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i need a cap


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mdlwate357 
Member - Posts: 34
Member spacespace
Joined: March 28, 2010
Location: Louisiana, United States
Posted: April 08, 2012 at 9:12 PM / IP Logged  
Never used a capacitor before, but my new system find the headlights everyone the bass hits. After looking on ebay I see mostly low end brand caps....planet audio, , boss, power acoustic, bulls, ect... I only need a 1 farad cap, but I wanna keep it under $ 100. I'm running a JL 500/1 slash and a pioneer premier 400 w 4chat. I have a Pioneer Premier head unit, kicker kq5 equalizer all running a 10 w7, mn quart premium 6.5 components and two boston acoustics 4x6 dash speakers......all crammed in a regular cab s10. So what I'm asking is for recommendations of a good cap in my price range and is there anything I need to know since I've never ran one before?
i am an idiot 
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Joined: September 21, 2006
Location: Louisiana, United States
Posted: April 08, 2012 at 9:38 PM / IP Logged  

Do not waste your money on a capacitor. 

mdlwate357 
Member - Posts: 34
Member spacespace
Joined: March 28, 2010
Location: Louisiana, United States
Posted: April 08, 2012 at 10:15 PM / IP Logged  
Is there another solution to my headlights strobing to the beat while driving down down the road ????
mdlwate357 
Member - Posts: 34
Member spacespace
Joined: March 28, 2010
Location: Louisiana, United States
Posted: April 08, 2012 at 10:18 PM / IP Logged  
Sorry about the first post... I have a new phone and haven't yet disabled the auto-fill feature so it changes my words sometimes and I dont always think to check. I meant that my headlights dim everytime the bass hits.
KPierson 
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Joined: April 14, 2005
Location: Ohio, United States
Posted: April 09, 2012 at 6:44 AM / IP Logged  
Yes - fix the problem. Headlights dim when the voltage drops. Voltage drops when too much current is being pulled from the battery. Put more current in to the battery (bigger alternator) or increase the efficiency of the current battery (the big 3) or at a bare minimum put in a better battery.
A cap doesn't create extra current and won't fix your problem. This is why only cheap ones can be found - if they worked everyone would sell them!
Kevin Pierson
mdlwate357 
Member - Posts: 34
Member spacespace
Joined: March 28, 2010
Location: Louisiana, United States
Posted: April 09, 2012 at 1:46 PM / IP Logged  
No disrespect, but a 1 farad rockford fosgate cap complety fixed the problem. I had just put in a new battery and alternator 6 weeks ago. Together they ran me about $ 32. I just wasn't willing to not only waste that $ 320, but go spend another $ 350 or so on another battery and alternator.....instead I took a chance on a 1 farad fosgate cap for $ 100 and honestly it % 100 fixed the problem. Last might I road with headlights, emergency flashers, windshield wipers and AC all going together and there was ZERO dimming of the headlights.
KPierson 
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Location: Ohio, United States
Posted: April 09, 2012 at 2:14 PM / IP Logged  
Give it time and you'll see the cap didn't fix anything. It can't.
For a "fun" experiment start your car and turn your stereo up to the normal listening level. Disconnect the fuse to the sub amp (while still keeping the cap inline). How long does the sub amp stay on?
The point of this exercise is to see how much actual power is stored inside a 1F cap. I think you'll find that that answer is not very much.
Once the cap has been drained of it's power it then becomes a load in parallel with your battery, thus slowing down the recharge of your battery.
Kevin Pierson
mdlwate357 
Member - Posts: 34
Member spacespace
Joined: March 28, 2010
Location: Louisiana, United States
Posted: April 09, 2012 at 3:32 PM / IP Logged  
Again, I ask questions here because I know that most of you know a lot more about car audio than I do... I greatly appreciate everyone who takes the time to answer my posted questions and never want that to be misunderstood. That being said, if I had a problem and now I don't have the problem....where's the problem? I've been reading a LOT about caps over the past week and while I've heard many people make your same argument, and many refering to caps as "snake oil", I have heard just as many arguments in favor of caps. Both sides with convincing evidence. All I know is this.... I installed a cap (one that is both made by a reputable manufactuer and backed with hundreds of positive reviews) and my headlights no longer dim. I even increased the load that it was under as well as playing time and still not even the slightest hint of dimming headlights. So how can you say for certain that a cap "CAN'T'Re" work ? Obviously it can because it did. Are there majority of worthless caps that will not do a thing when added to a system flooding the market ???? Probably, yes Also, of no cap could possibly work, why are they used so frequently in competitions ? Are they good for other applications ? I have nonplus, but it worked for me and I'm happy. If my lights go back to dimming I will let everybody know and I'll eat crow, but until turnIng rattling walls, windows, setting off ever alarm in the parking lot and doing it with fully functioning headlights ! Thanks again everybody for your time
KPierson 
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Location: Ohio, United States
Posted: April 09, 2012 at 5:13 PM / IP Logged  
How did you judge light dimming before installing the cap? How did you judge it after? Were all system settings exactly the same under all circumstances?
Just a heads up - RF doesn't manufacture capacitors. No car audio company does. There are only a handful of factories in the world that manufacturer capacitors. All the companies are buying their caps from the same suppliers.
A typical competition vehicle has upgraded/additional alternators with battery banks/etc.
I hope that your problem has been fixed but like I said from an engineering perspective a capacitor doesn't make sense - it simply can't hold enough current to make a noticeable difference.
Kevin Pierson
soundnsecurity 
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Joined: November 10, 2008
Location: Louisiana, United States
Posted: April 10, 2012 at 10:59 AM / IP Logged  
caps are used in competitions to help keep a steady voltage supply to the amps. mostly used in sound quality competitions. anyone who uses them for spl competitions either got told something by a sales person or just has them because they look pretty.
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