question(s) about caps =D

[blazeplacid 10+ year member]

Well I won an EBay auction for a Kicker 750.1,4 ga wire, fuse holder and a "free" cap.

I have never used a cap in the 4-5 systems ive used and never used one in the 10-15 systems I’ve installed in other cars.

I have had dimming with large amounts of current draw as is the case with lager amps and multiple current hogs.

Basically me question is should I use the cap? It was free and id like to put it to use if it would help even a little.

I do realize that the 750.1 is fairly efficient so I should have no problem but like I said if the cap helps I would like to use it.

I understand the cap to be somewhat like a small power reserve but not to be confused as an extra battery BUT if it is like an additional power supply how would that not help the amp?

As long as the car is running the alternator is basically powering the vehicle and the battery is helping but not putting out as much as the alt. I understand that the alt does not charge the battery and thus would not really charge the cap back to full power.

If this is the case what are caps really made for? Are they just made so you can store 10-15 seconds of extra power and then have to recharge the cap again later?

Anyone help me out?

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[Chevillac 5,000+ posts]

Since it was free, try to sell it.

And yes, thats basically what they are for, band aid.

 

[amoffitt 10+ year member]

I had a cap in my impala it seemed like it would hold energy but then once alot of bass kicked in it wouldnt hold enough. i just got a 2nd battery. It will probably help a little with the light dimming but not that much. I would sell the cap and buy a kinetik.

 

[blazeplacid 10+ year member]

can you elaborate on the " one alot of bass kicked in"?

I play my music very loud when im driving alone and the music is usually bass heavy (rap/techno) and I get alot of dimming.

Are you saying that when you turned it up loud the cap wouldnt keep up and just couldnt recharge fast enough?

 

[amoffitt 10+ year member]

like when i turned up bass boost it kicked in heavy bass for a couple seconds then it just went to like it was before i put the cap in. I had a 6 Farad Cap.

 

[blazeplacid 10+ year member]

I think im going to use it just cuz.

I dont see how it would actually hurt anything.

If anything that extra 10-15 seconds would help out some what.

 

[amoffitt 10+ year member]

ya never know it might work good with your setup just depends some work good and some are pretty crappy

 

[x2o 10+ year member]

Do you happen to know how many farads it is? If your dimming a lot, a 1 farad cap isn't gonna help much. But its worth a shot, you will be recieving it along with the speaker anyway so why not give it a try in the car? Go for it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

I think im going to use it just cuz.
I dont see how it would actually hurt anything.

If anything that extra 10-15 seconds would help out some what.

caps and bass = no good. there is no 10-15 second cap, it's called a battery. Caps discharge in fractions of a second, then pull current to replenish leaving your amp w/low voltage.

There is plenty of good reading about them. Sell it to a noob.

 

[Chevillac 5,000+ posts]

I think im going to use it just cuz.
I dont see how it would actually hurt anything.

If anything that extra 10-15 seconds would help out some what.

if you are going to use it and know that its going to be going back to performing like it was before, why not take the time to actually remedy the whole situation, then you wont even need the cap(you really shouldnt use it anyway...complacency). After long term use, that band aid isnt really going to help. Your electrical system will probably fail....eventually, if the dimming is bad enough. Not tomention if the voltage gets low enough for too long, it could potentially damage your amp(s). Someone correct me if im wrong.

 

[blazeplacid 10+ year member]

I agree it probably wont help out much if at all

but its worth a shot

Hate to say it but some people just jump on the bandwagon about things and just go along with what other people say without even trying out the equipment in question( not saying everyone, it just seems that way to me)

Its possible that "caps dont do anything" isnt true??

Ill try my setup with the cap on and off and see if I see any change

and then post the results.....now I just gotta wait for the amp and cap to arrive

 

[blazeplacid 10+ year member]

I agree with everyone here that it probably wont help and a bigger alt is the fix but the cap was free and Ill atleast see what happens

 

[mazzasec 5,000+ posts]

big 3 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[blazeplacid 10+ year member]

big 3 did nothing for me in my 96 chvey silverado.

I was kinda disapointed.

I was runing 2 Directed 1100d (old school type) 180amp alt 2 redtops. 0 ga everywhere.

Had minimal dimming so i figured the big 3 would help, it did nothing.

Great ground and quadruple checked everything.

Went to a 240amp alt fixed

 

[Mystic Knight 10+ year member]

It's not so much the cap that bothers me but has anyone ever seen something "free" from Ebay that's actually worth installing?? I've seen so much crap from China on there I'd honestly be afraid it'd go up in flames.