What is the best way to install a 1.2 Power Acoustic Farad cap in your existing system?
This cap also has digital readout.
Hey if someone has the time...what exactly is the purpose of a cap?? thought i might try to learn something today..thanks
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well you're not going to run a 1 farad capacitator to your deck now are you?
they aren't just for "preventing your lights from dimming", it's a common myth, and true it does help out abit, but they are use to stiffen the power supply to your amp so that it has the current available to it when it needs power the most.
best way to install it, what i did was simple. power wire from your baterry goes to the + on the cap. you can either run another lead off the + straight to your amp or to a distribution block if you're using more than 1 amp. ground the - to a solid ground and you're set. just make sure you charge the cap before you install it into your power supply, and try and keep the length of the wire between the cap and the amp as short as possible to prevent current loss. good luck!
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IMO, caps are a waste of money. A 1 farad cap can only provide 72 watt-seconds of power at 12V, so unless you're running less than 100w, it won't make a noticeable difference. As soon as the amp starts drawing power, the cap discharges and then the electrical system has to try and recharge the cap as well as run the amp. If you have not done it already, upgrade your factory power wire from the alternator and the factory ground from the battey to at least the same size as your amp power wire. The next step would be a second battery and a HO alt, which can be done for under $400 and will provide you with a much better power system. I would recommend this for anthing over 100A of total max current draw, especially if you have a small factory alt like 60A or 80A. You can use the cap if you want, but if you do the math they don't really help much at all.
caps are bad...dont waste your money...
caps are great for a small SQ system that doesnt draw alot of power...I keep posting this over and over and over...a cap is great for regulating power to your amps, keeping a constant voltage...outside of that, they just tax your electrical system, wasting power and your cash, as well as shortening the life of your alternator...
a cap charges power and gives that power to the amps when they need it...but, as soon as the cap discharges (which is a very short time really), your alternator has to work twice as hard to keep everything going, because it has to 1) run your car...2) run your stereo...and now 3) attempt to recharge your cap at the same time as charging your car and powering the stereo...so, your car and stereo are now being robbed of power as your alternator is working harder to keep up on the demands being made of it...
caps are typically sold by salesman who are just trying to make some extra cash, because they are more of a hindrance to the majority of the people that buy them...they are sold as a miracle cure for dimming lights and poor electrical performance, when really they just make it worse...
take the cap back and put that money towards a high output alternator instead...you will be doing your stereo a big favor...