i have been having some problems with the battery gauge lately since i have installed a system in my 03 ram when its turned up loud and i been driving it for 10 to 15 min. the amp gauge goes all the way up to high and the check gauge light comes on. turn the radio down doesnt do it i have a capacitor not a big one i think 1.5 farads does this mean i need another battery or a bigger alternator????plz help

 

how much does your amp put out? You should not need a capacitor unless you are needing more powerfor a big sub that is underpowered. As for another battery you are fine all the way up to about 2000watts of power. Such as my friend who will be running a 4000watt power acoustics and a 1500watt 4 channel he added another battery but no capacitor. It almost sounds like something is shorting out and that is why the meter goes up so high so quickly and your alternator is perfectly fine but check for a short some were as that seems like the main problem to worry about.

 

Its only a 1200 wat amp so how do i go about finding where the problem is???

 

you may be using too much power so it messing with the gauges, I know my friend had a problem with that before and it also constantly dimmed his headlights every time the bass kicked up.

 

[rant]
you would probably have a lot more responses if you had thought out the thread title a little better. this is just me ranting, but; im getting sort of annoyed by the number of threads just titled "help". im sure that a lot of people just skim right past it because there isnt enough, or any info, in the title to lure them in. whereas if your title was something like "electronics problem" or "battery gauge gone haywire" more people would be inclined to look into it, or someone with more expertise in that area would think to him/herself "hey, i know a ****load of stuff about auto electronics, lets see if i can help this guy out!".

dont mean to come off as a d!ck or anything, but better constructed posts will get you more help in the future.

[/end rant]

 

ok thanx man i keep that in mind for next time ive only used this a couple of times but next time i will deff. remember?

 

How did you hook the power wire up to your battery and did you put an in line fuse between the amp and battery I would check there. Sounds like the amp is fine and you shouldnt have to much of a problem and a with a capacitor your lights shouldnt dim thats what they are for to store and a charge and deliver it when the amp needs it and you could check your head unit to make sure the ground is still solid i had one come loose on my ast car but other than that i dont know were else to check

 

Sounds like your regulator in the alternator is sticking wide open after a high demand which can blow up your battery.
You need to check the voltage at the battery when the needle pegs. If it's over about 14.5v then your voltage regulator is bad.

 

lose the capacitor theyre junk.
+ 1 on voltage regulator
im running 1600 watt amp and no problems at all, and do make sure you have fuses on everything.