Power Issues When Lights Switched On

[S13Deviat]

Hi Guys,

Just installed a stereo on Saturday and having serious power issues! <_<

Installed - Pioneer Headunit 52W x 4, 6x9's & 5x10's

Stereo display 'dims' when a a bit of bass if passed thru and volume up but as soon as I turn on my headlights the entire unit shuts down.

I checked and power is being fed to the headunit while lights are on but obviously not enough.

Would i be correct in stating that my battery is not supplying enough power as the headunit display is 'dimming' shutting down once power is being fed elsewhere??!!

Fix???? Any help / advice!

Thanks in advance

Ando

[Fixxxer]

Is this with the car running???

Something is definately wrong there, especially if the car is running.

How old is your battery??

Do your headlights or internal car lights dim at all when you turn your indicators on?

Fixxxer

[RANDY]

Sounds like a power issue. Either a shonky battery, or a shonky alternator, or a shonky ground on the battery.

First thing to try is re-grounding the battery. Replace the negative cable with a new one, with new ring-clamp things, and clean up the area that it bolts to the chassis. This should fix a lot of things, but failing that, check your battery out. =-]

[S13Deviat]

Hey thanks dude!

Fixxer - Mate this is both when the car is running and also when off! (in accessories)

Battery is actually a bit old and a little smaller than normal only just takes up half of the battery plate....

RANDY - Mate yeah a mate is gonna lend me his battery next time and see if it solves the issue! Just wanted to make sure it wouldn't be anything more than just a battery / alternator

Cheers guys

Ando

[CrAzY-BoY]

you could also try running a thicker gauge constant power cable straight from the battery (with a fuse of course). but other than that i would be checking your earth point for the unit as well as the battery earth terminal is clean, and has good earth from the battery to body.

[SKYBEE]

where did you pick up your earth from i bet you picked up the dash light illumination thinking that it was earth usiing a test light happens all the time just whip the unit out and put the (guessing) black wire straight to metal of the car

then try it

my 2 cents

cheers

[Fry_33]

A simple test for your alternator is to have your head lights on and rev the car. If the brightness of the lights increases with the revs then it will prob be an alternator problem as it's not supplying enough power at idle etc

[RANDY]

Skybee has a great point that I thought was too obvious to point out.

The head unit should be grounded to the body, and you should never have to splice into another wire for anything.

And when I said "try replacing the ground wire", I should add; "with a much thicker one". =-]