5 farad cap?

[babsuhl81 10+ year member]

Please don't tear me apart but I was wondering if my 5 farad cap will help my lights dimming situation til I can afford an ho alt? Or should I just sell it? I'm only running abt 250 rms now but plan on somewhere between 1k and 2.5k in the near future.

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[goingdef 10+ year member]

The cap will make it worse and for 250watts your clipping it at a low ohm load I would guess.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

have you gotten the big3 done yet?That may be all you need to take care of ATM.Throw that cap away,or sell it on Craigs list/ebay,and be ready to get yourself a good agm batt, or two.There is a Big 3 tutorial on YouTube that can help you step by step/hands on.

 

[eddie_93 10+ year member]

^ Like he said you shouldn't need any upgrades for 250 rms. If anything, sell the capacitor on craigslist and use the money to do the Big 3 upgrade.

 

[jungstah 10+ year member]

A lot of people say that a capacitor helps their light dimming, so it doesn't hurt to try. theoretically it is just an additional load on your alt tho. theres a BIGAZZZ article here somewhere about caps and how a 9v battery can power a light bulb longer than a giant cap.

the point of capacitors in circuitry is to filter and "purify" the power to get a cleaner signal. energy stored in a capacitor is very little and it really can't pretend to be a battery.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Your lights should not be dimming. Set your gain right and turn off the boost.

 

[babsuhl81 10+ year member]

Its not really dimming too much now. My stock gauge drops when my turn signals r on. And on the big 3 what size wire should I run?

 

[UnderFire 10+ year member]

Its not really dimming too much now. My stock gauge drops when my turn signals r on. And on the big 3 what size wire should I run?

If you're going to an HO alt in the future, use 1/0, Oxygen Free Copper, Not CCA.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Do as I said or you are going to burn stuff up

 

[babsuhl81 10+ year member]

My gain is set fine and its running at 4ohms. And no bass boost. I never use it. It will drop even when my stereo is off. I know the alt isn't very strong

 

[dragon.breath 10+ year member]

Why you don't need a capacitor - Realm of Excursion

here is a link to the cap article. it was originally wrote up on a forum that no longer exists. thats why it is broken up weirdly.

 

[-01limited- 10+ year member]

What kind of car?

 

[babsuhl81 10+ year member]

1999 s10 blazer. will the big 3 help with my turn signals dropping the voltage?

 

[juanmgarza26 10+ year member]

Caps are over-sized voltage meters and nothing more imo //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[akheathen Premium Member]

do the big 3, yes it will help. it sounds like you may have a bad ground somewhere in the factory system already. the big problem with caps, is that they mask any problem. i have seen a 16farad cap hold the lights from noticeably dimming with more than 100a of draw beyond what the factory system can support at max. if you take a meter, you will see that ot is all an illusion, and the voltage is still dropping, it just does it softly, so you can't see it. on top of that, it extends the draw on the alternator and wiring during recovery. in short, it tricks you into cooking your own system. on a side note- it has been mentioned what they are good for. i have a 2farad on my home-built 14v 20a bench power supply, and it, allong with a choke, keeps clean enough power to use on newer amps and heads without damage. what brand is that 5 farad? i might be interested in snagging it for my next 150a bench supply project. by the way, your battery should be good enough to keep your power perfectly clean, as they have been doing for ages..... i just don't want a battery used indoors anymore..