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Did anyone do the Big Three with their MX-3?

Posted: January 2nd, 2006, 2:03 am
by Mazdaspeed96743
Hi did any of you people do the Big Three upgrade? I am wondering if that helped you people out because I got an Orion 1200D amplifier and when I turn the music up running my 12 the music stops playing and at night the whole system shuts off and CD player blanks out and it comes back on 1 second later. I simply got some serious voltage drops.

Posted: January 2nd, 2006, 5:57 am
by rsroadkilla
big 3 upgrade???

Posted: January 2nd, 2006, 10:01 am
by FlyVFR
Sounds like thermal protection is kicking in. Or not enough current to power your AMP. Do you have a CAP installed?

Posted: January 3rd, 2006, 12:24 pm
by Mazdaspeed96743
Here is a great example of the Big Three Upgrade and it is supposed to be better than using a capicitor=

http://www.caraudio.com/vb/showthread.php?t=124175

Posted: January 3rd, 2006, 3:10 pm
by FlyVFR
:2thumbsup: Highly recommend the BIG 3!

:arrow: Add a cap and perhaps a heavy duty battery & HO alternator also and there won't be any worries in the power department. But of course it all depends on how much power the system needs :wink:

Posted: January 3rd, 2006, 7:53 pm
by Mazdaspeed96743
Hehe hopefully that'll help. I am having a hard time finding the positive terminal on the alternator though can someone pinpoint where the + Wire from the alternator is? :?

Posted: January 3rd, 2006, 11:24 pm
by FlyVFR
Mazdaspeed96743 wrote: I am having a hard time finding the positive terminal on the alternator though can someone pinpoint where the + Wire from the alternator is? :?
:?: I'm confident that you'll find it. If not then don't worry about replacing the alt wire. You may want to run a *fused power wire to your AMP directly from the (+) terminal of the battery instead. Also add the ground wires (the BIG 2)

*IMPORTANT: To reduce the risk of an electrical short (and possible meltdown) the fuse must be located very close to the battery terminal.

Posted: January 4th, 2006, 12:08 am
by Mazdaspeed96743
But the amp is already hooked up. All I did is run a 8G wire from the battery - to the chassis and tomorrow I am going to run another 8G wire from the chassis to the engine block. I need at least 4G wires though too small of a wire size for ground. heh well at least my amp is being feed by 4G power wires.

Posted: January 4th, 2006, 12:12 am
by PATDIESEL
The + on the Alt is the BIG wire that attaches to it.... :roll:

Not trying to be too much of a Jack-a--, but geesh, how many wires do you see on the Alt?

Posted: January 4th, 2006, 12:23 am
by FlyVFR
Mazdaspeed96743 wrote:But the amp is already hooked up. All I did is run a 8G wire from the battery - to the chassis and tomorrow I am going to run another 8G wire from the chassis to the engine block. I need at least 4G wires though too small of a wire size for ground. heh well at least my amp is being feed by 4G power wires.
Try that first. I bet you won't have to replace the alt. wire. Also keep in mind that the system will shut down if overdriven. Does it go out at 75% volume?

Posted: January 4th, 2006, 12:29 am
by Mazdaspeed96743
Okay but like I said earlier I am only running 8G ground wires to do the BIG 2. I hope this help my system from skipping due to voltage drops :).

Posted: January 4th, 2006, 12:42 am
by FlyVFR
:arrow: Does it also skip when the motor is off :?:

If you can't find it or have easy access to the alt wire, I would stop by the local audio shop and have them run it.

Posted: January 4th, 2006, 12:43 am
by Mazdaspeed96743
Yes it does.

Posted: January 4th, 2006, 12:47 am
by FlyVFR
You'll probably need a cap to compensate for quick power surges as well then. Try the BIG 2 first.

Posted: January 4th, 2006, 12:49 am
by FlyVFR
Pat, sometimes it's a pain in the arse to get access and hook up a megawire to the alt. So I'm not going to push the issue. :wink: