is the big 3 upgrade efective?

[dtevin]

i want 2 kno if the big 3 help in current flow

[silent_riot]

Yes..

[3stagevtec]

Yes..

[- Rovin's car audio -]

... duhhh !

[dtevin]

tanhs i will hav 2 do dat

[angel_player]

U know all this time I thought I had to replace, my alternator in this Big 3 upgrade thing...ahaha. Rovin yuh give me some hope there boy. I just have to replace my wires and get a better battery. I guessing I dont have to save to buy some new powerful alternator after all *whew*

Vehicle: AD Wagon (stock alternator)
Battery: Track 425 CA
Music Amp: Powerbass 600.4x

[noyztoyz]

if we take this guy ^^ and his system for example,
will a big 3 upgrade help his system?

[3stagevtec]

The big 3 is not a cure for an inadequate electrical system, but what it does is make the absolute best out of the equipment you have..

Most OEM electrical systems should be able to handle music systems up to 1000Wrms, with the big 3 upgrade of course..

[altec]

if your vehicle is getting on in age the upgrade could help with corroded wires and contacts

[SR]

correct
all older vehicles will benefit from a simple main ground wire replacment

[dtevin]

d ground wire alone??

[Brian Steele]

Has anyone done any before/after measurements to confirm if the "Big 3" actually helps?

e.g. measurement of the voltage across the subwoofer amp at higher fixed output levels, before/after a "Big 3" upgrade. If the "Big 3" upgrade results in higher current flow, the voltage across the amp should change a lot less at higher output levels.

[SR]

not the ground wire alone for the big 3 but with just a ground wire replacment you will see a difference on your electrical system on olcer cars


as far as measurments
from as simple as dipping dash lights
to smaller voltage drops across the power input of the amp when the bass line kicks in
also somthing to check is the grounding pt and connection of the amplifier to the vehicle chassis

[ShaKarz]

i did d big 3 on a cs3 lancer... car jus has a 5ch amp with 80A current draw

voltage before upgrade: 12.8-13v
voltage after upgrade: 13.6-14v

[TechMods]

i did d big 3 on a cs3 lancer... car jus has a 5ch amp with 80A current draw

voltage before upgrade: 12.8-13v
voltage after upgrade: 13.6-14v

is this when music is being played @ max (without clipping) volume?

[x2bord]

I always thought the big 3 included; high amperage alternator, deep cycle battery and high farad cap???

[Coppershot]

i did d big 3 on a cs3 lancer... car jus has a 5ch amp with 80A current draw

voltage before upgrade: 12.8-13v
voltage after upgrade: 13.6-14v

what guage wire did you use?

[SR]

if using cheaper cables use a 4 gauge (in most cases this is what is needed)
if using high quality cables 8 guage will be sufficicent

the difference between them is the amount of strands per cross section

[casper]

SR...jes a question i always wanted to ask about this...is using too big of a wire size defeating the purpose of doin the big 3???

cuz from what i've gathered...car stock electricals use very small awg to transfer current...must be for a reason???...if u use too big of a wire size with that same transfer rate will it actually take longer to pass through so much strands of a 0awg big 3 rather than a big 3 done with 4awg???

a 3ft piece of 0awg stinger for exammple has longer strands than a piece of 3ft 4awg stinger cuz the length needed to wrap around the thickness of a 0awg will be significantly longer than the length needed to wrap around a 4 awg...

[silent_riot]

casper, take a read:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistivity
It will explain how length, cross sectional area and the specific resistance of the material affects resistance and hence conductance.

[carfreak1024]

recently did the upgrade in a frontier and before the dome light and pre amp lights would flicker like a christmas tree. Now they do not dim at all, and clarity of music on high volume has improved and the amps have stopped tripping.

Voltage on capacitor has changed from 13.3 to 14.2 volts, i think that is worth doing it. In the frontier the original alternator charging wires were 2 10 gauge wires and we added on all new 0 gauge wiring to the system. Bass sounds deeper too if you ask me.

[ShaKarz]

i did d big 3 on a cs3 lancer... car jus has a 5ch amp with 80A current draw

voltage before upgrade: 12.8-13v
voltage after upgrade: 13.6-14v

what guage wire did you use?

i used o gauge wire, but i plan on upgrading alt n stuff soon so daz y..

car currently has stock alt and ac delco batt.
14.1v idle voltage, 13.4v lowest playin

[CS3A_GLX]

so i drive a cedia lancer and the 3 pts of the big three are batt to ground, engine to ground and alternator to battery. my problem is that i used 0g wire for the first 2 steps and when it came to the alt to batt step, i noticed my fuse box was the interconnecting point between the alt and batt. how do i work around this?

can i run the 0g wire form the alt straight to the battery with an inline/external fuse leaving the factory wiring untouched? or shud i use 4g wire from the alt to the fusebox to the battery?

[3stagevtec]

You would get the best performance from running a direct fused 0 gauge to the battery. Use a fuse that has the same rating as the alternator's max output and protect it as best as possible from heat. I have seen fuse holders break down in engine bays when exposed to too much heat.

Leave the factory wiring in place. Just a side note, unless you are running upgraded high output alternators and have alot of powerful amplifies installed for competition use, 0 gauge wiring is overkill. 4 gauge will be quite adequate for the general user.