A cap - is a cap- is a cap ~~ yes/no??!

[vinnym86]

...heh, 2 yr old thread, dude.

[Patrick Simmons]

Originally Posted by vinnym86

...heh, 2 yr old thread, dude.

Whoops, didn't realize how old this was. lmao

[Chevy4life1985]

*slaps forehead* newb

[Patrick Simmons]

Originally Posted by Chevy4life1985

*slaps forehead* newb

Definately not a n00b in car audio nor forums just didn't look at how old the thread was. sheez!

[PaulD]

the only characteristic you need to look at is ESR ...... if it's much above 2 mOhms (.002 ohms), it will be pretty much useless. That puts all the ones with voltmeters on the top in that category. Sometimes a cap will help because of the way an amp draws power out of the battery, most of the time it won't help.

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART ........ it will NOT help a bassboomer system, it's only helpful when playing "real" music.

[kcg795]

I would get a capacitor for one reason. Basically as a power conditioner. Alternators are not perfect. They mainly give off alternating current and have to be converted to direct current with diodes. Sometimes, the diodes can leak a little bit of alternating current in the system, which can cause a little bit of noise in your stereo system. A capacitor can often help clean up a dirty electrical system and help everything run smoothly. So if I was to get a 1 farad capacitor, I'd be getting to to help everything work better. Not just my stereo system.

[Chevy4life1985]

I was bustin your balls dude

[Patrick Simmons]

Originally Posted by Chevy4life1985

I was bustin your balls dude

all good!

[Pavlo]

Quick question about caps.
Since I got my 2nd amp my light dim, so i have too much power draw by the amps right? It's not too bad, but I would rather have a cap, then drive around knowing my power is overloaded.
So wanted to ask what is a realtively cheap 1-1.5 farad cap?

[Patrick Simmons]

Originally Posted by Pavlo

Quick question about caps.
Since I got my 2nd amp my light dim, so i have too much power draw by the amps right? It's not too bad, but I would rather have a cap, then drive around knowing my power is overloaded.
So wanted to ask what is a realtively cheap 1-1.5 farad cap?

I would da a big 3 upgrade first, before spending money on a cap.

[Pavlo]

I have no idea what that is. Whould you please explain?
I think I should start a new thread.

[kcg795]

1) Battery negative to chassis
2) Alternator to battery positive
3) Chassis to engine

I've only done 1 and 3 so far and it made a big improvement. #1 was just replacing the stock negative wire with a beefier one from Napa. Then #3 went from the Chassis to one of the mounting bolts of the alternator and from that to the intake manifold. I have 4 gauge wiring to do the alternator positive to the battery positive, but need to get an inline fuse first.

[CBFryman]

Originally Posted by kcg795

I would get a capacitor for one reason. Basically as a power conditioner. Alternators are not perfect. They mainly give off alternating current and have to be converted to direct current with diodes. Sometimes, the diodes can leak a little bit of alternating current in the system, which can cause a little bit of noise in your stereo system. A capacitor can often help clean up a dirty electrical system and help everything run smoothly. So if I was to get a 1 farad capacitor, I'd be getting to to help everything work better. Not just my stereo system.

An alternator produces only AC, generators produce DC . Caps smooth voltage peaks, nothing more, nothing less.

[murd3rd]

hey jsut wanted to add in numeral 1 power caps are the body jewelry of car audio unless you are getting down with a 10 farad cap then it starts making a difference but then you really need to make sure youre charging system can handle the output of that cap with out sustaing a loss of key compents of youre ride. as well people wondering about having 2 caps an 1 shutting down sounds like its wired in sieries in stead of parallel the cap should never turn off if it does it needs to be decharged an rechanrged or its not gunna work properly itll be a volt meter as well i always go with a battery , it will do so much more than a cap ever will check out kenetic they have a battery line called kap killer its super small prob the size of a battery in a kids 4 wheeler an the out put is astronmical its a low input hi output acid free battery an i do believe retail on them is under 200 bucks !!

[murd3rd]

Originally Posted by CBFryman

An alternator produces only AC, generators produce DC . Caps smooth voltage peaks, nothing more, nothing less.

an alternator creats ac an thru a process called rectification its converted into dc

The formula for how much energy a capacitor can store is; (½* C*V^2). Which reads ½ times the capacitance (in Farads) times the voltage squared. As an example let’s find out how much energy is stored in a 1 Farad capacitor that is connected to the +12V system. (½ * 1 Farad * 12 * 12) = 72 Joules or 72 Watt seconds an most of the time a second battery will spare you much headache hope that helps