awkward capacitor experiment.

what am i talking about? challenge it all!!! I just want to try an figure out the reasoning.I can't hear you!

The voltage on that stinger gauge is not accurate. At any given time it may or may not be giving you the correct reading. I have a video of proof of that available if you want to see. If your analysis is based on that Stinger gauge then the research is not legitimate.   How did you wire the cap in? Do you have distribution blocks that you added to? Or is the cap the distributor now and distribution blocks were removed?    I am most concerned with the voltage level your getting. The upgraded alternator should be getting a higher charging voltage. It cant be a 220a alt without a strong voltage to drive it. From the viewpoint of a electrician, will adding a 3.5f cap to a electrical system with a 220a alt and a bt100 result in a additional volt of power,-\=$&^(^&^$&^ NO! There is something incorrect about the entire thing. To prove ME wrong, A vid of the system and a real DMM meter showing before and after results of a cap being added and removed would have to be presented. Beyond that, if you think you are better off with it in the system, then rock on with it, FUGGIT! Sounds like your happy with it, and that's totally enough reason to have it in the system, understands me?This is what I do for FUN!

I have always heard, from this forum, to upgrade the electrical system FIRST, which you have done.  THEN, if you want to, add the capacitor for smoothing voltage fluctuations.  Which you, again, have done.  Good work, and thank you for sharing your experiment.

The capacitor issue has always been that users were trying to fix voltage / power issues by merely adding the cap.  But you upgraded your electrical system.  That's the difference.

Here's an oldie moldie thread that illustrates the consensus, I think.  Look at haem's response:  "unless you have a current source (the alternator) to run everything perfectly capably without one, THEN you could add one, but you will probably see very little improvement."

___________________________________________

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

rfhvhtoo wrote: I would never try to compare a 30$ Cap to extra batteries

I am usually comparing new batteries from $20-$35 (some the size of a couple of cigarette packets) to multi-Farad caps worth hundreds of dollars. If caps were as cheap as batteries, the cost-basis for that argument would change.

rfhvhtoo wrote: The Video states a FACT

Or it shows something open to interpretation or understanding. In the case of waveforms, it may lack info. EG - to find whether a particular (sinewave) voltage frequency contributes to power, you need the current's sinewave for the same frequency. Hence the need for spectrum analysers etc. But a CRO (waveform) shows much that a voltmeter doesn't. That's the point here - we/you will delve deeper and uncover more, and hence learn more.... In terms of Forum writings, I haven't gotten past cap & battery ESRs versus system ERSs (amp PSU impedance etc) even on a static DC level (let alone longer term dynamic responses/decays etc). And with that - another point - ensure you record that what & how etc. It is important to know what components (models etc), wire gauges, connection blocks, meter impedances, time scales etc. (Welcome to the world of scientific testing - where things need to be reproducable etc.) It's no good trying to dispel a cap myth if a cap with high ESR (say 0.1 Ohm) if ESR is important. (And I say if!) Though not knowing whether the cap was hi or low ESR is worse. It's like not distinguishing between a fully charged 0.002 Ohm ESR battery and a 1.2AH battery. But many misunderstandings are likely to fall out. For example, that a high output alternator should have a higher voltage. (No - it's still up to the normal 14.4V DC.) PS (sorry - longus phonus interruptus). The amps output sinewave reflecting thru the amp's PSU is dependent on the amps quality and internal "tank". And an alternator is NOT a current source - it is a voltage source. (I am talking electrical nomenclature - a current source varies the voltage to delver the current. A vehicle's battery system is a "constant voltage system" - not current.