Windows Freeze When Crank, Crank again windows unfreeze - Page 2

antimatter · 04-29-2004, 04:13 PM

I do have another western digital 80g drive that i will test it out with and also 40g laptop drive that i will eventially be using (once i recieve the purchased adaper) I will be moving everything to that drive.

I also have a crappy car battery that needs replacing soon and that could be the problem too. I will be getting a car battery this weekend so that might fix the problem.

I hope it is as easy as replacing the Hard Drive

antimatter · 04-30-2004, 12:02 AM

So here is the deal...

I went and did some more thourough testing when i got home. I was able to create a pattern on when the hard drive would SPIN down and was able to get around it for the time being.

I plugged in another WD 80g HD and I had the same Issue with it spinning down and freezing Windows. This hard drive seemed to have even greater power requirments becasue the car almost wouldn't start a couple of cranks

When I had the Lilliput and CD/DVD plugged in and I cranked I was able to reproduce my problem 5/6 cranks. When I disconnected them and only had the hard drive plugged in i was only able to reproduce my issue like 1/6 cranks. Also I noticed that i was more likly to have this problem while stepping on the Brake Pedel.

Obviously my system is running lean on power. What are some good suggestions on fixing this.

I have a couple of Ideas

1. Replace the battery with a Optima Deep cycle battery
2. Put in a tank circuit
3. Run the lilliput directly off the battery (with a 12v regulator inbetween(any suggestions on a good 12v regulator))
4. Wire the Lilliput Directly to the Battery (I havn't drilled through the firewall yet)

any comments or suggestions on this newfound info?

Thanks for the help

MatrixPC · 04-30-2004, 12:34 AM

Search the web for the 3 magic wire that audio peps referring to.
Basically what they do is upgrade the wiring system from the alternator to the battery. A minimum of 4GA wire is perfect but you can use 8GA.
- 1 wire go from the alternator output (+) to the (+) of the battery. WARNING: on some car, there is an inline fuse between. Check your car repair manual/electrical manual to see if there is one. My Matrix and Supra all have this fuse. If you open the fuse box cover in the engine bay, there is one label ALT for alternator. My Matrix has 100AMP, but the Supra only has 80AMP fuse.
The other 2 are for ground. One from the battery (-) to the bold that mound the alternator/engine. The other one is from the battery (-) to chasic/fender.

If all those doesn't work (including replace with Optima battery), you may have to upgrade the alternator.

antimatter · 05-02-2004, 01:25 AM

So last night i worked for many hours installing my new 40g laptop HD. I bought it couse it was cheap and becasue i wanted a HD inside the case and because of its lower power consumption.

I have to say that i still my problem is not as prevelant however unfortunatly my boot time has jumped quite significantly.

I havn't had a windows freeze error with the laptop hard drive but i have a complete reboot when I crank the engine.
EDIT:I just had the same windows freeze/unfreeze problem with the lapop drive.

It is definitly time for a new battery. Sears Here I come. Doing the wiring upgrade is a good idea too. I will look into that.

I am considering switching back to the 3.5 hard drive just becasue it was so quick once i get the power issue straightened out. I will keep this thread updated with my progress

antimatter · 05-07-2004, 12:52 PM

O I went by Sears and got an Optima Yellow Top battery.

I havn't gotten it installed in my car yet because the battery terminals are reversed. So i decided to run it to the trunk. That is going to take some time.

Once I get the battery installed in the trunk I am going to power the computer directly from the battery (as i should have in the first place).

I am hoping that all this will fix my cranking problem.

I will keep this post updated with my progress. (seems i am the only one posting here)

NitroNic · 05-08-2004, 11:25 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by antimatter

O I went by Sears and got an Optima Yellow Top battery.

I havn't gotten it installed in my car yet because the battery terminals are reversed. So i decided to run it to the trunk. That is going to take some time.

Once I get the battery installed in the trunk I am going to power the computer directly from the battery (as i should have in the first place).

I am hoping that all this will fix my cranking problem.

I will keep this post updated with my progress. (seems i am the only one posting here)

If you're getting a second battery... you might want to think about also getting a separate alternator for it, or one that's rated higher to charge both batteries.

crusher · 05-10-2004, 11:37 AM

hello

as you described the problem is that the voltage drops quite a few.
it is independent of your hardware.

if your battery won't solve the problem, you should install a thicker grounding wire from battery - to chassis. you might want to try a 1 F capacitor also.

if even this won't work, you surely have transient noise over your power lines.
installing some relevant caps in parallel to all power outputs.

for this all, the easiest method would be to pick an oscilloscope and measure signal shape on power leads over ignition.

...and if you feel this is a problem that anyone should be able to solve in 3 min, I ask you did you ever wonder about why some (if not all) head units/amps/etc DO turn off during ignition...

antimatter · 05-10-2004, 01:11 PM

@NitroNic
For the time being i am going to route my battery to the trunk and dump the old one. I am doing this for two reasons.

1. better weight distro and more space for performance parts
2. becasue the Optima Yellow top doesn't fit in the battery compartment under my hood in the first place.

Killing two birds with one stone. Also I will be able to easily expand to two batteries if i need to.

@crusher

Quote:

as you described the problem is that the voltage drops quite a few.
it is independent of your hardware.

This is what i figured

Quote:

if your battery won't solve the problem, you should install a thicker grounding wire from battery - to chassis. you might want to try a 1 F capacitor also.

What guage wire is recomended and do i put the Cap inline with the ground?

Quote:

if even this won't work, you surely have transient noise over your power lines. installing some relevant caps in parallel to all power outputs.

So maybe you could talk more about isntalling caps. And maybe a little more about transient noise aswell

Thanks for your help

falconey · 05-10-2004, 01:58 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by antimatter

@NitroNic
For the time being i am going to route my battery to the trunk and dump the old one. I am doing this for two reasons.

1. better weight distro and more space for performance parts
2. becasue the Optima Yellow top doesn't fit in the battery compartment under my hood in the first place.

Killing two birds with one stone. Also I will be able to easily expand to two batteries if i need to.

@crusher

This is what i figured

What guage wire is recomended and do i put the Cap inline with the ground?

So maybe you could talk more about isntalling caps. And maybe a little more about transient noise aswell

Thanks for your help

I don't think you want all your electrical systems running off a yellow top. You should get a red top for that. Or you could use a two battery setup and have ACC running off the yellow top and ignition etc running off the crap battery. Put a battery seperater in between and you're set. Yellow tops are deep cycle which is not usually what you want your car running off off; You should be using the yellow top if you keep ACC or in this case a carputer running for long periods of time with the car turned off.

antimatter · 05-11-2004, 01:03 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by falconey

I don't think you want all your electrical systems running off a yellow top. You should get a red top for that. Or you could use a two battery setup and have ACC running off the yellow top and ignition etc running off the crap battery. Put a battery seperater in between and you're set. Yellow tops are deep cycle which is not usually what you want your car running off off; You should be using the yellow top if you keep ACC or in this case a carputer running for long periods of time with the car turned off.

Why shouldn't i run my car system off a yellow top?

Pokey · 05-13-2004, 07:39 AM

Sounds like you dont have enough power from your OPUS, 90watts isnt that much when you load it down. disconnect everything you dont need running, (fans, dvd drive, etc) and try it again.

falconey · 05-13-2004, 08:26 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by antimatter

Why shouldn't i run my car system off a yellow top?

Deep cycle batteries aren't designed for what you're trying to use it for. I mean you can still go with Optima just get a red top instead. Or keep the yellow top and the crappy battery and have a two battery set up using the yellow top for your added accesories and the crappy battery for igniton. I'm sure they're are more knowledgeable people about batteries and the way they work that can explain it in more technical details, but I can't. I just know with the amount of charging and discharging a car battery has to undertake, deep cylce batteries aren't the correct solution. You want deep cycle for situations where you'll be using electronic components for long periods of time without them charging. For example you could run the carputer without the engine cut on for a long period of time on a yellow top. Or better yet for a much longer period on a yellow top than on a red top. The but is as long as a deep cycle takes to discharge is equivalent(this is what you need to verify because I'm not 100% sure) to the charging or at least close. Although I can't really explain it that well I know in the long run you're not going to want your ignition running off a yellow top.

antimatter · 05-18-2004, 12:21 AM

Well thanks for the comments. I will look into it. I still havn't installed it yet and it will probably be a couple weeks until I do becasue it's my GF's Bday and Anniverary soon so no dough (she gets priority in these instances)

EDIT: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question219.htm

Check this link and show me a car battery for Mercury Cougar that has better RC (Reserve Capacity) and More CCA (Cold Cranking amps) than the Optima Yellow Top http://www.batterymart.com/battery/D342F78-950.html

I looked into the DIEHARD that I was going to get and it had about half the CCA than the optima that I ended up getting.

I don't think that I am going to have a problem with using this battery.

falconey · 05-19-2004, 03:34 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by antimatter

Well thanks for the comments. I will look into it. I still havn't installed it yet and it will probably be a couple weeks until I do becasue it's my GF's Bday and Anniverary soon so no dough (she gets priority in these instances)

EDIT: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question219.htm

Check this link and show me a car battery for Mercury Cougar that has better RC (Reserve Capacity) and More CCA (Cold Cranking amps) than the Optima Yellow Top http://www.batterymart.com/battery/D342F78-950.html

I looked into the DIEHARD that I was going to get and it had about half the CCA than the optima that I ended up getting.

I don't think that I am going to have a problem with using this battery.

I don't think you'll have a problem either at least in the short term. I was just letting you know the purposes of the yellow top. If you're alty is suspect in the least I think you'll have problems because just as long as it takes to discharge it takes long to recharge. I think you'd be better off going with a two battery set up. That's just my opinion. I know people that have run all their systems off yellow tops, but the only thing is I don't know them well. So I don't know if a year later their having to replace there battery. I do know that for what you say you're trying to do it would have been better to go with the red top. Again though don't let me discourage you I'm just trying to help you out in the planning stages that you're in.

antimatter · 05-20-2004, 01:33 PM

Don't get me wrong I appriciate your advice and help.

A two battery setup might be better but I am trying to keep the extra weight off my car. That is one reason why I am going to run the battery to the trunk is for better weight distrobution in a FWD car.

Anyways I don't see any problem with running a yellow top for the time being and if I have to replace it in a year I will run a dual battery setup. Also if changing is a problem i will upgrade to a higher output alternator. I was planning on that anyways.

Cheers