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capacitor advice


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e40water 
Member - Posts: 47
Member spacespace
Joined: August 13, 2003
Location: Canada
Posted: July 19, 2006 at 2:20 PM / IP Logged  
One of my friends is arguing the he does'nt need a capasitor while running 3 12's, I told him it would be a better Idea to, Just wondering what you guys think?.
e4
Melted Fabric 
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Joined: October 24, 2003
Location: California, United States
Posted: July 19, 2006 at 3:08 PM / IP Logged  
Well, the best advice I can give is review this
Capacitor Thread (link)
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
When you do not know what you are doing and what you are doing is the best -- that is inspiration.
jeffchilcott 
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Joined: April 11, 2002
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Posted: July 19, 2006 at 5:41 PM / IP Logged  
The amount of subs has no diffrence of using a cap or any other power source.    If he only has a 50 watts amop pushing them, then no problems
If he has something along the lines of a KX2500.1 then a cap will make no diffrence at all, he would need a high amp alternator
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aznboi3644 
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Gold spaceThis member consistently provides reliable informationspace
Joined: May 01, 2006
Location: United States
Posted: July 19, 2006 at 7:19 PM / IP Logged  
When will they ever learn????
(Walks into the car audio shop)
"Hey sir my lights keep dimming so what can I do to help this?"
"Well here's your answer...you need a capacitor"
"What does that do?"
"It supplies more power for the amp...basically you need to buy this to stop your lights from dimming"
(Kid buys it and comes to the 12 volt asking for more advice and punches himself in the face for being so stupid)
killer sonata 
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Joined: May 17, 2006
Posted: July 19, 2006 at 8:35 PM / IP Logged  
As a wise man once said "a cap is just a bandaid for a bullet wound" with the wound being a lack of a big enough alternator/sufficient wire size and grounds. My advice would be to hook it all up without a cap and see how it performs. If he notices lights dimming and power loss, then upgrade the big three. If there are still problems then its time for a bigger alternator. All a cap does is put more load on the battery.
"People with mullets live 40% longer"   - Ricky Bobby
e40water 
Member - Posts: 47
Member spacespace
Joined: August 13, 2003
Location: Canada
Posted: July 25, 2006 at 1:24 PM / IP Logged  
I guess I just put on own foot in my own mouth on this one, (LOL)
e4
xtremej 
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Joined: February 24, 2006
Location: United States
Posted: July 25, 2006 at 2:42 PM / IP Logged  

Your not alone I explain this to people frequently when they come into my shop. Don't get me wrong I sell capacitors,  I just make sure the customer is well aware of what its for and what it will do.

05z71crew 
Member - Posts: 49
Member spacespace
Joined: July 06, 2006
Location: United States
Posted: July 25, 2006 at 5:03 PM / IP Logged  
What does the capacitor do?  I thought it stored a charge faster and let it out faster creating less of a load on the alternator?
lil nicky
06 Elantra (No more z71)
2 12" powerbass subs; 6x9's and 5 1/4's
Kenwood KAC-9152D
American bass SQ540
killer sonata 
Silver - Posts: 718
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Joined: May 17, 2006
Posted: July 25, 2006 at 5:13 PM / IP Logged  

i think you are partially right. The cap stores a charge which is provided by the battery which is charged by the alternator. Thus the cap is another electrinic device that the alterator has to support. The reason why you dont see the headlights dimming is because the fast draw is from the cap instead of the battery. But it does you no good if your alternator cant keep up. No sense in putting more load on a system that isnt efficient to begin with.

"People with mullets live 40% longer"   - Ricky Bobby
05z71crew 
Member - Posts: 49
Member spacespace
Joined: July 06, 2006
Location: United States
Posted: July 25, 2006 at 5:41 PM / IP Logged  

Don't get me wrong my lights dim so bad right now. When I hit a nice low tone for a not so short amount of time ( like the tones for SPL comp) my voltmeter, lights and just about everything else dims.

I have this neon light on my cap and it even dims!

lil nicky
06 Elantra (No more z71)
2 12" powerbass subs; 6x9's and 5 1/4's
Kenwood KAC-9152D
American bass SQ540

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