[robhurlburt]

Geez, this car is a pain in the butt... I hate the fact that I love it so much.

Got the subs installed correctly (finally), tapping the signal off the front speakers, to a LOC (http://www.tsunamionline.com/product.php?id=454), then into my amp (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SONY-480-WATT-AMPLIFIER-Retails-199-95-BRAND-NEW_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38638QQihZ002QQitemZ120093559927QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V).

Well, i had the same amp and sub in my jetta and it sounded great. I did have an aftermarket explode headunit though, with a sub output and sub controls built into the headunit. It also had LPF and HPF.

1st question. When the stereo is turned up loud, my lights dim. Now I know that means i need to add a capacitor, but I can't believe that my car can't handle this small load the amp is drawing. I have had 2 thousand watt amps hooked up, and that was the only time I have ever had any light dimming. This is probably my 7th or 8th stereo setup i have had, and find it "odd" that i need a cap on such a small stereo.

2nd question. When I was tuning my system, all off a sudden the entire channel went out and turned off. The only speakers that were working were the rear deck speakers. Every other one was off, but the amp still had power. Turned the car off, restarted, and everything was fine.

3rd question
I was cycling through the various inputs (aux, radio, CD) and the radio started reciving a signal for a sec, then turning off. Right before it turned on, it made a beep, turned on for a sec or two, turned off for a sec or two, repeat. Anyone know why? Turned the car off and then on, and everything was back to normal.

4th question
If i am working on my car, is there any way i can get the door lights to turn off when the doors are open? I don't like the idea of them draining my battery for no reason.

Thanks for the help!

 

[robhurlburt]

up top, anyone know?

 

[JonV]

Regarding Question 4, Do you really keep your doors open so long that it will drain the battery?...take out the Bulbs.

The works of Saab Stereo's are much discussed, can't be compared to a Jetta etc.

Hopefully, for your sake a stereo maven will chime in.

 

[robhurlburt]

Regarding Question 4, Do you really keep your doors open so long that it will drain the battery?...take out the Bulbs.

Good idea. Last weekend i spent the entire day working on the car, detailing the interior and working on my stereo. The battery died, and I was trying to not let that happen again.

The works of Saab Stereo's are much discussed, can't be compared to a Jetta etc.

Really, i'm not trying to compare the stereo to the jetta (stock vs stock). I am just finding odd things. I expected it to work closely similar to when I HAD the speakers in the jetta, because it is close to the same setup. Thats why i couldn't understand why the amp would draw enough power in this car to dim the lights, but it didn't in the jetta.

 

[robhurlburt]

back up top, wheres ctrlz when you need him....

 

[robhurlburt]

up top, pagin ctrlz, paging ctrlz

 

[ctrlz]

Your amp is almost identical in specs to mine. Yours is 80W x 2 channels, mine 75 W x 2 channels. Ignore the peak power specs, rms is real world power.

That being said, no way you need a capacitor.

Sounds like your setup has problems. I think you need the high power loc's specified on the page you linked. Tsunami's high power loc's end in "H" and handle up to 50W according to the site. It's hard to be sure when they don't give specs for the lower power. Many of these are for 1-5 watts, way too low for our cars. Problems like this have come up before, and the higher power LOC has done the trick.

I think your EHU is shutting down because the LOC is drawing too much current and it is going into thermal shutdown. Check your wiring. Usually a LOC is a high impedance device and should be fine wired in parallel with a speaker.

Lights should not dim with the music cranked.

The speakers to tap for a subwoofer are the door speakers in the 150W system or the 6x9's in the 300W.

 

[robhurlburt]

That being said, no way you need a capacitor.

Sounds like your setup has problems. I think you need the high power loc's specified on the page you linked. Tsunami's high power loc's end in "H" and handle up to 50W according to the site. It's hard to be sure when they don't give specs for the lower power. Many of these are for 1-5 watts, way too low for our cars. Problems like this have come up before, and the higher power LOC has done the trick.

http://www.tsunamionline.com/product.php?id=450

So something like that one would be better for my setup, because I will be soon running a second amp for my 6X9s? That gives me the 50W peak you are speaking of.

I didn't think there was a chance in hell i needed a cap, but my brother is getting me a 1 farad Rockford Fosgate cap for christmas, so i guess it can't hurt...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ROCKFORD-FOSGATE-20V-1-FARAD-CAR-AUDIO-CAPACITOR-CAP_W0QQitemZ150188438683QQihZ005QQcategoryZ75387QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

thanks for the info, since the first day i installed everything, i have yet to have any problems with it!

 

[duck_man]

Heck, my headlights dim when the traction control is on.

A cap is always a good thing. Along with a bigger battery (an optima!) and a larger alternator. If you want to go crazy.

 

[ctrlz]

The LOC needs to handle the power of the factory amp. Generally these Saab amps run at 10-20 W rms at max volume. That's not much by aftermarket standards, but would be considered high power for a factory system.

In 5 years here I think only 2 or 3 people that posted here installed caps.

 

[brianl703]

4th question
If i am working on my car, is there any way i can get the door lights to turn off when the doors are open? I don't like the idea of them draining my battery for no reason.

The lights will automatically turn off after a certain amount of time to prevent the battery from running down. I believe it's about 20 minutes.

As far as the lights dimming, suggest checking the battery and battery connections. Check that the connections are tight and then load test the battery.

 

[robhurlburt]

The lights will automatically turn off after a certain amount of time to prevent the battery from running down. I believe it's about 20 minutes.

Im almost 100% positive that they didn't and that is why my battery drained. I will check again though. I WAS positive that i turned off the interior lights, and i know that wasn't draining the battery.

thanks for the info!

 

[brianl703]

It would take a long while for the dome/courtesy lights in the Saab to drain a good battery to the point where it won't start anymore. They simply don't draw that much current. I'd guess you could leave them on for at least 12 hours before you might have a problem starting the car.

If leaving the door open for a few hours really drained your battery, it's probably pooched and you should get it load-tested to be sure.

I just got one of these load testers:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90636

I load-tested the battery in my Saab this morning with it. I applied the load long enough for the coils inside to start glowing red-hot (15 seconds or so).

The meter indicated that the battery is good (the needle was just barely into the green zone for an 800CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) battery. Since the stock Saab battery is 700CCA, this means it's good)

Basically what this tool does is apply a 100-amp load to the battery when the button is pushed and the meter displays the battery voltage. After 10 seconds the voltage needs to be above a certain point for a certain CCA battery, which is indicated on the meter itself (a good/bad zone starting from 200CCA and going up to 1000CCA in 200CCA increments)

 

[robhurlburt]

thanks for the link brian. i have already thought of getting the battery checked, i just haven't had the time. I think instead of buying the tool, i will just go to autozone and have them check it for free. the last thing i need is a dead battery

thanks again for the info