alternator not charging the battery enough!!!

[RichieRich]

does any1 know if u can upgrade the alternator on the 1.4 16v Se? my headlights keep dimming!!! (even with a power cap) uprated battery soon to i guess lol thanks guys

 

[rashcupra]

its normal for the headlamps to dip in brightness when you are using the steering as the powersteering pump is using the power from the battery.

 

[Nath.]

^^^^^^^what he said

the power steering pump draws a lot of current just like a big sub

your power cap has nothing to do with your power steering it is to stop your lights dimming with heavy bass notes from your sub


get a test meter on your battery and it should read just ofer 14 volts at tickover

 

[RichieRich]

i have never said it has somthink to do with my power steering its my deep bass notes courseing my problems.. and the power cap should add in the extra power to stop my lights dimming but it only helps not cures... i know exactly what voltage my battery is running at as i have a power cap that tells me and my distribution block tells me

 

[Octane2097]

i had a simmlar problem on my corsa b
headlamps would dim with each bass hit, fixed it by turning the volume down

lol
nah only joking, best way to sort it is wire the sub to the altenator rather than
the battery, id recomment getting a specialies ICE place to sort it tho, you dont wanna screw it up

had that done to the corsa and it was fine, (it did dim but only when REALLY loud)
also could try upgrading the Big 3:

1) alternator positive to battery positive
2) battery negative to chassis
3) engine ground to chassis.

 

[Poverty]

there is FAQ about this on ice caverns site!

 

[RichieRich]

can that really be done? but then surely my system wouldt work without the engine on? wouldt it just be easier to get a new alternator and more powerful battery? which im thinking of doing when i get paid my overtime money lol

 

[RichieRich]

there is FAQ about this on ice caverns site!

do u know were abouts? as i would't know what section it would be in lol im guessing you know im a member there then?

 

[Octane2097]

dont wanna go about messing with a bigger altinator, it will screw ur electrics up if its too much

and yea it does work with the altenator but yea the engine needs to be on,

oh and you could try a diesel battery, might work as they have higer ampage

 

[Nath.]

i have never said it has somthink to do with my power steering its my deep bass notes courseing my problems.. and the power cap should add in the extra power to stop my lights dimming but it only helps not cures... i know exactly what voltage my battery is running at as i have a power cap that tells me and my distribution block tells me

so why post up about an alternator problem if you know you have the correct voltage ??





BTW it's something not somthink and causing not courseing

 

[Poverty]

My lights dim, how do I stop it, will a CAP help?

Right first off the problem you are having won't be helped by adding a CAP. Unfortunately it's more complicated than that and all it does is hide the problem.

Caps have appeared to help in your mates car because the Alternator now has yet another load...
Another load, you say? Doesn't the CAP help? Well what happens is that your Alternator puts out a nice voltage, lets say that's 14.4v for ease of explanation. But when your waking up the neighbourhood it drops to about 12.4v... so your voltage drops 2v on a bass note and your lights dim. Bad...

So you add a cap cause you read that fixes the problem, and your mates lights don't dim so much... Only because the CAP needs charging the alternator is working even harder all the time. So where the maximum voltage in the car used to be 14.4v it might now be running at 13.4v max, purely because it's using the rest to charge the CAP. When your big bass note hits the system the voltage still drops to 12.4v. Your lights don't *look* like they are dimming as much because there is only a 1v difference in power not 2v.

But in real life what that means is that you have lowered the brightness of your lights so you don't notice it as much.

So how can you fix the problem?

In most cases it's a simple task. Have a look at your battery. There's an earth cable coming off the -ve terminal right? ( If there isn't you're doing well to get any sound ) Right well basically you need to upgrade that cable to something a bit better. Get yourself a length of 4awg, or thicker if you must, and connect that to the -ve terminal as well. Now take the other end and connect that to the cars chassis. You can do that either to the original point the standard cable went to, or you can run it to a new location. To the standard point is easier. When you look at the standard point you might find theres another cable running off it, going to the engine. Well upgrade this cable as well as it will probably be the earth point the alternator uses. AND as an added advantage it's also likely your starter motor earths through the engine, so starting the car might be improved.

Unfortunatley if this doesn't fix the problem you are looking at upgrading the battery, and then even the Alternator itself to fix the problem properly.

Source: http://www.icecavern.com/faq.php?cat_idx=1

 

[RichieRich]

i didt say i had a problem, was askin advice on the matter of the altinator... and having my engine on when im just listening to music is quite alot of the time so i dont think i will do it like that... would kill my my pocket

 

[Octane2097]

well usualy when ur in in ur car ur driving it, therefore the engine is on,
dont know many people who just sit in their car and listen

thats what home hi-fis are for
and you could always run it off both anyway an extra lead to the battery
altenator when its running batt when its not

 

[RichieRich]

well thanks for that Poverty i will certainly try that does make sence thanks for posting it, might try to do some of that tomorrow if its not raining lol