do capacitors do anything?

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

Here's a bit of an interesting read on the subject...

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

first do a big 3 upgrade. then alternator. i still have yet to see the reason why a yellowtop is better then a standard battery when the engine is running

 

[Raven 10+ year member]

Dimming lights off a system that size, to me, seems less likely to be a charging system problem and more likely a result of voltage loss between a sufficient charging system and a needy amp. What size wire do you run for power and ground to your amp? Is your gain set right?

 

[Arawak420 10+ year member]

i hear ya on that icetee. i did the big 3, and bought a yellow top, lights still dim when i slam hard. my alt is only 120amp, sub amp is 150amps, and comp amp is 60amps which equlas 220amps, not including my cars electrical system. i need a bigger alt, but at the price i can't swing it right now. the stock alt cost about $220. i can't imagine how much a HO alt would cost...

i could have kept the regular batt i had

 

[snb778 5,000+ posts]

I agree with the above statment...a cap doesnt sound like a solution to your problem....as far as dimming lights go...a cap is only a patch for that...the main purpose of a cap should be used for immediate discharge...in sayin that....id say anything under 5 farad cap is worthless...better off gettin a batcap for the same price of your 1/2 farad cap (esp at best buy prices)...

dont they say a batcap800 is almost equal to 800 farads...is that the theory?? correct me if im wrong.

 

[snoopdan 5,000+ posts]

caps are great for keeping steady remote power wiere voltage during burps.

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

370 watts shouldn't be a problem. i suspect your alt maybe dying regardless.

 

[Hydrastas 10+ year member]

I drive an '01 grand am, and the size of wire I have running to my amp is 5 gauge, with 8 gauge going to the ground. I've got some 4 gauge wire, but I didn't think that putting it in would help much, If i were to run both the 5 gauge wire and 4 gauge wire from the battery to the amp, what size of wire would that be equal to? There is paint where I have the ground as well, maybe if i sanded it down to the metal and used 4 gauge as well for my ground would that help? And also, I changed my ground recently and was wondering if that would have anything to do with my dash lights going out?

 

[SHOtime 10+ year member]

I drive an '01 grand am, and the size of wire I have running to my amp is 5 gauge, with 8 gauge going to the ground. I've got some 4 gauge wire, but I didn't think that putting it in would help much, If i were to run both the 5 gauge wire and 4 gauge wire from the battery to the amp, what size of wire would that be equal to? There is paint where I have the ground as well, maybe if i sanded it down to the metal and used 4 gauge as well for my ground would that help? And also, I changed my ground recently and was wondering if that would have anything to do with my dash lights going out?

Fer Christ's sake, make your ground and power wire the same gauge. That's plain retarded.