problem charging my capacitor

I have a 1 farad lightning audio strike capacitor with a digital voltage readout. I'm trying to charge the cap but when i hook it up to my battery it only gets up to 10.7 volts with the car idling. The directions say it should only take seconds to charge the cap fully and the green light on the charge card will turn off. The green light on my charge card stays on. I'm guessing the green light doesn't turn off because it is only going as high as 10.7 volts and it is not fully charged. What am i doing wrong? My battery has a readout around 12.6 volts when the car is not running. So i know its not my battery or my electrical system. I'm guessing i'm somehow not charging the capacitor correctly. These are the directions on lightning audio's website. Charge Card Method 1. Position the charge card on the capacitor (LED’s facing up.) 2. Connect charge card "+" to positive (+) cap terminal. 3. Connect charge card "-" to negative (-) cap terminal. 4. Hand tighten terminal screws to secure charge card. 5. Connect RED wire to +12V power source. 6. Connect BLACK wire to -12V power source (or chassis ground.) 7. GREEN LED on charge card should illuminate. 8. When GREEN LED goes out, cap is charged.* 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

You'd be guessing wrong. You either charge a cap or not. You have a MAJOR voltage drop somewhere in your system. Check ALL connections, including ground. Also, use an actual VOM to check your voltage, and don't rely on the cap, it's read-out COULD be defective.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."

If there was a voltage drop in my electrical system then how could my car battery have a readout of 12.6 volts when the car is off? If my car's electrical system wasn't putting out enough then wouldn't my battery's voltage reading be lower? I had them check out my battery at an autozone since i don't own a voltmeter or multimeter. Planning on buying one now though.* 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

Do what haemphyst says, check your ground and all connections. What gauge wire are you using? If you have 12.6 volts at the battery then there is going to be a reason that there is that large of a voltage drop from the battery to the cap. I would guess a bad ground with that low of a voltage reading. You can get a voltmeter under $10. That will help you figure out where your problem is.

Well, i added a new 4-gauge ground wire to the chassis. The other end of it is not hooked up to anything right now because it was going to be connected to the capacitor once it was charged. Could this be the problem? As for the gauge of the wire i'm using to charge the capacitor, it is 12 gauge stinger speaker wire. It's certainly thicker wire than what is on the charge card. I'd guess the four wires on the charge card or 14 or 16 gauge.* 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

Well, i took that one ground wire off that i was going to use for the capacitor. Doesn't look like it made a difference. I only have one other ground i made for the amp. So if it is electrical then it is something i know nothing about or how to diagnose. Maybe the capacitor is defective. Is there some other source i could use to charge the capacitor besides someone else's car?* 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

I got a way to test the cap, take it out of the car go up to the front battery and jump it there if it reads 12.6 or high then the cap is good and the power wire to the back is giving you the voltage drop. If the cap shows the like 10volts or so then you might have a bad cap. There is one more way to do it, If you got a battery charger that has a slow charge on it. Hook the + and - up like in the car and tune it on for 1 to 2 min. That will make it charge and display 14.6 on the slow charge but if it is on the high charge then it will read around 15-16 volts. Hope this helpsRonald 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

airhed692005 wrote: I got a way to test the cap, take it out of the car go up to the front battery and jump it there if it reads 12.6 or high then the cap is good and the power wire to the back is giving you the voltage drop. If the cap shows the like 10volts or so then you might have a bad cap.

I did have it hooked up right to the car battery. The wires on the charge card are too short to reach the posts on the car battery so i had to add some 12 gauge speaker wire to it so they would reach. I think it might be a bad cap but i don't understand how it could be bad. I bought the thing brand new about two years ago and just took it out of the box a few days ago.

airhed692005 wrote: There is one more way to do it, If you got a battery charger that has a slow charge on it. Hook the + and - up like in the car and tune it on for 1 to 2 min. That will make it charge and display 14.6 on the slow charge but if it is on the high charge then it will read around 15-16 volts. Hope this helps

I don't have a battery charger but i do have one of those jump starter packs that allow you to jump a dead battery. On the back it says the output voltage is 12v. I hooked the cap up to that and it only went up to 8.3v charging and that's as high as it would go. Granted, the jump starter pack was not fully charged. I'm charging it now and i'll try it again to see if there is any change. At some point i understand i should get a digital multimeter, but i want to exhaust any available resources i have before shelling out $25 for something i'll rarely use.* 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

I should have asked, do brand new car audio capacitors go bad if they sit unused for a couple years and have never been charged before?* 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