappointed that the LCR can't even cope on moderate volume!

 

[stpete]

I got a lot more watts than that and no dimming, earthing is first and best!!!