distribution block question

since capacitors are kinda new to me i have a simple question which is more like a double checking than question. if i use a distribution block with the power from the batter entering and a wire going to the cap in one output and a wire going to the amp in the other output. will this still keep the amp able to pull its peak power from the cap? im looking to do a cleaner setup. i just wanted to make sure the cap will still do its job if i wired the system up like that. thank you

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94 Pontiac Sunbird 3.1 V6
alpine deck
audiobahn 3.5 fronts w/ tweeters
audiobahn 6.5 rears w/ tweeters
* sold rest of system to save up towards new car. $3000 spent on it.

it should, but I suppose if ur wiring is too small it might bottle neck the flow of electricity to the capacitor not allowing it to recharge properly. All dues concidered you should be able to do this since I see ur runing a 1800 watt amp so I imaging u have at least 4 and hopfully 1/0 AWG wiring for that stuff.

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"Shiny chrome when used in conjunction with bikini models is particularly effective in inducing brain deficit disorder"

02 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Monster System on its way.

yea i have 1/0 gauge and was thinking of having 4 gauge outputs to the amp and cap after the block

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94 Pontiac Sunbird 3.1 V6
alpine deck
audiobahn 3.5 fronts w/ tweeters
audiobahn 6.5 rears w/ tweeters
* sold rest of system to save up towards new car. $3000 spent on it.

and thank you xtremecc. i kinda felt dumb asking the question but i would rather be 100% sure when dealing with a capacitor and 1800 watt amp than 95% sure.

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94 Pontiac Sunbird 3.1 V6
alpine deck
audiobahn 3.5 fronts w/ tweeters
audiobahn 6.5 rears w/ tweeters
* sold rest of system to save up towards new car. $3000 spent on it.

Connect your cap in the same power line as the amp that it feeds.  It can be before the distro if you want it to feed to multiple amps, or after the distro if you want it to feed just one amp.  But if the cap is on the output side of a distro, and not on the same power wire as the amp, it won't do anything but sit there and look pretty.

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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

how would you recommend going about this? im a little confused on how to go about this.

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94 Pontiac Sunbird 3.1 V6
alpine deck
audiobahn 3.5 fronts w/ tweeters
audiobahn 6.5 rears w/ tweeters
* sold rest of system to save up towards new car. $3000 spent on it.

ok i understand i am just wondering if there is a way i can only have 1 wire going into my cap not 2


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94 Pontiac Sunbird 3.1 V6
alpine deck
audiobahn 3.5 fronts w/ tweeters
audiobahn 6.5 rears w/ tweeters
* sold rest of system to save up towards new car. $3000 spent on it.

Connect the cap inline with the main power wire before the distro.   Main power feeds into the cap, then goes from the cap to everything else.  Can the cap accept 1/0 wire?

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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

alrite i got it. yea my cap just has screws on it so i have them hooked up with ring terminals. i'll go out and get a connector for the cap that fits on the + screw that has a 1/0 input and output for on the cap. thanks for your help.

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94 Pontiac Sunbird 3.1 V6
alpine deck
audiobahn 3.5 fronts w/ tweeters
audiobahn 6.5 rears w/ tweeters
* sold rest of system to save up towards new car. $3000 spent on it.

stevdart wrote:

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But if the cap is on the output side of a distro, and not on the same power wire as the amp, it won't do anything but sit there and look pretty.

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Um...unless you have a new kind of diode distro that no one's ever seen before, that's not really true.

Capacitors work the way they do in car audio because of the impedence of power wire. Wire not only has resistance, but a little bit of inductance as well. Inductance is the property that resists changes in current (like the ones your amp requests just after a heavy bass note). The closer the cap is to the amp, and the fatter the wire from one to the other, the lower the resistance and inductance, and the more efficiently the charge from the cap can be transferred to the amp. If you hvae your cap on one output of a distro block and an amp on another, the cap will still feed current to the amp when it asks for it, just with lower efficiency. Keep the wires larger than 4AWG, and shorter than 2' or so, and life is good.

That's why it's best to put the cap right next to your amp, and to use the biggist wire you can when wiring up a system. I actually put together a calculator to figure the inductive losses for a 15' piece of wire in varying sizes and at various current levels a while back. It averaged between 3 and 10%, which is a whole lot when you only have 4V to start with. Add it up to the resistive losses, and it's really easy to drop 3V+ or so across a wire. THat means when the amp is trying to recover from a big bass note, it's not getting the 14V it expects, it's seeing 10 or 11V. That makes the amp work hotter, less efficiently, and keeps it from being able to get the full charge back into the power supply caps.

When it comes to copper and DC, short and fat are good.

-dave

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This is not a sig. This is a duck. Quack.

thanks dave. i was thinking of having the 1/0 wire back to the distribution block and then have 4 gauge wire going to the cap and amp from the outputs of the block.  the wire will probably only be about 1 foot long if that and the cap and amp are about 1 foot apart. would that setup still supply power when needed or should i stay with the 1/0 gauge all the way around?

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94 Pontiac Sunbird 3.1 V6
alpine deck
audiobahn 3.5 fronts w/ tweeters
audiobahn 6.5 rears w/ tweeters
* sold rest of system to save up towards new car. $3000 spent on it.