cap or no cap?

[slim2fattycake 85]

ok this is copied from my sig... its my set-up:

96 Honda Accord ex coupe

2 Infinity Reference 6022si 6.5" front doors

2 kicker SSMB6 6.5" X 9" rear deck

1 FI SSD 12" dual 2 ohm flatwind coil & bp power

1 Hifonics BXi1606D class D amp

1 Dual XIA3145 Class AB 2-Channel amp

1 farah Stinger capacitor

1 run Kicker Hyperflex 4 gauge BIG 3 upgrade

stock alternator is about 80 or 90 amps,n i still got a h/o but dont have it in b/c i gotta find out what it does at idle...

im about to do another run of 4awg under the hood, but i was wondering if it is better or worst with the cap with my current set-up and then with the h/o alternator, which is 130amps but i think it has to be at 1200rpm before it hits that.

[denalilvr 0]

i wouldnt waste time or money on the cap..just for looks..

[slim2fattycake 85]

well i already have the cap. its just that i am wondering if the cap will do anything for my set-up or not.

Edited April 6, 2008 by phi

[Acidburn 10]

It won't.

[audio-neon 34]

capacitors are useful if you are using a lead acid battery with a more than adequate charging system, once you get into batteries like stinger/kinetic etc... they are capable of keeping up with the demanding current needs or a decent/high powered substage.

[///M5 2,833]

Caps are only useful if you don't want to realize that your charging system can't keep up. Sell it for cash and spend it on something fun, it is a much better use of your money.

[slim2fattycake 85]

i dont think anyone would buy it lol... im stuck.

[WildSebring 0]

Stick it on craigslist.com .....you never know...

[slim2fattycake 85]

i guess ill keep it in till i can get someone to buy it.

[Jpangkilla 0]

Caps are only useful if you don't want to realize that your charging system can't keep up. Sell it for cash and spend it on something fun, it is a much better use of your money.

I agree 100%

[slim2fattycake 85]

well see i dont think my electricals are bad. i checked it and with the system up at my max playing level on even bass mekaniks, the voltage is still above 13.5, it really doesnt go down lower than that except when heat and defrost is on, it then drops down to 12. this is with and without the cap. also, i am not sure with the musical difference between the two.

[///M5 2,833]

Beware most measurement devices are capacitive and will hold voltage and not show it dropping...

[sqguy 0]

I was told a cap can help your alternator live longer by softening surges/spikes, but no it is not a replacement for power you don't have.

[slim2fattycake 85]

I was told a cap can help your alternator live longer by softening surges/spikes, but no it is not a replacement for power you don't have.

whats everyone think about this? i mean with this its one positive thing about keeping the cap, until i get my engine swap and get a h/o alternator but that wont be until like 2 years or something.

[helotaxi 46]

I was told a cap can help your alternator live longer by softening surges/spikes, but no it is not a replacement for power you don't have.

whats everyone think about this? i mean with this its one positive thing about keeping the cap, until i get my engine swap and get a h/o alternator but that wont be until like 2 years or something.

I think that's the job of the battery, not a cap.

[twisztdpunisher 0]

scrap the cap

[typhoon1110 0]

do this apply to the super large 50/100 farad caps too?

[aznboi3644 2]

I was told a cap can help your alternator live longer by softening surges/spikes, but no it is not a replacement for power you don't have.

whats everyone think about this? i mean with this its one positive thing about keeping the cap, until i get my engine swap and get a h/o alternator but that wont be until like 2 years or something.

this is a lie so you will spend your money on a worthless paperweight

[BKOLFO4 29]

It is funny how most people who comment are just going off what they have read from other people's posts on forums that they do nothing. . .

Caps are not a replacement for a proper electrical system, but they also are not just worthless paperweights. . .

I have a 3 Farad under my second row seat near my (3) amps running my doors and plates in the wall. Works great.

Brian

[slim2fattycake 85]

It is funny how most people who comment are just going off what they have read from other people's posts on forums that they do nothing. . .

Caps are not a replacement for a proper electrical system, but they also are not just worthless paperweights. . .

I have a 3 Farad under my second row seat near my (3) amps running my doors and plates in the wall. Works great.

Brian

yea, i mean they dont just make this to make it. i mean really they could just make the inside a copper wire and thats it if all a cap is, is a paperweight.

but what do you have the cap for then?

[sqguy 0]

I'm no electrical engineer, but I read a lot about caps and I know what capacitance is. That is the best simple answer I can tell you after many hours of research. It seems to come down to a few points; one is that an alternator can not react as fast as an amp can draw. This is why even with a large alternator you may get some lights dimming, the voltage drops before the alternator can kick in. A cap can help this by smoothing the current flow, this is what caps do in electronics unless it is filtering AC current like in a speaker crossover. There are arguments as to how much current a cap can hold and how fast it can do it to be useful for this purpose, that is dependent on its specifications.

Another point is that you have to fill the cap back up if you discharge it for some milliseconds. If your system is already overdrawn how can it fill a cap too? It relies on the system having over capacity between draws, such as rock music bass drum compared to a sine wave that would not give a break for it to fill. Otherwise it relies on the alternator having enough power once it gets going no matter what you are drawing, or the empty cap could cause an even longer recovery of voltage while it fills. Yet another issue is that soon as you draw the cap its voltage falls, and going from 14 to 12v on a cap is not much current and at 12v your battery will supply current. Now if you have one battery that falls to 11v with a big hit, the cap may help more if your alternator is backing it up. If you have a stack of yellow tops that hold 12v easily then the cap does less. Certainly a battery provides way more current, a cap is only good for a moment unless you have a huge one.

As far as the cap helping the alternator live I'm not sure about that just read it, but they do use caps everywhere in a car amp as well as other electronics to smooth current flow and eliminate noise. The more draw you put on an alternator the sooner it will let go it seems, providing it has no other mechanical failure in the mean time from weather/etc. So that makes sense but I have no proof about sharp draws being harmful to them other than repeated statements from what appear to be smart people. It is likely a cap would work on voltage drops that most meters would not see. I bought a 1f for $15 and soon as I swap amps I will wire it in, it can't hurt. I'll be under 1kw and I don't want to put another battery in due to weight in this car, but I might try a little jumper battery in back.

Odds are a cap is not going to make your system louder, or if it does not enough for you to hear. I think lights dimming and alternator abuse are the only things they will really help and not in every situation. Is possible they might help quality of sound in some instances if amps are fading out. Better amps should hold some current within themselves as well.

[lithium 358]

im running a 600rms kenwood and after adding a 1.2 farad cap to my car i notice an increase in volume from the sub and better sq. i do not have an upgrades to the charging system. u could assume that i these lack of upgrades are the reason i noticed the differences between having the cap and not having it. pick one up for as little as 15$ and see if adds to your system.

if it doesnt just find some kid who likes flashy led displays...........lol

[helotaxi 46]

No one has heard the difference a cap has made. A bigger/better battery will make more of a difference in the electrical system than any cap of any available size will. A cap has less than 0.5 amp*seconds per Farad of usable storage capacity compared to the 7 amp hours for even the compact Hawker/BatCap 800s. If your electrical system is so overtaxed that you're worried about the alternator giving out prematurely, you need to be looking for a bigger alt. At that point a cap is like putting a band-aid on an arterial bleed. One of those little butterfly band-aids at that. All the things that the marketeers claim that a cap does for a system are better handled by a battery or batteries.

There are caps in your amps, yes. However, don't you think that if more capacitance was needed to make an amp sound good, the amp manufacturer would have included that in the design? There is one legit use (and even it is a little on the "snake oil" side of things) for a cap, and that is as a noise filter. Higher current alts tend to have a bit more ripple and those set to higher voltage have even more. A cap can filter out the ripple, though the power supply capacitance in the amp itself is usually more than up to the task of taking care of what the battery leaves.

[aznboi3644 2]

im running a 600rms kenwood and after adding a 1.2 farad cap to my car i notice an increase in volume from the sub and better sq. i do not have an upgrades to the charging system. u could assume that i these lack of upgrades are the reason i noticed the differences between having the cap and not having it. pick one up for as little as 15$ and see if adds to your system.

if it doesnt just find some kid who likes flashy led displays...........lol

lol this is funny...sub sounds louder and better sq from adding a cap. Sounds like what is printed on the packaging for most capacitors

[lithium 358]

im running a 600rms kenwood and after adding a 1.2 farad cap to my car i notice an increase in volume from the sub and better sq. i do not have an upgrades to the charging system. u could assume that i these lack of upgrades are the reason i noticed the differences between having the cap and not having it. pick one up for as little as 15$ and see if adds to your system.

if it doesnt just find some kid who likes flashy led displays...........lol

lol this is funny...sub sounds louder and better sq from adding a cap. Sounds like what is printed on the packaging for most capacitors

realized something after accually thinking lol.....i used a new ground location or because i like flashy lights...

or maybe its one of those things, like when a terrible fisherman goes out and buys the most expensive fishing rod and thinks it will make him a better fisherman... the LED's are a nice touch, should get some for my fishing pole...

i did read some stuff on bcae1.com. specificlly the sections comparing a cap hooked up to a power source and not hooked up.

it goes on to say if a cap does what its suppose to do it can make a difference. that being said im am sure ppl could argue/will argue that a big three and quality battery will yeild a greater pay off.

the bottem line is that a cap is probly not worth the money. if someone has some money just lying around and wants to do alittle science project for us.... ill unhook it sometime and see if there is much difference but i do not have any other work done to my electrical so it wouldnt be very rellivent to ppl who allready have h/o alts and yellow tops.

wow i sounded like a retard after writing that post.... think ill have to go into witness protection to aviod assassination by wild capasitor junkies....

Edited April 8, 2008 by lithium