Help me please!!!!

[KMoney28]

50 farads, thats crazy power. 1 farad equals 1000 watts power(so they claim) I highly doubt you'll need 50,000 watts power. Watch out for the ebay caps, I bought one for $150(5 farad), it's a piece of shit(Lanzar), no way that it could put out 5,000 watts. You should be fine with a new battery. If you do wanna get a cap as well just to be safe, 3 farads seems more than enough.

[empathydude]

Originally Posted by KMoney28

50 farads, thats crazy power. 1 farad equals 1000 watts power(so they claim) I highly doubt you'll need 50,000 watts power. Watch out for the ebay caps, I bought one for $150(5 farad), it's a piece of shit(Lanzar), no way that it could put out 5,000 watts. You should be fine with a new battery. If you do wanna get a cap as well just to be safe, 3 farads seems more than enough.

Do you understand what a 1ohm load is? do you understand the difference between a battery & capacitor? do you know that the crappier the amp the MORE power it requires?

OK, take a step back - do you know how electricity works?

[sr20de4evr]

Originally Posted by empathydude

With a 1 ohm load (dual 2 ohm speakers) you will be hitting more than 90 amp straight draw off a 500w RMS amp. You'd need more than a 20 farad cap just to stop the voltage from dropping to 10v from 12v with perfect ground.

Your lights will still dim off a yellow top @ 13.6v without the cap. Save the money on the battery and buy the 300$ 50 farad cap, with 1ga wiring your lights wont dim even at idle(barring rap music =).

those r just estimates but you can do math to get the exacts. the cheapest way IS the cap

um, no
a 50 farad would have an internal resistance so high that it would be useless.

"the cheapest way is the cap", I'm sorry but that's the funniest thing I think I've ever read

[empathydude]

Originally Posted by sr20de4evr

um, no
a 50 farad would have an internal resistance so high that it would be useless.

"the cheapest way is the cap", I'm sorry but that's the funniest thing I think I've ever read

Have you even used a 50f cap? they are 10f caps in series in a big box linked by a solid steel bar... so the resistance isnt much different from a 1f. go do a lil research, or betta yet - buy one.

Originally Posted by Abell255

Holy shit, really? I've never heard anyone using that much.
Ebay: 50 farad for 300$ yea. i was just gonna hit up the power acoustik 5 farad for 100$. You sure i need 50 farad? Well around that. But yea, its 3,000 watts at 1 ohm, which i have it at. Gains: 4/5. Damnit i don't know what to do. Ya'll say somethin different. With a HUGE cap though, would my alternator be good?

Think of the faucet running into the palm of your hand(water being current) - the strength of the water flow from the faucet would be what kind of alternator you have, with a stock - assume you have a trickle=)

then take a straw and drink the water(the straw being demand on power from your amp).
If you suddenly wanted an extra boost of water(being a bass note),
you would be sucking half air because your palm would empty of water(air being no electricity making your lights dim)

Then think of adding a small cup like a dinky 12oz can of coke(a 1 farad capacitor) This would allow you to suck a little bit more watter without running out, you will still run out though, most amps draw much more than a 1f could supply, a single 1f is more for the amps benefit than the alternators(it will increase sq).

NOW think of a 72oz Big slurpie cup from 7-11, this would be a 50 farad capacitor. Depending on the size of your straw(the amp)
you still might suck it dry, but isnt that a LOT more water to suck before it runs dry?

The purpose of the cap is to dampen the peak demand on the alternator hence reducing(if not eliminating) the light dimming and taking some of the load off the alternator. The same amount of power must be produced by the alternator & batt, all the cap does is give the alt & batt extra time to reproduce the power while it supplies the current to the amp. Since there is no immediate requirement for the current, usually the battery will recharge the cap before the alternator.

[Abell255]

Originally Posted by KMoney28

50 farads, thats crazy power. 1 farad equals 1000 watts power(so they claim) I highly doubt you'll need 50,000 watts power. Watch out for the ebay caps, I bought one for $150(5 farad), it's a piece of shit(Lanzar), no way that it could put out 5,000 watts. You should be fine with a new battery. If you do wanna get a cap as well just to be safe, 3 farads seems more than enough.

How do you know that "theirs no way it can put out 5,000 watts"? Test it? The 50 farad LANZAR is only 240$, so even if it is half effecient its still 25 farads for 240. Not bad. And i'm assuming its more then half effecient. If i'm buying a cap, i myswell buy a large one, rather then spend 150$ on a good 3 farad or whatever. Why waste money. I'm going to hit up the lanzar 50 farad cap, and the optima yellow top battery for about $400. Anyone think, actually, does anyone KNOW of a better way or if this is dumb?

[sr20de4evr]

Have you even used a 50f cap?
No I haven't, because I have a 2000rms system and I get 0 dimming on the stock 80 amp alternator and battery with no cap at all.

they are 10f caps in series in a big box linked by a solid steel bar... so the resistance isnt much different from a 1f. go do a lil research, or betta yet - buy one.
I think you mean parallel, since the capacitance doesn't add in series, and even a 10f cap has an internal resistance much too high to be very effective



Think of the faucet running into the palm of your hand(water being current) - the strength of the water flow from the faucet would be what kind of alternator you have, with a stock - assume you have a trickle=)

then take a straw and drink the water(the straw being demand on power from your amp).
If you suddenly wanted an extra boost of water(being a bass note),
you would be sucking half air because your palm would empty of water(air being no electricity making your lights dim)

Then think of adding a small cup like a dinky 12oz can of coke(a 1 farad capacitor) This would allow you to suck a little bit more watter without running out, you will still run out though, most amps draw much more than a 1f could supply, a single 1f is more for the amps benefit than the alternators(it will increase sq).

NOW think of a 72oz Big slurpie cup from 7-11, this would be a 50 farad capacitor. Depending on the size of your straw(the amp)
you still might suck it dry, but isnt that a LOT more water to suck before it runs dry?
And a 50f cap that costs $300 will do this better than a 2nd or even 3rd battery how?

The purpose of the cap is to dampen the peak demand on the alternator hence reducing(if not eliminating) the light dimming and taking some of the load off the alternator. The same amount of power must be produced by the alternator & batt, all the cap does is give the alt & batt extra time to reproduce the power while it supplies the current to the amp. Since there is no immediate requirement for the current, usually the battery will recharge the cap before the alternator.
A capacitor will do nothing for the load on the alternator, if anything it will increase the load on the alternator because as the current flows in and out of the cap some of it gets burned up as heat and then all the current that leaves plus all the current that gets burned up has to be replaced by the alternator. And before you say "but the cap does the quick draw and spreads out the load on the alt over a longer period of time", that's what the battery does, and it does it quite well.

[sr20de4evr]

Originally Posted by Abell255

Anyone think, actually, does anyone KNOW of a better way or if this is dumb?

YES
jesus I spent the entire first place going through it, why does no one listen to me?

you also need to lower your gain, unless your gain range goes from 10V-.2V and your headunit has 1V preouts, 4/5 gain is much too high. There are tutorials online on how to set your gain properly with test tones while listening for clipping, follow them.

[Abell255]

Ok... Well you have to admit cap's do help SQ in most cases. Might not be easier on the alternator, but will be better when your amp demands alot of power at high volume. Well no need to argue, just tell me what i should do. Get a 200 amp alt? I dont really want to spend more then 300$... And i also dont want to ruin my stock alt... help me!

[sr20de4evr]

Originally Posted by Abell255

Ok... Well you have to admit cap's do help SQ in most cases.

Then why do very few competition sound quality cars use caps? They're used in show cars extensively, but you rarely see them in sound quality or spl competitions

[Abell255]

Yea, my gain is at a little less then 3/4 now, i tested.

yea you told me to "upgrade the magic 3". Well i dont see how that would the alternator much. And i dont want to mess with that stuff cuz like i dont know where the alt is, or where the engine ground terminal is or whatever so...

[Abell255]

Well, they use more batteries. Kind of the same thing. But whatever ok... Just try to help me out rather then argue, you're probably right anyway. Ive only got a 1 farad cap now, so i know i should get a bigger one anyways. So your saying, uprade the magic 3, larger cap, and maybe the yellow top?

[sr20de4evr]

Originally Posted by Abell255

Well, they use more batteries. Kind of the same thing. But whatever ok... Just try to help me out rather then argue, you're probably right anyway. Ive only got a 1 farad cap now, so i know i should get a bigger one anyways. So your saying, uprade the magic 3, larger cap, and maybe the yellow top?

only the SPL guys use more batteries and that's because they compete with the car off, the SQ guys use an upgraded battery, alternator, wiring, and that's it.

anyway, I'm getting argumentative because this guy's telling you to spend $300 on a huge hunk of metal that just might help that you probably don't even have room to mount anyway, and you're actually listening to him.

I'm saying upgrade the magic 3, sell the cap, and upgrade to a yellow top.

[Abell255]

Ok. By the way, heres my car's system.

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/658706/5

Well, i might as well keep the cap. I'll get the yellow top, i was going to anyway because i drained my battery a month a go totally so its probably shitty now. I'll go out right now and see what you mean on the magic 3, i still dont think im capable of doing this.

How the hell do you get no dim at 2000rms? I've got a stock 80 amp alt too. Damn....

[sr20de4evr]

Originally Posted by Abell255

Ok. By the way, heres my car's system.

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/658706/5

Well, i might as well keep the cap. I'll get the yellow top, i was going to anyway because i drained my battery a month a go totally so its probably shitty now. I'll go out right now and see what you mean on the magic 3, i still dont think im capable of doing this.

How the hell do you get no dim at 2000rms? I've got a stock 80 amp alt too. Damn....

Well if you drained your batt then that automatically tells you that you need a new alternator. A new cap will do nothing but make it worse, and a new batt will let you run it longer before the battery runs dead but it still won't cure the problem

Anyway, look at the negative terminal on the batt, there should be a single cable coming off, follow this about a foot or a foot and a half and it'll be attached to a bolt, this is your battery ground. The alternator is the only component attached to your engine that has a power cable coming off, normally with a red rubber boot over where the cable attaches to the alt. The engine ground depends on the car, but there should be a pretty large cable bolted to the engine at some spot (mine's actually bolted to the transmission) and then it bolts to the chassis just like the battery ground does.

And I get no dimming because I upgraded the magic 3, a while ago I wanted to see if it had really done anything or it was all in my head so I removed the battrey ground cable that I had added. As soon as I turned on the first song I was watching all of my interior lights (speedo, seat belt light, dome light, etc) dim. I put the cable back on, and they all quit dimming completely.

[Abell255]

K i'll go look now and update. But you were saying i drained my battery i need a new alt no matter what? Then you said like a new battery will drain or something? i Kind of got confused. I dont want to buy a new alt $$$$...