Thoughts on Caps???

[shaneb 10+ year member]

yeah, but you're only paying attention to nominal gains in sound system performance, than the masking of the strain on the alternator. if you are using a cap to "fix" dimming lights, than i say it's a bad idea. if you just want a cap, and your electrical system is good, then by all means, use one.

Agreed.

Now, for sake of arguing. Since there are people in here who will just discuss and not be ****s about it....

Say, I have dimming. A cap fixes it. Is my electrical then sufficient for the system I have installed?

I mean, logically. The electrical system now supports my system when my cap is included in tha system.

I have trouble understanding this being a band aid, when in effect, the aftermarket components installed, do work properly, and my factory components work properly. Or in secret, is there still a added strain without any visual effects on my factory system?

I do also understand that say, I have never had any electrical drop problems, but I have a cap in there to further remove strain on a already well working system...

hmmm.....

I do enjoy this discussion. I wish more people weren't dicks about it.

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

Thanks for the answer and not just saying caps **** balls! Do you think I would be better off without the cap and why?

Since you are too lazy, or dumb (I'll let you decide) to use the search feature...

Let me spell it out... AGAIN. Even though they've said it previously in this thread.

Capacitors are useless in a car audio environment. The idea behind them is grand, but the actual application is short of nothing. For instance, most capacitors are 1-5 farads. To put it in retrospect, a double-A Battery has 11,800 farads. Granted, it can only discharge it's total load in 1.3 hours. (IIRC) If you actually spell out the math, a 1-farad cap (assuming it's a true farad and not rounded up), will only give your system an extra 144 watts @ 12 volts, and I believe 164 @ 14 volts. (I did the math in a previous thread nearly similar to this one.) Now, that's over a millisecond. They are useful in certain applications... but for daily drivers, they're useless. If you're listening to music, and your electrical system can't support the amperage your amplifiers are trying to pull, and so much so that it uses a capacitor's charge, that's an instant of 144 watts... but after that, the capacitor is trying to recharge as your amplifier, which already needs more power, is trying to run at the same time. So, it just adds stress on your circuit.

And a lot of people on this forums hear from the grapevine that caps are worthless and will enter any thread that mentions a cap and flame the OP for being an idiot or something of the sort. Like I said, they're useful in burps... but that's about it.

They were originally designed for comps... but, they're a sham. And the reason why your local audio shop says that they're good is because they were trained to. They probably don't know better-- nor do they probably know the simple formula to find about how many true-RMS an amp produces (voltage of car * amps it pulls based on the fuses * .8 (Or replace with the efficiency of the amp in decimal). They're there for their job. They probably aren't real enthusiasts like a few on this forum are. (I say a few 'cause most of you out there come to us and asks what's good, go out, buy it, love it, then flame anyone who has a different opinion.)

Any other questions?

 

[nabissssco 10+ year member]

HA! I came in this thread thinking, "WTF?!?! What kinda d*ck doesn't like caps?"
But they're talking about capacitors... Laaaaame.

/exit thread.

Now I gotcha. I love caps too. The last time I had some was bout 3 months ago. I played rockband with my friends and went absolutely nutts on the drums. I ate about 10

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

Agreed.Now, for sake of arguing. Since there are people in here who will just discuss and not be ****s about it....

Say, I have dimming. A cap fixes it. Is my electrical then sufficient for the system I have installed?

I mean, logically. The electrical system now supports my system when my cap is included in tha system.

I have trouble understanding this being a band aid, when in effect, the aftermarket components installed, do work properly, and my factory components work properly.

I do also understand that say, I have never had any electrical drop problems, but I have a cap in there to further remove strain on a already well working system...

hmmm.....

I do enjoy this discussion. I wish more people weren't dicks about it.

Caps do not reduce strain. They add strain. The definition, and physics behind a capacitor is a device that holds up a charge and can release it instantly. Capacitors don't leech that much power. They release it. Then they recharge and do it again. Capacitors only hold very little power. Verrryy little power as compared to any battery. As said in the previous post, a double A has 11,800 farads, where your cap probably has 1... maybe 5. But, they use capacitors in things like flashes for cameras. That'll give you a nice thought of what a capacitor can do. It's just masking it, it's not adding to it. By using a capacitor to mask the problem, you put a bigger strain on your alternator shortening it's life span. Sell the cap on eBay and buy a Batcap800. They're cheap and worth their weight in gold.

 

[fbi90909 5,000+ posts]

If you dont like the thread than dont look at it.... You jumping on here to say "people don't really hate them here, they just find no use for them nor like when threads like this are created when one can search and find the same repeated answers." just shows how starved you are for attention. The reason I posted this question is because I wanted peoples opinions! I did search for my answer but than again im not asking a question am I? I want to know opinions!

little butt hurt?

i gave an honest opinion to your curiosity..

me starved for attention? negative.

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

Agreed.Now, for sake of arguing. Since there are people in here who will just discuss and not be ****s about it....

Say, I have dimming. A cap fixes it. Is my electrical then sufficient for the system I have installed?

I mean, logically. The electrical system now supports my system when my cap is included in tha system.

I have trouble understanding this being a band aid, when in effect, the aftermarket components installed, do work properly, and my factory components work properly. Or in secret, is there still a added strain without any visual effects on my factory system?

I do also understand that say, I have never had any electrical drop problems, but I have a cap in there to further remove strain on a already well working system...

hmmm.....

I do enjoy this discussion. I wish more people weren't dicks about it.

you're fine if you already have sufficient electrical. the cap doesn't "fix" your electrical system, it gives a draw for the amplifier to use, which can mask the strain. the alternator still has to charge the cap, and the battery.

 

[shaneb 10+ year member]

Understood. If your sure for me a larger cap would work better than ill look into it, otherwise im probably gonna keep the one I have and do the big3

I cannot gaurentee that for you. I would recommend doing the Big 3 first, assuming your electrical factory wiring lacks in the BIG department.

 

[shaneb 10+ year member]

you're fine if you already have sufficient electrical. the cap doesn't "fix" your electrical system, it gives a draw for the amplifier to use, which can mask the strain. the alternator still has to charge the cap, and the battery.

Right, I understand that.

Hm...

lol, I will say this, the smaller less sufficient caps. Do market well //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif and they are only like 40 bucks.

How ever, I would install a BatCap 35 Farad any day, but by that time, you probably already have 4 batteries in your trunk, haha.

 

[shaneb 10+ year member]

Caps do not reduce strain. They add strain. The definition, and physics behind a capacitor is a device that holds up a charge and can release it instantly. Capacitors don't leech that much power. They release it. Then they recharge and do it again. Capacitors only hold very little power. Verrryy little power as compared to any battery. As said in the previous post, a double A has 11,800 farads, where your cap probably has 1... maybe 5. But, they use capacitors in things like flashes for cameras. That'll give you a nice thought of what a capacitor can do. It's just masking it, it's not adding to it. By using a capacitor to mask the problem, you put a bigger strain on your alternator shortening it's life span. Sell the cap on eBay and buy a Batcap800. They're cheap and worth their weight in gold.

Oh I very much understand how they work.

This does make good sense. Thanks for chiming in.

So logically, its another component in a aftermarket system that is good for a amp, but still needs a electrical system to back it up.

So no dimming prior to install of a cap = extra quick release for amps, but make sure your system is worth adding that additional strain to it. The ability to ensure the FAST charging and discharging of that capacitor.

 

[nabissssco 10+ year member]

little butt hurt?
i gave an honest opinion to your curiosity..

me starved for attention? negative.

lol on the but hurt part, I appreciate the post and your help, I just get tired of people saying sh1t like that and than giving help is all.

 

[shaneb 10+ year member]

I would argue that Caps are useful in more than Burping.

Now, the Caps I am referring to are things like the 35 farad batcap that is in a amp casing. The person I know with it is a SQ competitor with a 5 battery bank and that. But he also isn't "fixing" issues, just stiffening his electrical

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

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you just hurtin your eyes lookin at that there playguy mag!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

I would argue that Caps are useful in more than Burping. Now, the Caps I am referring to are things like the 35 farad batcap that is in a amp casing. The person I know with it is a SQ competitor with a 5 battery bank and that. But he also isn't "fixing" issues, just stiffening his electrical

in a daily driver vehicle, the difference is nominal to just use a cap. if you do other things to get incremental jumps in sound quality, then a large cap can be a small piece of an sq or spl build. the cap alone isn't going to make much of an audible difference, if at all.

 

[mugen08 10+ year member]

Caps do not reduce strain. They add strain. The definition, and physics behind a capacitor is a device that holds up a charge and can release it instantly. Capacitors don't leech that much power. They release it. Then they recharge and do it again. Capacitors only hold very little power. Verrryy little power as compared to any battery. As said in the previous post, a double A has 11,800 farads, where your cap probably has 1... maybe 5. But, they use capacitors in things like flashes for cameras. That'll give you a nice thought of what a capacitor can do. It's just masking it, it's not adding to it. By using a capacitor to mask the problem, you put a bigger strain on your alternator shortening it's life span. Sell the cap on eBay and buy a Batcap800. They're cheap and worth their weight in gold.

When I ran my 2 12's and 1000 watt memphis amp w/ no cap my voltage was dropping to 10.5v

I adden a 1 farad STINGER cap and it ran at 13.5 all day.

This is not the only time I've seen positive results w/ a cap.

Keep all that technocal mumbojumbo to yourself.

I know they work, just not the cheap $50 dollar ones. Stnger, RF, or any other one that is $150 plus

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

When I ran my 2 12's and 1000 watt memphis amp w/ no cap my voltage was dropping to 10.5v
I adden a 1 farad STINGER cap and it ran at 13.5 all day.

This is not the only time I've seen positive results w/ a cap.

Keep all that technocal mumbojumbo to yourself.

I know they work, just not the cheap $50 dollar ones. Stnger, RF, or any other one that is $150 plus

you don't know what you're talking about. and i bet you were going by the voltage readout on the cap, which cant display quick voltage drops. if you're telling me that you can fix a system that's dropping to under 11 volts, with a 1 farad cap, then you're either a liar or ignorant.