capacitor help

[patrick1202 10+ year member]

my car dims like a mother ****!! but i am running two amps

 

[tothemax1984]

if hes driving around and geting a true voltage drop to 11 or so then its gota be more then a battery right? i mean if its a true drop when the bass hits and goes back up. if hes checking the volt drop threw the cap that might not be a true telling of his voltage drop. do u still get a heavy voltage drop when your drving around 50+ mph or so?

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

Max a cap is 1 of the most worthless pieces of audio equipment ever created...
Dude last words of advice get a good battery.

x2.

A dimming problem cannot be solved by a Cap, it can only be solved by beefing up the true culprit... in some cases just doing 'The Big 3' [Check the Sticky] will do more than cure it. In other cases you need a beefier Altenator, and in some cases you need multiple alts. However, at that level you've dropped more than the car's worth in audio equipment. At any rate, just do 'The Big 3', it's a simple and easy fix that you can probably do by yourself [even the most mechanically declined people can do it]. If that doesn't solve the problem [which it probably will], you should get a nice battery. You don't need a Kinetik, or any hardcore battery like that, a simple Duralast Gold will do. (I have that battery and it's bomb[good])

Now, if both of those fails [which I doubt], you have to upgrade your altenator from your stock one to a badass one. Odds are you won't have to do this, though.

Rough price for The Big 3: ~$50-60 bucks for 0/1 gauge wire + ring terminals. It actually depends... $3.25/ft off Knukonceptz for 0/1, then a few bucks for ring terminals. Don't forget fuses. You have to fuse those wires unless you're retarded-brave.

I got my Duralast Gold for like $60 bucks.

However H.O. [High Output] Alts can get quite costly... $250+

At any rate, use the cap as a paper-weight and beef up the real problem.

 

[bumpincrv 10+ year member]

When you shut your car off Voltage does not jump down from 14.3 to 12.0:fyi:

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

if hes driving around and geting a true voltage drop to 11 or so then its gota be more then a battery right? i mean if its a true drop when the bass hits and goes back up. if hes checking the volt drop threw the cap that might not be a true telling of his voltage drop. do u still get a heavy voltage drop when your drving around 50+ mph or so?

I'm getting the feeling that Max doesn't know what he's talking about.

If he's driving and he's getting a volt drop to 11, odds are it IS his battery which can't keep up with the constant flow... or it could be the lack of power going to his battery from the alt.

Like I said in the post above this, do the Big 3 and upgrade your Batt and your lights won't even flicker with your system turned all the way up and every light in your car on.

 

[omorales 10+ year member]

i checked it again and voltage is not dipping below 12 at the capacitor and with the amp off its stays in the mid 13's with the car running and heavy bass the voltage dips into the low low 12's at the most hasnt dipped to 11 again and with just a tiny tiny bit of dim

 

[bumpincrv 10+ year member]

How old and what kind of battery are you running now?

 

[omorales 10+ year member]

about how long and how much money would doing the big 3 involve?

 

[bumpincrv 10+ year member]

not much time at all if you can solder on ring terminals and cut wire you can do it

 

[omorales 10+ year member]

well i just got the car so i dont know how old the battery is but im guessing its fairly new i think its one of the ones that they sell at auto zone the dura last ones.

 

[tothemax1984]

yea i know what u need to start a car. but with volage drops to 11.8 12.2 is not good. but what do i know. my whole thing is thats low we dont know if hes just siting there and geting that kind of drop or is he moving and seeing low voltage drops. im geting 12.7 with my car running lights on and comming to a stop and im geting dimming.. but im running more then 1600 watts off a 70 amp alt.i dont know.

 

[bumpincrv 10+ year member]

a simple battery test will tell you if the battery is junk. Im pretty sure auto zone or wall mart will do them for free

 

[omorales 10+ year member]

im just sitting in my driveway checking the voltage i cant really tell if the lights dim while driving because the dim is too small

 

[omorales 10+ year member]

thanks bumpincrv

 

[tothemax1984]

i do understand for the most part. i was thinking he was driving around and geting down to the high 11 or so. thats not good for your alt and battery. and if u think thats fine thats ok. i guess the big 3 should work great for him. but if hes running a 100+ amp alt for the most part shouldint he be fine? he only got one sub. its what 150 rms or so. i just gota think out side of the box. here i dont think he need a 150 doller battery.