Flat capacitors

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...Duke Duke

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.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."

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.

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

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.Good Luck!

-Thad

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.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."

_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.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."

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.