problem charging my capacitor

...... First, the chances of having a bad cap are slim to none. I highly doubt you have a bad cap. The problem may be the voltmeter on the cap. That has nothing to do with the operation of the cap itself. It just shows what the voltage across the cap is. If this was not functioning correctly then that may be your problem. Easy way to tell if this is the case. Take a voltmeter or multimeter and check it with that. Measure the voltage across the cap with that and see if it is the same as what your cap is reading. Your cap IS CHARGED when you hook it up to the power wire. Once it is hooked up to the power/ground wire it is fully charged. There is no need to try and recharge it. The only reason you need to charge it in the first place is to steady the voltage in the cap to that of your battery. If you don't you will have a big spark when you hook the cap to a live wire. Once the cap is wired to the power wire of your system it is charged. So no need to talk about that being the problem. My suggestion is to get a voltmeter/multimeter and check the voltage across the cap with that and compare it to what your cap's voltmeter is reading. If they are different then you have found your problem, a bad voltmeter on the cap. It they are different then you have a fairly serious issue elsewhere in your system. But check that first and let us know if that was the issue. If it isn't we will help you further.

The thing that makes me think that the voltmeter on the cap is right is because the green light on the charge card doesn't turn off. The directions say it should turn off after it is charged, which should only take seconds. But it doesn't. It always stays on when i have it hooked up to charge. Something i have noticed the last couple days with the cap too when i've tried to charge it on multiple occasions. It doesn't seem like its holding its charge. When i have hooked it up to my car battery to charge it it got up to 10.8v on the voltmeter reading. The next day i check the cap and it no longer has a charge in it. Seems odd to me. Btw, thanks for all the suggestions and comments thus far. I appreciate it. I plan on buying a multimeter within the next few days.* Infinity Kappa 60.5cs components

* Pioneer TS-A6961R 6"x9" speakers

* Infinity Kappa Perfect 12" subwoofer

* US Acoustics USX-4085 amplifier

* Lighting Audio Strike 1 farad capacitor w/voltmeter

whiterob wrote: ...... First, the chances of having a bad cap are slim to none. I highly doubt you have a bad cap.

Well the chances are more than that. My first 2 caps was defected so it is not slim to none. He could have a bad connection on the charger its self. So do this. Discharge the cap. wait 5-10 mins then take the battery jumper and hook it to the charger that the cap came with. Leave it on until the light goes off. When fully charge the green light goes off. Could take up to 1-2 mins. I know the documents that come with the cap says seconds but it could take longer. If you have a voltmeter while this is charging put it across the post and see what it is reading. This will tell you what the cap is reading. If the light does not go out then take it off and just put the jumper right to the cap and then the meter on it. When it reads 12-14volts then it is charged. If that does not work then it must be bad or the meter on the cap is wrong. one more thing Hey niu_huskies never heard of a 60.5 components, you might want to fix it to 6.5 componentsRonald Bailey Owner/ Installer of VIBRATION CUSTUM SOUNDS. CUSTOM BOX DESIGNER AND BUILDER

TID-896 7" screen,Amp-BX1206d

4/0power/ground cables

4-12 mofos 12ft3 box tuned 40hz DB:163.1

after using your charge card, did you try connecting it directly to the power and ground wire without the charging card?  Most of the time a cap will not charge all the way to 12.6 volts with the resistor held in place.  A cap will discharge over a short peroid of time, this is why it reads zero overnight.  After you use the charge card and charge it to 10 volts, connect it to your power and ground bypasing the card completly.

airhed692005 wrote: whiterob wrote: ...... First, the chances of having a bad cap are slim to none. I highly doubt you have a bad cap. Well the chances are more than that. My first 2 caps was defected so it is not slim to none. He could have a bad connection on the charger its self. So do this. Discharge the cap. wait 5-10 mins then take the battery jumper and hook it to the charger that the cap came with. Leave it on until the light goes off. When fully charge the green light goes off. Could take up to 1-2 mins. I know the documents that come with the cap says seconds but it could take longer. If you have a voltmeter while this is charging put it across the post and see what it is reading. This will tell you what the cap is reading. If the light does not go out then take it off and just put the jumper right to the cap and then the meter on it. When it reads 12-14volts then it is charged. If that does not work then it must be bad or the meter on the cap is wrong.

I'm not sure by what you mean by a battery jumper. The only thing that came in the package with my cap was a charge card and a holder so i could mount the cap. Also, when i've tried charging the cap via my car battery i have had it hooked up for 10 minutes and 10.8v was as high as it got.

airhed692005 wrote: one more thing Hey niu_huskies never heard of a 60.5 components, you might want to fix it to 6.5 components

My fault, they are Infinity Kappa 60.5cs components. I still have the original box they came in and just looked.* Infinity Kappa 60.5cs components

* Pioneer TS-A6961R 6"x9" speakers

* Infinity Kappa Perfect 12" subwoofer

* US Acoustics USX-4085 amplifier

* Lighting Audio Strike 1 farad capacitor w/voltmeter

ragsports wrote: after using your charge card, did you try connecting it directly to the power and ground wire without the charging card?  Most of the time a cap will not charge all the way to 12.6 volts with the resistor held in place.  A cap will discharge over a short peroid of time, this is why it reads zero overnight.  After you use the charge card and charge it to 10 volts, connect it to your power and ground bypasing the card completly.

Is it safe to do that? I thought the capacitor was supposed to be charged all the way before you hook it up to the amp power cable and ground. Btw, it is only getting up to 10.8v when i have the car on and in idle. When the car is off it gets up to around 8.5-9v (can't remember exactly off the top of my head).* Infinity Kappa 60.5cs components

* Pioneer TS-A6961R 6"x9" speakers

* Infinity Kappa Perfect 12" subwoofer

* US Acoustics USX-4085 amplifier

* Lighting Audio Strike 1 farad capacitor w/voltmeter

ok that is better That is the model not the size, and the battery jumper is also called a booster pack. It helps jump the car if the battery is dead. OK know when it is 8.5-9v is the car running or not running?Ronald Bailey Owner/ Installer of VIBRATION CUSTUM SOUNDS. CUSTOM BOX DESIGNER AND BUILDER

TID-896 7" screen,Amp-BX1206d

4/0power/ground cables

4-12 mofos 12ft3 box tuned 40hz DB:163.1

Forgot to state- it is safe to do what he said to do "ragsports wrote: after using your charge card, did you try connecting it directly to the power and ground wire without the charging card? Most of the time a cap will not charge all the way to 12.6 volts with the resistor held in place. A cap will discharge over a short peroid of time, this is why it reads zero overnight. After you use the charge card and charge it to 10 volts, connect it to your power and ground bypasing the card completly." The charger is there just to help it out.Ronald Bailey Owner/ Installer of VIBRATION CUSTUM SOUNDS. CUSTOM BOX DESIGNER AND BUILDER

TID-896 7" screen,Amp-BX1206d

4/0power/ground cables

4-12 mofos 12ft3 box tuned 40hz DB:163.1

Yes it is safe to do that the charge card , or resistor will usually only bring it up to around 10 volts.   Charge your capacitor as you have been doing, after it is charged as far at it will go remove to charge card and connect it directly to the power and ground, at this point it should read aroud 12 volts when the car is off and around 13-15 volts when the car is running...

airhed692005 wrote: ok that is better That is the model not the size, and the battery jumper is also called a booster pack. It helps jump the car if the battery is dead.

I got you now. When i hook it up to the booster pack it gets up to 9.6v with the booster pack around 90% charged. That actually went up. When my booster pack was around 50% charged it only got the cap charged up to 8.2-8.3v.

airhed692005 wrote: OK know when it is 8.5-9v is the car running or not running?

8.5-9v is with the car off. With the car in idle it gets up to 10.8v but the green light on the charge card never turns off. So that's why i've been assuming the cap isn't fully charging. If i understand you correctly, the charge card/resistor on the cap actually limits the cap from charging up to its potential? So when i take it off it should jump from 10.8v to around 13-14v if everything is correct? That's a mighty big jump.* Infinity Kappa 60.5cs components

* Pioneer TS-A6961R 6"x9" speakers

* Infinity Kappa Perfect 12" subwoofer

* US Acoustics USX-4085 amplifier

* Lighting Audio Strike 1 farad capacitor w/voltmeter