paulmoore

Hey guys, i have a question. I was looking at some capacitors, and I found a few types/styles. We have the cylinder looking units that are mostly either .5 or 1.0 farad, or there are capacitors that look like amplifiers that ranges anywhere from 2.0 and up farads. What exactly are the differences between the two? I honestly only need a 1 farad cap for my sub amp, but the way i want to install everything, the amp type will look much cleaner.

NEEDAZ

You may not even need that. How did you come up with needing 1F? Why do you think you need one at all (lights dimming, someone told you)?What are you running for an amp? How much power? Still running the stock alt.? What about the under hood wiring?

jak2908

from what i know the general rule of thumb is that for every 1000 watts you have...you need 1 farad for it..how much money were you looking to spend on it, because a yellow top battery might be a better option for you

paulmoore

Ok, guess I should have given you guys some specs on my current setup. Currently I have an Orion Xtr 900.2 amp that puts out 450x2@2 ohms(900W Total) plus i have a small Eclipse 50x4@4 ohms for the mids and highs. I have an Optima Red top battery with an updgraded 140 amp alternator. One of the issues i'm going to have is the fact that I am revamping the system to include a JL 1000/1 and 450/4 amps. That will give me a total of 1500 RMS for the current system power. However, I am not sure if I would need to add a cap to the 450/4 seeing as how it is the mids and highs amp.

NEEDAZ

If you have have a 140A alt and a red top AND SUFFICIENT WIRING you should be OK. This of course would depend and what the alt. is really putting at idle. But an overdrive alt pulley would help this, and is cheaper.
You didn't mention under hook wiring or f you where currently having problems.

paulmoore

Well, I'm not sure exactly what it does put out at idle. I have the equipment to test that so I think that I will just to see. Currently, I am running 0 gauge power wire to a Monster distribution block. Then it goes one 4 gauge out to the cap then the Orion (sub)amp, and an 8 gauge out to the Eclipse(mids/highs) amp. I have added a seperate 0 gauge ground from the battery negative to the chassis. I have also added a seperate 8 gauge wire from the alternator + to the battery + on top of the existing wiring already in place. I would have added a 4 gauge, but space was limited. At idle, the interior lights will dim when the bass hits, but once the engine comes off of idle in the slightest, the dimming isn't there. Also, this is in my *other* car Pontiac Sunbird, ahem... I mean camaro, and an overdrive pulley isn't an option. I'm not really having any problems per se, but I like to research everything, and plan ahead so that when it comes time to finnaly do the install, it will be effortless and problem free.

aaron7

iTrader: (7)

We really need a sticky on this. It should read:

You never need a cap. So don't waste your money on one. Search for "the big three" and do it. Then tell me if you still think you need one.

jak2908

word but i still wouldnt mind one my friend has one and it helps his voltage not drop so low and fast

NEEDAZ

Paul, take the last step and run a ground from the motor to the frame. When you start pulling a lot of current it doesn't take much resistance to develop problematic voltage drops. I hope in the next month to be able give real world chassis resistance measurements accurate to 0.00001 ohms and will do some before and after wit wiring upgrades. Then we'll all have some really numbers to do the math with. I think this would take a lot of wind out of the cap debate.
But in the long run it's your money. A cap can the quick way to stop the dimming lights.

jak2908

depending on the size of wire you plan on using for the big three you should fuse it between the alt. and bat. so your alt dont push out all it can

ScrapMaker

even a batcap is a waste of money, and that's the only thing I would even consider...