Partial Big 3 Upgrade FTW!! [PICS INSIDE!]

[imdanchu]

hey guys, my dad and i just got done doing a partial big 3 install and it sure does make a difference as to preventing voltage drop!

i just followed the pics towards the bottom of page 1:
Recommendation: Install Big Three Wires!

added first wire to bolt, left other end alone for next step


added second wire to next bolt, then attached both wires to the battery terminal


BATTERY GOO!!!!!!


finished upgrade:


no dim ftw!

VIDEO!!YouTube - no dim for the win

my capacitor stayed consistent at about 14v and dipped no lower than 13.7v at the exception of once at 13.5v. before the install, it would dip to as low as 11-12v and the tails would dim to every beat. nothing now! this all of course tested at the same volume level!
and its pretty cold out here, the car started to frost over, but the battery didnt seem to drain much even at that.

i know theres more you can do to the big 3, but i didnt really wanna have to go out and buy a fuse and attempt to break the plastic ring thing around the alternator and everything.

i just used 4gauge wire i already had to give a little support. i just like to turn my subs up enough where you can feel the music, not tremors!

if anyone has any advice they can give to upgrade it further by just adding another wire to another spot as simply as i did with these 2 wires, let me know!

[civic_coupe]

pics dont work =(

[imdanchu]

comes up fine on mine? i dunno, anyone else having problems?

[GeezerSi]

I'm seeing at the moment. Maybe it will come up later.

[ErichPryde]

subscribed for later.... have to get to work for right now so I don't have time to really comment, but it looks good!.

[strutking]

nice nice

[imdanchu]

hmm, i checked the page now and i got the x's too. refreshed the page and it showed up! i dunno why thats like that though..

[bikinpunk]

Yep, if you do nothing else on the "big 3" you should at least upgrade the battery to ground.

Doing the big 3 helped alot of my voltage issues.

[BigGeorge]

I am about to do this myself. Thanks for posting the pics.

[imdanchu]

well hopefully within the next 2-3 weeks ill have rims, springs, and HID kit bought, shipped, and installed. thinking if i should buy the bel rx65 radar/laser detector. probably better to have one, washington is starting to to add a lot of speed traps and theres a buttload of those undercovers that shine sirens from their headlights and grill and such.

cant wait to add all the stuff on though, then i can finally feel proud enough to post pics of the car! hubcaps FTL.

[imdanchu]

did another test run just now, except at volume 30 instead of 20 and with a VERY bass heavy track. kanye west - cant tell me nothing.

NEW VIDEO! YouTube - no dim ftw 2 NEW VIDEO!

STILL no dim. FTW

this has got to be by far the best/simplest way to prevent voltage drop. after i added the capacitor (before partial big3) it didnt really do anything different as far as preventing voltage drop. all it really did was tell me my battery voltage lol. since the extra grounding did its job i guess the capacitor is there just to look cool and tell me my voltage!

so for the doubters of extra grounding, from my first hand experience i will say it is a VERY good improvement being able to turn my volume up to 30 without any dimming, when before, even at like volume 15+ it would dim. and this is just the PARTIAL big 3 i did with a FOUR gauge wire. imagine what a COMPLETE big 3 + ZERO gauge wires would do for a much more powerful system set up than mine.

as to the claims of better driving performance, idk. i doubt it imho. as for inital startup smoothness, i will test on a cold morning and get back to you guys on that. cause even though my car is brand new (3k mi) it still struggles to start in the morning at times. hopefully that does improve.

btw, i have an 08 lx coupe and my system is just stock HU tapped via LOC into a 1 farad rockfordfosgate power capacitor which connects to a GENERIC 800watt amp + two 12" jl audio w0 subs. and again, i have the amp level pretty low. even as weak as it is, the battery still struggled greatly before the upgrade. a little extra grounding went a long way.

decided to take a couple of shots while i was out there :)


i reside in RAINTOWN, WASHINGTON


hope this info helps those who were thinking about doing this or still had questions.

ps: i soldered the wires to the terminals, inside and around the edge of the terminals to fuse the terminal to the wire. always ensure the best conductivity for best/safest results.

[Morphiend]

i think id like to do the big 3. i have a few questions though.

if i do it i will want to use 1/0 wire, probably the knukonceptz kollosus flex cables or maybe kicker hyperflex. how much wire should i get? will i have to get a new battery? i assume id need to get new terminals that can accept the 1/0 gauge wire, can someone reccomend some new terminals? thanks for any help.

[Kroze]

good job.

[imdanchu]

well i think most people got new terminals when they upgraded with 0 gauge wire. as for what MY OWN upgrade, i only needed about 2 feet of wire. just measure with a flimsy measuring tape from bolt to battery post and remember to give slack.

as for this upgrade, you most likely wont need to buy a better battery. this upgrade basically helps utilize the stock battery's power. unless you're running like 6 dvd screens with a $2000+ system etc you probably dont really need a new battery. but thats just my opinion.

i believe bikinpunk did a complete big3 upgrade and did it successfully, and im sure he knows more about it than i do. maybe you can ask him as far as recommended brands and stuff.

and thanks kroze

[ameuba10]

did you load your capacitor before you hooked everything up? supposedly you have to charge it using a 1k ohm resistor before you hook it up.

[imdanchu]

no i didnt. but ive had it hooked up for the last couple weeks so im sure its charged up from the car battery by now. i dunno, lol

[imdanchu]

so from my experience so far, on cold engine startups, especially the 32 degree mornings, my car has started perfectly everytime.

as an example to what i mean by perfectly, imagine when you have your car on and you drove it for a while and you stop by a gas station to buy a drink. you go back to your car like a minute later and start it up. it starts perfectly with no struggle.

thats what my engine is doing now everytime so far after the upgrade. before the upgrade, not the case at all. lol. ill let you guys know if it ever struggles again!

[Cr8tive_leo]

Nice nice.

I'm in the process of hooking up my amp, and did a scan of the engine bay to where the Neg. terminal attaches to the Chassis. It's 8gauge, or 14 gauge, that sucks.

What you did is perfect, and if any ground upgrade should be done, it should be the battery neg. to the chassis at least. (since all the other spots go to the chassis as ground)

There is one other spot that I am going to run a wire from the neg. to. It's the ground on the passenger side attached to the Block (I think)

4gauge is good! Do the min of what your largest gauge is. Unless you want to run 0gauge from Chassis to the neg. terminal, and 4 gauge all the rest.

I'm debating if I should do the Alternator line upgrade or not. We'll see.

Good job! You've inspired me to do this too!

[negativezeroz]

So did you even complete the Big 3 with the battery positive to alt positive (fused) yet? I a run of 1/0 for that part awhile back but removed it.

[VTECnical]

Wow. Nice work man!