Stiffening Capactiors
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=52164
Printed Date: May 15, 2024 at 6:08 AM
Topic: Stiffening Capactiors
Posted By: tsd911
Subject: Stiffening Capactiors
Date Posted: March 19, 2005 at 5:55 AM
Hi All, I had a question about wiring a stiffening capacitor up to two amps. One of my amps is a 300WRMS 4 channel, and the other is an 80W RMS 2 Ch. I have a Lightning Strike 1Farad cap. Is it possible to wire both amps up to the Capacitor, and if so how? Do i just wire the battery to the cap, and the cap to a distribution block? And then, obviously, the block to the amps? Or can I just run two power cables from the cap to the amps? Any help greatly appreciated.
Replies:
Posted By: supradude
Date Posted: March 19, 2005 at 6:48 AM
You only need to hook the cap to the amp you are using for the subs. That said, if you haven't already bought it, don't waste your money. They are useless anyway.
-------------
'85 Toy
Posted By: tsd911
Date Posted: March 19, 2005 at 7:17 AM
Well i don't know, the lights dim at the moment without subs connected, so it'd probably be alot if i could run both from the cap. I read that some places sell capacitor through passes for doing this kinda thing, but they're hard to find and they dont seem to be common enough to be any kind of general conceses.
Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: March 19, 2005 at 7:40 AM
You can split the power after the cap to two amps, but like supradude said, the sub amp is the only one pulling the big peaks that are causing you problems.....so there's no reason to put the 4-channel amp into the loop. But if you are having power problems without subs connected, you need to get that part of it squared away before you hook up more loads on that car system. You need some things replaced: upgrade battery and wiring (Big 3) to start. A rebuilt alternator (the power source) may be next in your future. But to answer you more precisely, the reason for using a fused distro block is so that you have fuseholders for the wiring that goes out to the amps when the main power wire is reduced in gauge into two or more wires. And it's neater and more organized. Each wire needs a fuse. You will accomplish the same thing by splitting off two separate wires, one to each amp, with a fuseholder inline on each wire. It's parallel-wiring either way...that is to say, it's the same electrical connection. ------------- Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.
Posted By: tsd911
Date Posted: March 19, 2005 at 8:32 AM
I upgraded battery about 6 months ago, the alternator is a 2 year old 60A one, and the wiring is 4 ga. and its only running 10 feet. I also have 2 fat 120W RMS 6*9s that hit hard, and i think thats wot draws the power. They only run on 40W tho, and thats off the 2ch sub. So both amps are pulling some power. Considering ive only got 380W RMS of power and a cap able to handle 1000W RMS, i figured it could hurt to let it handle both amps. Provide a smoother ride for both amps. So would i just a distribution block AFTER the cop to split it?
Posted By: supradude
Date Posted: March 19, 2005 at 4:29 PM
If you insist on using the cap and you are going to use it on both amps you can just run the wire from the battery to the cap. Then you can run 2 wires from the cap, 1 to each amp. You won't really need the distrobution block. The 60 amp alternator is what you probally need to upgrade soon though. Like stevdart said, upgrade the BIG 3 first. That will help a lot.
-------------
'85 Toy
Posted By: tsd911
Date Posted: March 19, 2005 at 5:00 PM
OK, thanks. I'm just trying to avoid the alternator change. According to the maths, my alternator should be able to handle the system. Besides that, the cost of a new alternator is rather hefty. But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done I guess. Thanks again
|