do capacitors do anything?

[Hydrastas 10+ year member]

I've got an mono amp running at 370 watt rms and i've noticed that it tends to make my lights flicker. So I got a capacitor, it's only 1/2 farad, but after installing it I have noticed no improvement, except now not only do my headlights flicker but I can notice that my dash lights are flickering as well... is the capacitor the reason for this? I'm not sure why someone would say adding a capacitor would prolong the life of your alternator when it seems to make the power issue worse. Would a higher farad capacitor help my situation, or should i just get a better alternator?

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[azbass 5,000+ posts]

to answer the question in your title yes.

 

[NJAV1 10+ year member]

Perhaps you need to look at your alternator and battery a little closer, you problem may be found right there. I doubt I bigger cap is going to improve your situation.

 

[Hydrastas 10+ year member]

My alternator is a 105 amp, the hu uses a 10 amp fuse and the amplifier uses two 30 amp fuses. What type of battery would be an improvement for a standard battery, what do I look for when buying another battery?

 

[AllStar1500bd 5,000+ posts]

Caps are worthless, sell the cap, buy an Optima Yellow Top, do the Big 3. In that order. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[RandyJ 10+ year member]

Capacitors are not worthless, they are only worthless in situations like yours. A cap will not improve electrical systems that are already suffering, they require charging and if you're dimming on 370wrms, then a ca can cause extra hurt.

Your problem is yoru electrical system. Upgrade to a nicer battery, follow through with the Big 3 and then if you continue to have problems, go with an HO alternator.

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

Ya, that alternator is more than enough for your system, do your underhood grounds with some big cable.

The only advantage of a capacitor is with subwoofer amplifiers, which show your electrical system sharp spikes of power consumption, so rather than showing your charging system a 0 amp draw, and then a 60 amp draw all of a sudden, it shows it a constant 40 amp draw. (just made that number up, i just mean it shows a constant recharging draw, rather than the actual spikes of the amp)

A battery with a decent cranking amp rating is all the capacitance you should ever need with your current setup, tho.

In your current situation, my number one suspect would be a bad ground on your system or your cap. That would show your battery and your alternator a constant current draw, depending on how bad the connection is, which is ******* your battery dry, and putting a constant load on your alternator, and then when you have the amplifier's spikes on top of that is causing your flickering or dimming.

A bad ground up front would most likely cause starting issues, it seems like your problems are primarily while using your system, which is why i suspected the issue is near your amps/equipment.

It could also be a bad cell in your battery. This would show your alternator a constant draw, since it thinks it need to recharge that cell, so it's constantly making it's full potential, and it's just terminating in the bad cell, which can't charge.

Have your battery tested at autozone or advance auto parts, and double check your ground connections in the rear. It's definitely something strange, tho, you'll be fine without the capacitor once you figure out what it is.

 

[revrider1 5,000+ posts]

Some caps look nice .

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

It's true, and you can always tell your younger siblings and friends that it's a bomb linked to the security system.

My number one 'excuse' if you will, for keeping the cap that came with my wiring kit was the nice big, easy to read voltmeter, and then once my gear was installed i realized that my power distribution block, mainline ANL fuseholder, and component amp all have gigantic easy to read voltmeters as well //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

So now when people ask me why i still have the cap, i just get defensive and make rude remarks about their shoes because i don't have an excuse, hahaha.

 

[dleccord 5,000+ posts]

just bought the YT to replace my one year old kirkland battery, done the big 3, dimming is cut in half. planning to put a battery in the trunk soon, should lose the dimming then

 

[wlmrs 10+ year member]

Keep the cap and get an optima with a warranty.

 

[soul05 10+ year member]

just out of curiosity..what kind of car do u have

 

[SyKo13 5,000+ posts]

yea, they get in the way

 

[DIPayton 10+ year member]

yesterday my bro's GF told me how a cap is the most valuable part of a system, because it keeps her alt from getting screwed over.... then she called me crazy for not having a cap in my car... lol, Maybe they only work for females.

 

[qtipextra 5,000+ posts]

I would say upgrade your alt first. Make sure you can supply it before you try and store it.