I recently installed a new audio system in my truck, then i started to notice the battery light come on. it went off for a couple days, then i installed a capacitor just to be safe and then the battery light came on and has stayed on... any ideas on the issue. all the audio equipment is installed correctly. 300 watt amp and 1 farad cap.
Is the battery the original, if so have it checked by your local garage also have your alternator checked under load. The might not be up to the wattage of the new amp.
How old is the battery ? if it's older then three years it's time to put a new battery in your truck nowadays battery's don't last long because of the newer electronics
are you pulling the positive from the battery or from somewhere like the interior fuse block? If you pull from the fuse block you may be limiting how much current the other items can get, causing the light to come on. Does the light come on even when the stereo is off/unhooked? If so this may be an unrelated problem.
This is a very easy fix you need to get a battery with more cold cranking amps to run all you accessories because if you have a weak battery you could overload you alternator and possibly blow your battery and alternator.
stop at any auto parts dealer and get your charging system checked out to make sure your alternator is putting out the right power for your battery,they do this test for free.it takes a matter of minutes.good grounds are important clean steel area with o ring clip on the wire screwed into the clean area.the ground off the amplifier should be as short as possible.there has to be a reason that your battery crapped out and im thinking alternator.make sure you pick a different place to ground the amplifier not to the cap the cap should be grounded on its own and a good ground to.if your capacitor has a read out on it you should be seeing about 14 volt read out with engine running sometimes it will go to 14.4 then back to 12 volts when you shut the car off and it gos out after a min or two.if the numbers are any bigger than that there is a good chance your brushes in the alternator are tired,the alternator most of the time starts over charging your battery and this is what kills it.hope this helps you out.also check your alternator to see if its getting to hot and make sure you don't get your fingers caught in the belt,that would suck.if its getting to hot its working its butt off.look into the (big 3 upgrade) on u tube and see what its all about.but a 300 watt amplifier should be fine on a stock charging system.i have about 900 watts into two amplifiers and my stock charging system can run this with out a problem.good luck with your system.hope your running your amplifier off the battery itself with the wiring kit they sell for the job.if not this is your problem.
