1 farad vs 8 farad capacitor and wiring
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=102627
Printed Date: May 15, 2024 at 6:17 PM
Topic: 1 farad vs 8 farad capacitor and wiring
Posted By: Robzila
Subject: 1 farad vs 8 farad capacitor and wiring
Date Posted: February 28, 2008 at 8:54 AM
I have a 1900w rms amp so a 2 farad cap should be good. I was wondering if I got a 8 or any of the higher farad capacitors would there be any downsides. My main concern was will a huge cap drain my battery when the car sits or will the alternator work a lot harder to keep those bigger caps full of power? The amp is a mtx thunder 81001. It has a pos and neg terminal in the amp for a cap, is all I have to do is plug just the cap + & - into the amp and no other inline or other wiring? Thanks
Replies:
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: February 28, 2008 at 11:19 AM
Robzila wrote:
will the alternator work a lot harder to keep those bigger caps full of power?
Yes. Unless your charging system is able to handle the entire load of the vehicle and the audio system, including any caps you might add, you can overload it and cause more harm than good. There is really no purpose for stiffening caps in most daily driver systems. ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: audiocableguy
Date Posted: February 28, 2008 at 3:58 PM
The difference between 1 Farad and 8 Farads is just a waste of more money. You need to generate power, not store it.
Posted By: audioman2007
Date Posted: February 28, 2008 at 6:00 PM
I read alot of bad things about caps. Me personally, I dont see whats wrong with them. When I installed my system, my headlights dimed when the bass hit. Then I installed a capacitor and now everything is fine. What I dont understand is if they are so useless, then why are they still on the market? Why do people buy them? I have 2 volt meters (one on my radar detector, one as an A pillar gauge) and my volts never drop below 13.7 unless I have the A/C or defroster on, then it dips to 13.
Posted By: audiocableguy
Date Posted: February 28, 2008 at 6:16 PM
Why do people buy them? Marketing. People think they need one. It's too easy a sale to pass up. Its like buying Bose, the salesman says they sound good and the customer believes it. Perception.
A Cap can't generate voltage or current. The same voltage in, same out. What they can do is store energy that can be extracted quickly. After that energy is extracted it needs to be replaced. This becomes another load just as another battery would.
A cap might help in the short term but as the alternator ages, battery age the cap will do little.
Posted By: dragon51
Date Posted: February 29, 2008 at 7:12 PM
They are more like a bandaid not that I have not used them I had 2 on my old sytem did not pay anything for them, I was putting money aside for a hi output altenator but a south of the boarder drive hit my car instead. Your better off saving the money and doing the Big 3
Posted By: tedmond
Date Posted: February 29, 2008 at 8:08 PM
the reason ppl buy them is because ppl push to sell it and say it prevents dimming. that is true in a way because it fills in the voltage gap when your amp draws alot of current. the best thing is a big 3 and a HO alt. audiocable is spot on !
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