power caps and dash leds

[Lecook]

hiya guys, ive ran into a little problem with my dash lights/led upgrades

basically ive changed the dash bulbs to some nice new blue leds and all seemed ok for a few days, then they started popping:bang::bang::bang:, when i turn the music up loud the old dash bulbs used to flicker (dim and come back up) when the sub was hitting hard

i know if i were to upgrade the alternator this may fix the problem but im looking at spending as little as possible.

if i were to buy a power cap, and i know many say that they do absolutely nothing, would this maybe stop my leds from popping/flickering??

ive also noticed the rear numberplate leds dim with the music too and as i dont really fancy being raped by mr plod i really want to get this sorted asap

any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated

cheers

lee

 

[volxstu]

Ill echo the fact that a Power Cap is useless.

Try Upgrading your Factory earth.
Upgrade wire from Alternator to Battery +
Upgrade the Gauge of cable going from battery to amp.

Last and by no means least, turn your gains down. This is normally a sure sign that your clipping the hell out of the amp and going to kill your sub and/or amp. Also try low passing the sub frequency to 80hz rather than the 150 that i suspect you have now?

 

[wilko1992]

I had the problem of flickering lights to the bass and since I put a power cap in its been fine ever since, even better since I have wired it up properly lol

 

[volxstu]

The only reason a cap sorts the issue is because it restricts the power from geting to the amp as it takes longer to charge than it can dissipate.

 

[Lecook]

Ill echo the fact that a Power Cap is useless.

Try Upgrading your Factory earth.
Upgrade wire from Alternator to Battery +
Upgrade the Gauge of cable going from battery to amp.

Last and by no means least, turn your gains down. This is normally a sure sign that your clipping the hell out of the amp and going to kill your sub and/or amp. Also try low passing the sub frequency to 80hz rather than the 150 that i suspect you have now?

Cheers stu I was hoping you would come along with your words of wisdom

I'll look into getting the thicker wires for the alternator

By factory earth do you mean earth from the battery to chassis??

Also been thinking of upgrading the amp power cable but the amp is only a cheapo market jobby 450w running a sigle 12" jl sub

Maybe a amp upgrade is overdue :yum: last dash led blew out this evening so I'll look at replacing them when the wires have been upgraded

Cheers again for the advice

Lee

 

[volxstu]

Yeah i mean earth from battery to chassis. Dont replace any of the factory wires though only add additional ones. Maybe even give the terminals and area around them a clean. You never know with older cars, they could have got dirt or oxidation making the connections poor.