How many farads?

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wayland1985

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Posted: January 29, 2005 at 9:12 PM / IP Logged

I have 2 amps: 1800 Watt RMS subwoofer amp, and a 300 watt rms Speaker amp. The 1800 watt amp likes to shut off a lot. How many farads would suffice?

~wayland

DYohn

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Joined: April 22, 2003

Location: Arizona, United States

Posted: January 29, 2005 at 9:31 PM / IP Logged

wayland1985 wrote:

The 1800 watt amp likes to shut off a lot.

What does that mean? Does it go into protection? What kind of amp is it and what kind of speakers is it driving and how are they connected? List make/model numbers.

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wayland1985

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Joined: December 31, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: January 29, 2005 at 9:34 PM / IP Logged

2 DVC woofers, wired to 1 ohm

When really high "THUMPS" are hit, the amp just shuts down for a few seconds, enters protection mode, then turns on. However, it doesn't instantly go into protection. It COMPLETELY shuts down, then power again reaches the amp and it enters protection...

~wayland

wayland1985

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Joined: December 31, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: January 29, 2005 at 9:49 PM / IP Logged

I do have a new 200 amp HO alternator. I ran a new ground from the alternator to the car body (not the fenders), and upgraded the positive cables. (will this new ground to the body be sufficient?)

I get an ERROR message in my voltage meter occasionally before they shut off, which translates into LOW VOLTAGE. Could the Battery also be a source of the problem?

Or Will a simple multi-farad capacitor do the trick?

OR do i have to mix and match (BOTH BATTERY AND CAP)?

~wayland

doughboy20

Member - Posts: 30

Joined: March 17, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: January 29, 2005 at 10:12 PM / IP Logged

Are you sure that your amp can handle a 1 ohm load. If it can then the rule of thumb is that for every 1000 watts of power = 1.0 farads. As far as the battery goes, it is fine. Having that hi amp alternator really helps the battery stay charged.

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kfr01

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Joined: April 30, 2003

Posted: January 29, 2005 at 10:31 PM / IP Logged

Sigh. A cap will not fix your problem. I repeat. A cap will NOT fix your problem. They are a waste of money for 90% of the systems out there, in my opinion. I've never heard of them actually fixing any sort of problem. Edit: (I think I've actually heard of just about more people finding them cause problems, actually). In any event, they aren't "electrical problem patches."

A multi-farad capacitor in your trunk would be an awful, awful idea.

Something is wrong with your wiring, your new alternator, or the ground(s).

Check those. If you can't fix it take it to a professional.

Don't piss your money away on caps.

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DYohn

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Location: Arizona, United States

Posted: January 29, 2005 at 10:36 PM / IP Logged

I absolutely agree with the above post. Caps are not going to help you. It sounds to me like one or both of two things are happening: 1) your alternator, battery, voltage regulator and/or wiring has a problem, 2) your amp cannot handle the load you are throwing at it.

You never said what the amp is. Make/model?

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wayland1985

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Joined: December 31, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: January 30, 2005 at 5:16 PM / IP Logged

Ugh.... The reason i haven't said the make and model is because I know DYohn and about 1200 other members are about to get on my case.... And should they, I have a nice lonnnng thing to say to them...

It's an Audiobahn A18001DT (brand new from audiobahn after my A18001D was replaced for warranty) Powering 2 Audoibahn 1206T woofers down to 1 ohm in a 2.5 cu. ft. ported box (5 cu. ft. total)

The A4601Q is my four channel powering 4 Infinity Kappa 5x7's. They are both wired to the same distribution blocks, but nothing happens to my 4 channel, it plays fine.

~wayland

wayland1985

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Joined: December 31, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: January 30, 2005 at 9:11 PM / IP Logged

I went over the works, and found the ground to be a little loose. I re-grounded the 1800 watt amp separately from the ground block, and it seems to have aided my problem significantly.

Why would the 300 watt amp still function if this was the source of my problem??? Is there something else I'm overlooking here? Or was the shutoff due to large power consumption????

~wayland

VWBobby

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Joined: January 30, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: January 30, 2005 at 9:18 PM / IP Logged

It was probably the protection kicking in from the amp drawing too much current through a faulty ground. If you try to draw a lot of current through a small wire/bad connection, it will have a lot more resistance than a good solid ground. The amp was probably trying to protect itself from burning up from lack of proper power.

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