big three grounds

Discussion in 'Automotive Electrical' started by aznboi3644, Mar 12, 2007.

  1. aznboi3644

    aznboi3644 Full Member

    Well I finally finished upgrading my previous 4 gauge big three.

    Battery ground is 0 gauge to vehicle body
    Engine ground is 0 gauge to battery negative
    alternator wire is still 4 gauge (waiting to get some 0 gauge welding cable)

    Also I need to make a a ground for the battery to the frame still (damn body on frame chassis)

    After upgrading to 0 gauge grounds my idle voltage is higher....a lot higher

    Before it was idling at around 13.8 volts...Now with the awesome 0 gauge grounds that I did the idle voltage is around 14.3 volts...I have NEVER seen my truck idle this high...it is sweet. I grounded the alternator mounting bolt to another bolt on the other side of the engine and grounded the battery to that same bolt...basically did a daisy chain ground

    Installed the 500/1 that I got from Ibanez and a couple Type R 12's in a sealed box to test them out and test out my upgraded big three...I was expecting a little more voltage drop than I actually got.

    Full tilt with the engine running and headlights on, the voltage only drops from 14.3 volts to 14.0 volts. I am amazed as before I had 0 gauge grounds my voltage would drop really bad down to 12.6 volts with a crappy Profile HA1000 amp (1000 watts max 480 rms) and would not even charge back up until I tapped the gas...now it jumps right back up.

    To everyone who has not upgraded their big three...DO IT. It doesn't even matter if you don't have a big system...it only helps.
     
  2. JoeAudio26

    JoeAudio26 Full Member

    What was the cost of upgrade?
     
  3. pedro quiroga

    pedro quiroga Well-Known Member

    sweet deal azn.any pics of your system?
     
  4. electrolytic

    electrolytic Full Member

    pics! pics! ya bastard!

    how's that JL, are they all they are cracked up to be?
     
  5. aznboi3644

    aznboi3644 Full Member

    I will try to get pics up this weekend...its hard when I don't have a digi cam and have to borrow a friends.

    Joe Audio, This upgrade doesn't cost much at all...I had spare 0 gauge laying around...you can use welding cable which is A LOT cheaper than audio cable and works EXACTLY the same.

    And I use welding cable ring terminals and used a big hammer...then took the cables to my welding class and soldered them with the torch.

    All in all I would say the cost less than 40 bucks if using 0 guage....cost less if using 4 gauge
     
  6. aznboi3644

    aznboi3644 Full Member

    update....tested the voltage today with the system full tilt, headlights on, AND heater/blower on full blast

    lowest the voltage would drop was 12.9 volts but lowest consistently was 13 volts...pretty good to me.

    This would NOT be the case if I had no upgraded big three...I even remember when I had all factory wiring and 8 gauge RF wiring kit my voltage at idle would drop down to 12.6-12.8 volts with a peice of crap Jension 780 watt amp at idle and only headlights on...it was fused with two 30 amp fuses though...pull some decent current.

    Now with a 500/1, head lights on, and fan full blast the voltage is stable...This is a testament to the big three non believeers lol