100F cap

[Teelo]

I just ordered a new amp to replace my mediocre Infinty 761 i have had. The new amp is an Orion 2400 which is close to double the RMS of the infinity. But anyways I found a 100 Farad (16v) cap on ebay that im thinking about getting. Is this practical? should i encounter any problems since i only get like 14.4v out of my alternator and the cap is 16v? thanks

[Hudson]

i would be worried about what happens to me and my car when it accidentally pops

[disposablehero]

I don't think that a cap is the way to go. I would replace the bat first or add a second bat. I will never run a cap in any system I run. Kenetik makes a bat that is tiny and works well as a cap and you won't have any issues that you would with a cap. And they are more reliable

[Hudson]

what's a bat???

[Toyz]

A battery ^^
Just incase you really werent sure.

To stay on topic, i have never had any problems with using caps. And i have had the same system with and without a cap and there was a noticeable difference.

[GTPGuy82]

I've never had any problems either, but the highest rated cap I've ever used is 1F....you wanna go with 100F??

[Hudson]

never had issues with a cap either currently i have two amps one for my speakers one for my sub and i have a 2Farad cap, and nothing is starving for power. I think 100F is a liitle on the redicoulus side

[Teelo]

well on the bright side youd definatly never run out of power :warped:

But batteries just give you more to drain... im not worried about draining my battery or anything. Capacitors are like on demand power- they discharge whenever you need extra power, and at the moment i still dont have an amp that will allow me to use my L7s to their full capacity. Aka when my subs hit they want to hit a lot more than the power im supplying them with is able to give them. And also the 4 farad cap i have now is under powered because my lights STILL dim even after adding the cap.

When I added my first capacitor (the one i have now) that was probably singlehandidly the best thing for the money i ever did that helped my system... It hits SO much harder with it. And seeing as to how it helped it so much, and it STILL doesnt have enough power id say a bigger capacitor would produce an even greater result

[Interfire]

Batteries may give you more to drain, but what do you think a cap does? It just gives your system more to charge. If it already can't keep up with the load, adding something else to stress it even more isn't the way to go. That being said some people do swear by them but they are just a band-aid fix.

Upgrade the big 3 under your hood in most cases does more than a cap would ever do, that and having a good battery ie optima is the way to go. You can have your alternator redone and up the output also if you still have problems.

[Hudson]

ok im still fresh to the amp , base cap, alternator deal
i know this before my cap install when the base would hit (2 10 inch woofers) my lights would dim, i put on a 2F cap and i can crank it to the maxx and they lights dont flicker.

My two cents is that caps and subs have a lot more to do with the voltage regulator in your car than with your alternator......just my 2 cents

[Teelo]

Batteries may give you more to drain, but what do you think a cap does? It just gives your system more to charge. If it already can't keep up with the load, adding something else to stress it even more isn't the way to go.

Ok but the way to think of it is, think about how much total time your bass ISNT hitting compared to how much total time your bass IS hitting. This is somewhat an opinionated question because some people listen to musc where the bass is constant while others listen to music where the bass is just small kicks every second or so. All the time the subwoofer isnt moving its charging the capacitor.. which to some people means that they will have all the power they ever need all the time. Now to the other people who demand power constantly for maybe 10 seconds at a time a capacitor may not be for you. But then just remember, whats it hurting anyways to have one? Its basically just a complete circuit with no extra stress on the alternator because its only demanding the same amount of power it was in the first place.

[Interfire]

Actually it does cause stress on the alternator because it's another link in the chain it needs to charge. Now yeah they only are there when they think it needs to release the charge, which happens in a instant so it's not like you are going to get more than a millisecond before it needs to be recharged again.

You need to remember that the voltage has to drop for the cap to start discharging. If it doesn’t drop the caps don’t do anything whatsoever. When your voltage drops to 12.8 volts your battery will then step in and help along with the alternator until your cap and alternator can catch up. Now to get the same effect from a capacitor you would need well over 20 caps wired in parallel to even maintain 13.5 volts.

Basically if you think of it this way, a cap will only improve the voltage in the system maybe .1 or .2 volts. Now think of the dollar cost to gain that compared to doing say a big 3 upgrade, that may cost like 10 bucks which will lower the overall resistance, give you a more stable voltage and even help with dimming lights while easily improving it .2 volts... easily.

Anyways yeah they can help, but like I just said at least try doing a big 3 upgrade first and then see if it's solved. I've used caps in the past and they do have their place, but it's at the end of the chain after big 3, battery and alternator upgrades. Caps should be the last step in upgrading your electrical system - period.

[Teelo]

k man thanks for your help. Right now i only have like 8 gauge running off my bat to my amp and everything... and of course I have the stock ground wire running off the bat so ill probably upgrade that to 0 gauge sometime soon

[disposablehero]

I wrote a how to on upgrading your big 3.

[ginuwine]

are they any pics on how to upgrade big 3 wires?