Printer Friendly Forum Posts - 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.

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* 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.

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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.

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* 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.

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* 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 helps

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Ronald 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

First things first you need to get a multimeter. Set it to DCamps and check at the cap. Then if it shows the same as the battery you will need to find the adjustmment screw on the cap. I know with mine there is a screw on it and after charging you check it with a volt meter and adjust the display to match. Maybe try an email to their tech support and see if there is such an adjustment on yours?

Hope that helps

Nick

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System

HU~ Kenwood X-792

Front stage~ JL VR650CSi comps

Subs~ 2x Clarion SSW1001 10" D4

FS amp~ Memphis Belle 1-4th ch bridge 2x 230 @ 4ohm

Sub amp~ Belle 5th ch 1100x 1@ 1ohm

......

First, the chances of having a bad cap are slim to none. I highly doubt you have a bad cap. The problem may be the voltmeter on the cap. That has nothing to do with the operation of the cap itself. It just shows what the voltage across the cap is. If this was not functioning correctly then that may be your problem. Easy way to tell if this is the case. Take a voltmeter or multimeter and check it with that. Measure the voltage across the cap with that and see if it is the same as what your cap is reading.

Your cap IS CHARGED when you hook it up to the power wire. Once it is hooked up to the power/ground wire it is fully charged. There is no need to try and recharge it. The only reason you need to charge it in the first place is to steady the voltage in the cap to that of your battery. If you don't you will have a big spark when you hook the cap to a live wire. Once the cap is wired to the power wire of your system it is charged. So no need to talk about that being the problem.

My suggestion is to get a voltmeter/multimeter and check the voltage across the cap with that and compare it to what your cap's voltmeter is reading. If they are different then you have found your problem, a bad voltmeter on the cap. It they are different then you have a fairly serious issue elsewhere in your system. But check that first and let us know if that was the issue. If it isn't we will help you further.

The thing that makes me think that the voltmeter on the cap is right is because the green light on the charge card doesn't turn off. The directions say it should turn off after it is charged, which should only take seconds. But it doesn't. It always stays on when i have it hooked up to charge.

Something i have noticed the last couple days with the cap too when i've tried to charge it on multiple occasions. It doesn't seem like its holding its charge. When i have hooked it up to my car battery to charge it it got up to 10.8v on the voltmeter reading. The next day i check the cap and it no longer has a charge in it. Seems odd to me.

Btw, thanks for all the suggestions and comments thus far. I appreciate it. I plan on buying a multimeter within the next few days.

-------------
* 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

whiterob wrote:

......

First, the chances of having a bad cap are slim to none. I highly doubt you have a bad cap.

Well the chances are more than that. My first 2 caps was defected so it is not slim to none. He could have a bad connection on the charger its self. So do this. Discharge the cap. wait 5-10 mins then take the battery jumper and hook it to the charger that the cap came with. Leave it on until the light goes off. When fully charge the green light goes off. Could take up to 1-2 mins. I know the documents that come with the cap says seconds but it could take longer. If you have a voltmeter while this is charging put it across the post and see what it is reading. This will tell you what the cap is reading. If the light does not go out then take it off and just put the jumper right to the cap and then the meter on it. When it reads 12-14volts then it is charged. If that does not work then it must be bad or the meter on the cap is wrong.

one more thing Hey niu_huskies never heard of a 60.5 components, you might want to fix it to 6.5 components

-------------
Ronald 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

after using your charge card, did you try connecting it directly to the power and ground wire without the charging card? Most of the time a cap will not charge all the way to 12.6 volts with the resistor held in place. A cap will discharge over a short peroid of time, this is why it reads zero overnight. After you use the charge card and charge it to 10 volts, connect it to your power and ground bypasing the card completly.

airhed692005 wrote:

whiterob wrote:

......

First, the chances of having a bad cap are slim to none. I highly doubt you have a bad cap.

Well the chances are more than that. My first 2 caps was defected so it is not slim to none. He could have a bad connection on the charger its self. So do this. Discharge the cap. wait 5-10 mins then take the battery jumper and hook it to the charger that the cap came with. Leave it on until the light goes off. When fully charge the green light goes off. Could take up to 1-2 mins. I know the documents that come with the cap says seconds but it could take longer. If you have a voltmeter while this is charging put it across the post and see what it is reading. This will tell you what the cap is reading. If the light does not go out then take it off and just put the jumper right to the cap and then the meter on it. When it reads 12-14volts then it is charged. If that does not work then it must be bad or the meter on the cap is wrong.

I'm not sure by what you mean by a battery jumper. The only thing that came in the package with my cap was a charge card and a holder so i could mount the cap.

Also, when i've tried charging the cap via my car battery i have had it hooked up for 10 minutes and 10.8v was as high as it got.

airhed692005 wrote:

one more thing Hey niu_huskies never heard of a 60.5 components, you might want to fix it to 6.5 components

My fault, they are Infinity Kappa 60.5cs components. I still have the original box they came in and just looked.

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* 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

ragsports wrote:

after using your charge card, did you try connecting it directly to the power and ground wire without the charging card? Most of the time a cap will not charge all the way to 12.6 volts with the resistor held in place. A cap will discharge over a short peroid of time, this is why it reads zero overnight. After you use the charge card and charge it to 10 volts, connect it to your power and ground bypasing the card completly.

Is it safe to do that? I thought the capacitor was supposed to be charged all the way before you hook it up to the amp power cable and ground.

Btw, it is only getting up to 10.8v when i have the car on and in idle. When the car is off it gets up to around 8.5-9v (can't remember exactly off the top of my head).

-------------
* 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

ok that is better That is the model not the size, and the battery jumper is also called a booster pack. It helps jump the car if the battery is dead.

OK know when it is 8.5-9v is the car running or not running?

-------------
Ronald 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

Forgot to state- it is safe to do what he said to do
"ragsports wrote:
after using your charge card, did you try connecting it directly to the power and ground wire without the charging card? Most of the time a cap will not charge all the way to 12.6 volts with the resistor held in place. A cap will discharge over a short peroid of time, this is why it reads zero overnight. After you use the charge card and charge it to 10 volts, connect it to your power and ground bypasing the card completly."

The charger is there just to help it out.

-------------
Ronald 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

Yes it is safe to do that the charge card , or resistor will usually only bring it up to around 10 volts. Charge your capacitor as you have been doing, after it is charged as far at it will go remove to charge card and connect it directly to the power and ground, at this point it should read aroud 12 volts when the car is off and around 13-15 volts when the car is running...

airhed692005 wrote:

ok that is better That is the model not the size, and the battery jumper is also called a booster pack. It helps jump the car if the battery is dead.

I got you now. When i hook it up to the booster pack it gets up to 9.6v with the booster pack around 90% charged. That actually went up. When my booster pack was around 50% charged it only got the cap charged up to 8.2-8.3v.

airhed692005 wrote:

OK know when it is 8.5-9v is the car running or not running?

8.5-9v is with the car off. With the car in idle it gets up to 10.8v but the green light on the charge card never turns off. So that's why i've been assuming the cap isn't fully charging.

If i understand you correctly, the charge card/resistor on the cap actually limits the cap from charging up to its potential? So when i take it off it should jump from 10.8v to around 13-14v if everything is correct? That's a mighty big jump.

-------------
* 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

Wow, thank you very much guys!

You were dead on. I charged my cap as high as it would go on my car battery then i disconnected it it, took off the charge card, hooked it up to my amp power cord and the ground and it shot up to 12.5v. When i turned the car on it shot up to 14.5v.

I still don't get why the green charge light on the cap wouldn't go out to indicate it was fully charged. But i guess it was because the charge card was limiting it from fully charging.

Thanks again guys!

-------------
* 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