do i need a cap

[militaryboy91 10+ year member]

No, electricity does not work that way. Look at current like water. Once you pour it into a jar it stays there until you pour it out.

 

[stones 10+ year member]

What about competition setups with car off? If you could store volatge in a cap @ 14V wouldn't you have an advantage in situations where everyone else has 12V systems. If my theory has some merit you would only have 14V for quite a small amount of time, but enough for a small burp, perhaps.
I am also thinking that the voltage would go back to the battery when the car is off, or atleast reach an equilibrium where the cap would be negligble.

Caps can't technically store voltage, just a bunch of electrons that they release as current, Basically the voltage coming out of the cap will always be the same as system voltage.

For SPL burps caps have been found to have a negative effect, apon starting the burp the caps instantly dump all their electrons (were talking in milliseconds) after it has emptied its electron load it trys to recharge off the electrical system, but the subwoofer amps are at full draw and are trying to use all available current, the caps take away from this and can actually starve the amps by being parasitic on the power supply, in short -

Caps can actually hurt your SPL scores during competitions, its strictly only to assist in transient current demands in a daily driver setup.

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

Caps can't technically store voltage, just a bunch of electrons that they release as current, Basically the voltage coming out of the cap will always be the same as system voltage.
For SPL burps caps have been found to have a negative effect, apon starting the burp the caps instantly dump all their electrons (were talking in milliseconds) after it has emptied its electron load it trys to recharge off the electrical system, but the subwoofer amps are at full draw and are trying to use all available current, the caps take away from this and can actually starve the amps by being parasitic on the power supply, in short -

Caps can actually hurt your SPL scores during competitions, its strictly only to assist in transient current demands in a daily driver setup.

That was kinda what I was thinking.

 

[bikejunkie223 10+ year member]

now you tell me what the purpose of a cap is when you have a weak electrical system to begin with, and the electrical system is charging the capacitor constantly. if you listen to music with heavy bass, it is completely useless. why would you want to present another load to your electrical system if its weak to begin with.

why are you incapable of reading? Has anyone said a cap is a cure for an inadequate charging system? no. But to say they are useless is absolutely wrong- you feel like you are talking to a wall because you are being so stubborn in your opinion when it has been shown to be wrong with factual evidence. The cap functions as a voltage accumulator/buffer and nothing more, it is NOT an additional load. Are you saying 1/0 power cable is a load? Sometimes you have to be man enough to admit when you are wrong.