Capacitor Reads 0.0V

I bought subs from a kid on craigslist. They are sony xplod 1200w. It came with an amp, two subs in a case, a capacitor, and all the necessary wires. I hooked it up today finally. I fired it up and everything works... kindof. The capacitor always reads 0.0V. Strange. And the subs only boom once every 5 seconds or so, but they always play some faint music. I feel like there isn't enough power getting to the capacitor? This is how my wiring goes. Battery to Main fuse to negative capacitor. Positive capacitor to amp. Capacitor has no need for a ground I believe. Amp ground to ground. remote power on is fine. and so are the RCA and sub wires. What could be causing the capacitor to always read 0.0v?

The amplifier has shorted output transistors.   The every 5 second thing is it checking again to see if things are better. Once it figures out that there is still a problem, then it goes back into protection.

The capacitor is hooked up incorrectly! The capacitor should be wired in parallel with the amp, not in series. The power wire should go Battery +, fuse within 18" of battery +, capacitor +, amp +. Capacitor and amp should both be grounded to the same spot.Kevin Pierson

I kind of skipped smooth over his wiring description. You amp may not have shorted output transistors. Follow the above suggestion, and let us know how that works.

Where are you located?

KPierson wrote: The capacitor is hooked up incorrectly! The capacitor should be wired in parallel with the amp, not in series. The power wire should go Battery +, fuse within 18" of battery +, capacitor +, amp +. Capacitor and amp should both be grounded to the same spot.

Exactly. Had a kid come by my shop with this problem yesterday. Odd I'd see it on here today.