Caps
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=44066
Printed Date: May 21, 2024 at 9:45 AM
Topic: Caps
Posted By: hersheyloc
Subject: Caps
Date Posted: November 29, 2004 at 6:02 PM
Hey, I'm hooking up 2 amps, to 4 subs, and I'm planning on getting a cap. Is 1 cap enough? Or should I run 2?
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Replies:
Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: November 29, 2004 at 6:13 PM
How much power are you running? A cap may or may not help what you think might be wrong... What are you trying to cure/fix/prevent? A little more info, please.
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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."
Posted By: hersheyloc
Date Posted: November 29, 2004 at 6:15 PM
Not tryin to 'cure' anything. Just thought running two amps would be best to have a cap to store some power. Running a couple 300 and sumthing watt amps. -------------
Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: November 29, 2004 at 6:31 PM
Better off getting a larger alternator, this is the first step to "stiffening" your power supply. You only have 700 watts worth of output, which should be somewhere around 1000 watts of input. 1000/14.4=69 amps of current requirement. How big is your stock alternator? Anything around 100 amps should be plenty.
The general rule is 1 Farad per 1000 watts, but as I said, look into your alternator and battery before you spend money on a cap, which may or may not help anything at all.
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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."
Posted By: kfr01
Date Posted: November 29, 2004 at 6:53 PM
Many people doubt whether caps actually work anywhere near the way the way they claim to. We all know what they're supposed to do, but none of the manufacturers ever backs up their claims with statistics. I find that funny. Like haemphyst said, spend your money on an alternator first. I frankly think they're a complete waste of money for most of the cars out there used as daily drivers. ------------- New Project: 2003 Pathfinder
Posted By: poeticdrums
Date Posted: November 29, 2004 at 8:30 PM
I agree with them. A lot of the people that I know that have capacitors claim that they are helping their system, but I think it is just a big hoax. If you think you'll need one then go for it. It is your money. So far the only thing I have seen work decently well is something called a batcap, which is basically a frickin' huge capacitor with the storage and output equal to that of a small battery, though the price is much higher than a battery. Alternators can be a bit pricey, especially if you won't be doing the install on it yourself. Go for a nice battery first, maybe a dry cell battery (i.e. Optima) Even upgrading your "Big Three" would be a cheap way of getting some extra output.
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