I have had my truck for a few years and have had alot of fun buying different things for her ..

I have install thed following that is electrical in nature:
Pioneer DVD4200 stereo
Pioneer 8500D amp 1200w x1 at 2 ohms
Pioneer 9500 amp 400 x4 at 4 ohms.
1 farad capacitor
1 12" 4 ohm DVC sub in a custom box I have made under rear seat
iPhone dock for the usb connection to my stereo
xm radio module
HD radio module
GPS module
power inverters

4 x 100 watt off road lights with KC lightbar

fire led department lights and 6 head strobe pack with 6 strobes of course
Motorola VHF mobile radio for fire dept.

optima red top battery.


Here is my problem ....

I have noticed my lights dim at night with the music pretty badly and seems to be getting worse over the past year. I did the following to troubleshoot correct the issue.

- tried without the capacitor = same results.
- upgraded the amp power and grould wire to 0 guage wire (then 4 guage to the amps from distrobution blocks)
- tried a few ground locations and ground seems good under the middle seat belt bolt. (checked resistnace with voltmeter)

The above did nothing at all to help so I :

- upgraded the battery to engine ground to 0 guage wire
- upgraded the battery to chassis ground with 0 guage wire
- upgraded the batter to fender ground with 4 guage wire.

I cleaned all ground locationd sanded them and the new ring connectors. I crimped and soldered the connectors on the new ground wire .. bolted them to the ground locations and sprayed a coat of paint to prevent rust .. They all check ok with my voltmeter.

After I upgraded the ground wires it seems like the dimming is even worse! I plan on upgrading the factory alternator to battery wire also. When I am sitting at idle and turn on my off road lights (all 4) now the battery guage on the dash dips below the middle area and if I give it gas it goes right back up ..


Could the new ground allowing that much more draw on my alternator ?

It is the Bosch 136A alternator .. maybe it is nearing it's life since I have put so many accessories in my truck ?

I just don't understand why if the new grounds check ok how it can make the lights dim more and show alot more draw on the alternator?

The one last item I may buy is going to a high output alternator.. The company I work for makes the alternator for the 5.7Hemi police edition .. I understand it is a much higher output. It even has a higher output at idle as well ..


Has anyone else had an issue like this ??

Thanks!

 

When I replaced my alternator I was pricing out higher output alternators, there's some good units on ebay for a good price. You're in a good direction with the heavier grounds, I think a better alternator and heavier charging wire should solve your problems.
Could probably take a look in the stereo section of Dodgeforum, I'm sure there's been some others in the same boat

 

Thanks for the reply .. I am hoping that fixes .. I am hopinh my employer can find me one and I can buy it at cost... How many amp alternator did you upgrade to ? Could you tell a big difference ?


I am hoping it will fix my issues as this is driving me mad !

 

I had a friend who just bought a 160A alt from a salvage yard for $65.

I personally have a ton of electronics in my ride with the 136A alt but I did the Big 3 upgrade similar to what you are trying to do but I have no flickering

 

You need to upgrade your wiring from alt-batt when you increase alt output over stock. The police package includes double the power wires from alt-batt to carry that added amperage.
You need to increase your grounding as well with more amperage output.

You need to be careful about going to large in alternators because most if not all 200A+ have less output at idle than stock. You always see charts, but they show idle at 1krpms and higher. 2007 should isle around 650rpms.

8500D has 60A of fusing, 9500 has 40A of fusing. So, your amps won't ever draw 100A..ever.
With that said. I have ALOT more amperage draw than you(60A for my 4channel +120A for my subs +20A for my processor=200A total) and have zero powering issue's. For starters, get rid of that Redtop. They suck. Yellowtop or not at all and most of the new Optimas go bad because they are not the same compnany they used to be. I have an Advance Auto Silver battery 850cca's w/150min reserve.

Not sure what you have your inverters for? What's plugged into those? And do your lights dim without them hooked up?

 

I have a small inverter that is switched with the key for the charger for my 800 MHz digital radio for the fire department. the other larger one is for my kids laptops .. to reduce my head aches on road trips...

Maybe my problem is the Red Top sucks . .I have had it for 2 years and it did seem like it didn't have the starting power as my stock battery even when it was new ..

I guess I can start with a new battery and the wire upgrade ..

Here is something that may make sense .. Say if I roll both of my windows up or down and when it gets all the way up or down .. my amp meter on the dash will drop and my headlights will dim just from the draw of the window motors ..


Maybe the battery is trash or the alternator is going bad ... I am leaning torwards the battery since I have heard alot of bad things about Optima..

 

Whoa......I missed the Optima part. I went through two yellow tops and a red top before I walked away from them. Not work the coin IMO. Nice if you need a battery INSIDE the ride but not under the hood.

 

I think I will be going to the auto parts store tomorrow and use my FireFighter discount (good for 10-15% off)

Any suggestions on a good battery replacement ?

I have had this red top for awhile but even when I first bought it new and left my stock battery behind .. I could tell it did not have the same starting power as stock .. I should have taken it back in then ..

I have been wanting to mount a winch to my quad trailer anyway and this looks like a good battery for that use .. Luckily I have an old battery in my garage for the "core" trade in ...

 

Deka!!!!!

 

Autozone Duralast Gold with 1000cca is a great battery with an 8yr warranty with 3yr free replacement.