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Capacitor - Battery
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<blockquote data-quote="spoonraker" data-source="post: 3095618" data-attributes="member: 570956"><p>No...you never need a cap...ever.</p><p></p><p>Here's a <em>real</em> quick explanation...</p><p></p><p>First of all lets reiterate some basic electrical theory. You need to know that current always flows from the highest electrical potential to the lowest. In other words, the source of power with the highest voltage will be what your system draws from.</p><p></p><p>Your alternator is the main source of power. It has the highest voltage, and it maintains that voltage until the load placed on the alternator is more than it can provide, in which case the voltage drops, very very very quickly.</p><p></p><p>A capacitor is not at all similar to a battery. A capacitor simply stores electricity, that is all. It will charge to the highest voltage on your system, whatever voltage your alternator puts out, and then do nothing until that electricity is drawn from the capacitor. A battery on the other hand actually creates electricity from chemical reactions. Both a battery and a capacitor have a limited life. A capacitor will drop volts VERY quickly, in less than a second a medium powered audio system will drop a capacitors voltage below that of the battery, which then stops any electricity from being drawn from the cap, since, again, voltage always flows from the highest electrical potential to the lowest. The battery, unlike the capacitor, can maintain it's voltage for a sustained period of time. Eventually it will drop volts too, but it lasts 1000x longer than a capacitor does.</p><p></p><p>So to put it very simply. Once your alternator is pushed too far, the current will be drawn from the capacitor since it was charged to the highest voltage, in about 1 second the capacitor will have dropped enough voltage that the load will then be placed on the battery.</p><p></p><p>So if you'd rather spend money on a capacitor to power your system for one second, go ahead, but just getting a better alternator will be a much better solution to your voltage problems.</p><p></p><p>My suggestion to you is to get a better alternator first. Upgrade your wiring to make sure it's being fully utilized. Then get a deep cycle battery to replace your red top, that way if you do slowly drain your battery, it won't be damaged at all since deep cycle batteries are designed to be completely discharged and recharged many many times.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="spoonraker, post: 3095618, member: 570956"] No...you never need a cap...ever. Here's a [I]real[/I] quick explanation... First of all lets reiterate some basic electrical theory. You need to know that current always flows from the highest electrical potential to the lowest. In other words, the source of power with the highest voltage will be what your system draws from. Your alternator is the main source of power. It has the highest voltage, and it maintains that voltage until the load placed on the alternator is more than it can provide, in which case the voltage drops, very very very quickly. A capacitor is not at all similar to a battery. A capacitor simply stores electricity, that is all. It will charge to the highest voltage on your system, whatever voltage your alternator puts out, and then do nothing until that electricity is drawn from the capacitor. A battery on the other hand actually creates electricity from chemical reactions. Both a battery and a capacitor have a limited life. A capacitor will drop volts VERY quickly, in less than a second a medium powered audio system will drop a capacitors voltage below that of the battery, which then stops any electricity from being drawn from the cap, since, again, voltage always flows from the highest electrical potential to the lowest. The battery, unlike the capacitor, can maintain it's voltage for a sustained period of time. Eventually it will drop volts too, but it lasts 1000x longer than a capacitor does. So to put it very simply. Once your alternator is pushed too far, the current will be drawn from the capacitor since it was charged to the highest voltage, in about 1 second the capacitor will have dropped enough voltage that the load will then be placed on the battery. So if you'd rather spend money on a capacitor to power your system for one second, go ahead, but just getting a better alternator will be a much better solution to your voltage problems. My suggestion to you is to get a better alternator first. Upgrade your wiring to make sure it's being fully utilized. Then get a deep cycle battery to replace your red top, that way if you do slowly drain your battery, it won't be damaged at all since deep cycle batteries are designed to be completely discharged and recharged many many times. [/QUOTE]
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