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Flat capacitors

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=59762
Printed Date: April 27, 2024 at 12:39 AM


Topic: Flat capacitors

Posted By: _Keith_
Subject: Flat capacitors
Date Posted: July 20, 2005 at 11:41 AM

I have seen the caps that are teh flat ones like 8x8 or so. Was wondering who makes em....

Thanks



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Replies:

Posted By: SoundAudio
Date Posted: July 20, 2005 at 11:55 AM
I know stinger makes a flat cap but they are like 35 farads, PG might make one I think.  There is also Batcap but I am unfamiliar with them.




Posted By: _Keith_
Date Posted: July 20, 2005 at 12:09 PM
Thanks that helped me find the one I saw before the alumapro

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Posted By: _Keith_
Date Posted: July 20, 2005 at 12:14 PM
ok I really want somthing digital... any ideas guys the stinger one is just way to big I want a 5 or 10 or 15 farad yea but the size of the cap of stinger is insane

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Posted By: Francious70
Date Posted: July 20, 2005 at 12:29 PM
Phoenix Gold make the power cores. They come in the 15 farad and 20 farad sizes. These caps are also distro blocks. It has 1/0 power and ground hookups and 4 four gauge power and ground hookups. These caps also have extremely low ESR (I think that's the right term) and a some of the best caps made.

Paul




Posted By: _Keith_
Date Posted: July 20, 2005 at 12:32 PM

Francious70 wrote:

Phoenix Gold make the power cores. They come in the 15 farad and 20 farad sizes. These caps are also distro blocks. It has 1/0 power and ground hookups and 4 four gauge power and ground hookups. These caps also have extremely low ESR (I think that's the right term) and a some of the best caps made.

Paul

Looked on there site didnt see any flat caps just dist blocks



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Posted By: SoundAudio
Date Posted: July 20, 2005 at 12:56 PM

I am most familiar with Stinger because that is what I deal, but they make a 20 farad model:

SHDH20- 20 farads of total capacitance! Blue anodized aluminum housing with chrome and satin-chrome accents with translucent blue end-caps, 4-digit super-bright blue LED voltage display, internal super-bright blue LEDs create backlit lighting effects. Built-in power distribution, both power and ground accept one 1/0ga input with three 4 or 8ga outputs or combination of one each.
DIMENSIONS:
9 1/2” L x 7 1/8” W x 2 3/4” H


Their Pro line is not as cool looking but it comes in 5 and 10 farads.





Posted By: Francious70
Date Posted: July 20, 2005 at 1:32 PM
The PG Power core's are no longer made, but you can still find them floating around on the net.

https://cgi.ebay.com/dll?ViewItem&item=5790078632&category=75387&ssPageName=WDVW&rd=1

Paul

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Posted By: _Keith_
Date Posted: July 20, 2005 at 2:37 PM
SoundAudio wrote:

I am most familiar with Stinger because that is what I deal, but they make a 20 farad model:

SHDH20- 20 farads of total capacitance! Blue anodized aluminum housing with chrome and satin-chrome accents with translucent blue end-caps, 4-digit super-bright blue LED voltage display, internal super-bright blue LEDs create backlit lighting effects. Built-in power distribution, both power and ground accept one 1/0ga input with three 4 or 8ga outputs or combination of one each.
DIMENSIONS:
9 1/2” L x 7 1/8” W x 2 3/4” H


Their Pro line is not as cool looking but it comes in 5 and 10 farads.


Got a site for this?



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Posted By: bhawkins
Date Posted: July 20, 2005 at 5:25 PM
I have seen some made by voodoo car audio about 1.2 farad.

https://www.voodoocaraudio.com/

and i know someone who has ordered thiers from

https://www.cmttrading.com/

i dont know about quality of them becasue he had a problem with his, but he is rough with stuff.




Posted By: SoundAudio
Date Posted: July 20, 2005 at 9:43 PM




Posted By: DukeDuke
Date Posted: July 21, 2005 at 12:13 AM
Mobile Spec has a 10 and 12 I beleive as well as a 20 and 40... let me know if you are interested... I know a dealer...

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Duke Duke




Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: July 21, 2005 at 10:23 AM
One thing I have noticed in this thread is that NOBODY, not one person, has asked why he thinks he NEEDS a cap. All these suggestions on where to buy an item that will probably do him VERY PRECIOUS LITTLE good, and not one person will offer any real help.

So I will... "Why do you think you need a cap?"

If you are tring to apply it as a band-aid, describe to us the issues you are having, and let's see if somebody can give you some help on how to FIX your problem. Caps RARELY, if ever, fix anything.

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."




Posted By: SoundAudio
Date Posted: July 21, 2005 at 12:29 PM
Usually when someone is adding a cap that large it is for looks a little reserve power.  If it is a true power problem such as dimming lights or thermal shut down of amps, then check your wiring for good quality ground, quality connections, proper gauge and fusing.  If that is ok check your battery connections and upgrade the Big 3 (search for info on it).  The final step would be to upgrade your alternator and go to a deep cycle battery.  I personally have a 1 farad cap in my system.  It has caused more problems than good because it had a fault in the voltmeter that caused my amp to oscilate.  I have also upgraded my big 3 and have redone my ground 3 times.  He obviously wanted to know who manufactures the flat capacitors.  As much as the regulars reiterate that the newbies seacrh the forum before ever making a post, I would assume he has searched if he had a true electrical problem.  Don't ridicule others for answering the question he asked.




Posted By: _Keith_
Date Posted: July 21, 2005 at 12:42 PM
You guys are funny. One im adding it for the looks 2 I will be running 2000 watts to a sub... Also will be getting the optima battery and I will have at least one 0/1 wire ran, might do 2 depending on what else I run

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Posted By: SoundAudio
Date Posted: July 21, 2005 at 1:00 PM
Well I hope we have helped you with what you needed.  You might consider upgrading your big 3, but I would try installing it all first and then seeing if you need to.

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Good Luck!
-Thad




Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: July 21, 2005 at 1:25 PM
2KW? A cap is not going to fix anything. You MUST start with your alternator. I still stand by my previous post... The cap will NOT solve anything. OK, if all you are adding it for is looks, then go for it, but my "band-aid" description is absolutely correct, now that I know you have not upgraded the power source in your car.

I am going to assume a digital amp, OK?, and allow for an 80% efficiency.

2000/.8=2500 watts IN
2500/14.4=173.6A required JUST to run the amp (for full output).

I know of no OEM alternator rated for this kind of ADDITIONAL load. Also, if the amp he is choosing is NOT a Class D amp, the load will be even greater. I am also not even asking if he wants to add more amplifiers later for running highs... It will only get worse if he decides to do that... Again, a cap will STILL not solve anything, as you will be pulling power from the battery faster than the alternator can replace it. Do yourself a favor... upgrade your alternator FIRST, with the biggest one you can cram under the hood, THEN do the battery, THEN the cap, if you really want to add one then.

SoundAudio, I think you have it backwards. No, you DO have it backwards. ALWAYS start with the alternator and power wiring, THEN go to the battery, THEN add a cap. If your first two steps are done correctly and adequately, you probably won't NEED a cap. Your car does not run off the battery, (or a capacitor) it runs off the alternator. Try replacing your OEM alternator with a smaller alternator, see how long everything runs. This is the SAME thing you are doing when you add a 175+A additional load to your exisiting alternator. You will overwork your alternator, add stresses to the remaining components in your car, and possibly cause additional electronics failures, due to the lack of proper voltages.

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."




Posted By: _Keith_
Date Posted: July 21, 2005 at 6:54 PM

Like I said before im getting the pieces and like I said I am gonna upgrade all that...

Ever heard of the saying going over board... Theres a polite way of doing things...



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Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: July 22, 2005 at 8:17 AM
_Keith_, I am sorry if you feel I was being rude. I was not trying to be, and I was CERTAINLY not trying to be rude to you. Please take this only as constructive criticism. You are going about it backwards. OK, fine, if you want a cap, get it later, but for now, take the money you are wanting to throw at a cap, and put it into an alternator, where it NEEDS to go. The alternator is the source of all your power in ANY car, and using SoundAudio's phrase of "reserve" just makes NO sense. You cannot have a "reserve", if there is no source power. A reserve can only come from a source that can provide more power than is continually demanded of it, not from an additional filtering device in the power chain - which is all a cap really is. Seriously, the alternator should be your first step, and as I said earlier, add the cap later if you feel you need it, or still want it. A cap won't hurt a system's performance, but in an incorrectly implemented power system, it is certainly not going to do anything towards helping it; it's a band-aid, still.

Please look at it further before you lay your hard earned cash out on one:

Let's say you have a 2000 watt amplifier for your house, and you plug it into a circuit with 15A circuit breaker protecting it. (I won't go into efficiencies, but 2000 watts at 120 volts is 16.66666666 amps of current.) Let's say you like to run that thing WFO all the time. What's gonna happen? The circuit breaker is going to blow, right? How can you turn your music up all the way without blowing that circuit breaker? You can't. You have to replace the circuit breaker with a bigger one. There is no magic box that you can add to that circuit that will prevent that circuit breaker from blowing, because you are still trying to pull more power from it than it is designed to provide. This is EXACTLY the same thing in your car, your alternator is the CB, the cap is the "magic box"... You really need to do the alternator first.

I am not saying you will burn up your alternator, but it will not last as long as it was designed to, certainly, and your system will never perform to it's full potential.

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."




Posted By: _Keith_
Date Posted: July 22, 2005 at 9:32 AM

haemphyst wrote:

_Keith_, I am sorry if you feel I was being rude. I was not trying to be, and I was CERTAINLY not trying to be rude to you. Please take this only as constructive criticism. You are going about it backwards. OK, fine, if you want a cap, get it later, but for now, take the money you are wanting to throw at a cap, and put it into an alternator, where it NEEDS to go. The alternator is the source of all your power in ANY car, and using SoundAudio's phrase of "reserve" just makes NO sense. You cannot have a "reserve", if there is no source power. A reserve can only come from a source that can provide more power than is continually demanded of it, not from an additional filtering device in the power chain - which is all a cap really is. Seriously, the alternator should be your first step, and as I said earlier, add the cap later if you feel you need it, or still want it. A cap won't hurt a system's performance, but in an incorrectly implemented power system, it is certainly not going to do anything towards helping it; it's a band-aid, still.

Please look at it further before you lay your hard earned cash out on one:

Let's say you have a 2000 watt amplifier for your house, and you plug it into a circuit with 15A circuit breaker protecting it. (I won't go into efficiencies, but 2000 watts at 120 volts is 16.66666666 amps of current.) Let's say you like to run that thing WFO all the time. What's gonna happen? The circuit breaker is going to blow, right? How can you turn your music up all the way without blowing that circuit breaker? You can't. You have to replace the circuit breaker with a bigger one. There is no magic box that you can add to that circuit that will prevent that circuit breaker from blowing, because you are still trying to pull more power from it than it is designed to provide. This is EXACTLY the same thing in your car, your alternator is the CB, the cap is the "magic box"... You really need to do the alternator first.

I am not saying you will burn up your alternator, but it will not last as long as it was designed to, certainly, and your system will never perform to it's full potential.

Ok just a little info about myself.... I use to to iasc sound offs back in 99 and 00 in cali here... I know what I am doing... I am looking for flat caps cuz I am doing a show car. I never said I wasnt getting the Alternator or the battery. shhh I dont even have my sub and amps yet. I am piecing together a system.



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Posted By: SoundAudio
Date Posted: July 22, 2005 at 9:49 AM
I should have revised the order of my list in my post.  I agree with you that the alternator should be the first upgrade along with the Big 3.  That is the plan for my current project build.  I have, however, had bad luck with high output alternators.  I shouldn't reflect all of my bad experiences in my posts. 

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Good Luck!
-Thad




Posted By: Drewt
Date Posted: July 22, 2005 at 12:11 PM
well, going back to the house example....if you upgrade the breaker you are likley gonna have your wires getting hot and (possibly, if they are cheap wires) melting the insulation.

I think there are too many people here who think that caps are horrible inventions and should never ever be used. I have a cap in my car. Why? Because I got it from a friend for $15. Now, I KNOW that it isn't gonna "fix" electrical problems (I really don't have any, my amp only pulls 60 amps at max, so the headlights just dim a little when it is cranked). Now, the cost of a HO alternator, or to get mine rewound is at LEAST $150, probally closer to $200, and then I have to install it. I was looking for a cheap solution to help smooth out the peak draw in my amp. It works, quite well actually.

Caps are usually used as band-aids, but sometimes that is all you need. There is such a thing as overkill, and some people do have budgets.

Some people need to chill out about it sometimes...

-Drew




Posted By: DukeDuke
Date Posted: July 22, 2005 at 9:01 PM
Ha ha! Not on this website, lol. People always go over board when it comes to the caps and "The Mustang Incedient" People do need to chill, a majority of people who ask about them are newbies, we want to welcome people to car audio and to this website, not scare them off. I myself will be running a 12 farad cap in my car... why? because it is for looks... do I think it will help at all? a little. Just help newbies understand how stuff works, dont jump their ass for asking a question... we were all there at one time, some, like myself, more recent than others. Now back to the post.... Mobile Spec has a great cap, it comes in a chrome color, so if your going for show, good call! If you need any info on it, PM me! Good luck man!

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Duke Duke




Posted By: _Keith_
Date Posted: July 23, 2005 at 7:33 PM

DukeDuke wrote:

Ha ha! Not on this website, lol. People always go over board when it comes to the caps and "The Mustang Incedient" People do need to chill, a majority of people who ask about them are newbies, we want to welcome people to car audio and to this website, not scare them off. I myself will be running a 12 farad cap in my car... why? because it is for looks... do I think it will help at all? a little. Just help newbies understand how stuff works, dont jump their ass for asking a question... we were all there at one time, some, like myself, more recent than others. Now back to the post.... Mobile Spec has a great cap, it comes in a chrome color, so if your going for show, good call! If you need any info on it, PM me! Good luck man!

Yea I mean mines all looks mostly. Gonna fiberglass the interior and make it all nice, in the show car. Thanks



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Posted By: DukeDuke
Date Posted: July 23, 2005 at 10:43 PM
Mine is too... all new trunk with one in there... they are kind of a chrome/black chrome look and they have 2 digital readouts on them... let me know bro! good luck on yours!

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Duke Duke





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