anthonygpace

iTrader: (1)

I have an 04' civic lx sedan. I have the stock battery whatever it is, brand new though, stock alternator but a Big 3 upgrade. I was wondering if i put in an aftermarket head unit, speakers and a sub if i would have problems. as it is i see dimming, the big 3 helped a little but it seems like if it's already dimming, adding more stuff to my car to draw electricity doesn't seem wise... Anyone have any problems or have to upgrade their alternator?

mr22508

Ill tell ya right now to get a capacitor. I didnt get one for years cause I believed all the hype that they where junk. Then my buddy said he would sell me his 1 farad Rockford Fosgate Capacitor for 30 bucks and I figured what the hell. Man, I am glad I bought that thing! Not even the slightest bit of dimming! And Im running 3 Aftermarket gauges, aftermarket gauge overlays with stand alone lighting, Halos, a nitrous set up and a 1000 watt Sony xplod amp pushing 2 12" 600 watt Solo Baric squares! I was stunned! And my alternator has not given me any problems.

anthonygpace

iTrader: (1)

how does a capacitor work exactly? I was always told no no no with capacitors

J-K

iTrader: (1)

It stores some energy so that when the amp pulls in more current suddenly the voltage stays stable long enough for the alt to react so that there is no dimming.

HLC

capacitors hold charge. 1 farad indicates the amount of charge it can hold or capacitance. for this purpose, the capacitor will supply an extra amount of charge when the system is calling for more than the say alternator can produce.

running like this for some time will cause the capacitor to drain and then it must be recharged. so turn down the volume.

CrewChief

iTrader: (1)

Rule of thumb is 1 farad for every 1000w you are running. So if you have a 2000w amp you will need 2 farad cap. I love my cap. I bought it years ago. Had a dig readout telling you what your charge is and what is being pulled from it.

anthonygpace

iTrader: (1)

hmm so when the capacitor is spent i'd have to shut the radio off to let it recharge or turn it down which isn't something i'm to wild about since i've never had to buy a capacitor for my past car.. We'll see. Maybe i can buy like a jet ski battery or somethin.

CrewChief

iTrader: (1)

no you dont have to shut it down. Its very rare that you will drain the Cap. It recharges faster than your speakers can hit.

CrewChief

iTrader: (1)

I'm running a 2000w kenwood amp with a 2 farad cap pushing 2 j audio 12's and it never runs out or shuts off or dims the lights.

also running the 400w kenwood 4 channel off the bat alone for the mids and highs.

HLC

im just saying that should the capacitor completely drain. you would have to decrease the power usage for an amount of time so that the capacitor can recharge. it's not a guarentee that it would drain in the first place but still.

CrewChief

iTrader: (1)

I know what you ment but I dont want him to think that you have to shut your **** off every 20 min to let it charge up.

si.hatch

on the big 3 was it just grounds? or the real big 3 and a run from the alt to batt also?

caps just reduce the voltage your amp is seeing therefore no dimming occurs. caps just cant charge up fast enough for them to be any good

im running 1500w rms with 0ga "big 2" and a second battery and i dont have dimming

Awjvail

**** the regular capacitor... a flux capacitor will give you the power you need, plus an additional 30HP because as a side effect, you are making your car into a hybrid.

CrewChief

iTrader: (1)

Just dont do over 88mph or you will go back to the future.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

You'd still need to get 1.21 "jiggawatts" to it for that to happen

Awjvail

*shakes head*

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

haha... you started it..

anthonygpace

iTrader: (1)

jesus guys... haha. I think I'm gonna go with another battery since i now a guy who can hook me up with a deal. Just a small jet ski size battery will do the trick i hope. I assume it depends on what kind of power you're gonna be sucking out of the car. the speakers i wanna buy i'm gonna have 500 watts running to, which is still less than i want, i can give em 180 watts per speaker. Any advice on specific sound deadening places. I can't afford to sound deaden the entire car.. i'm talking strictly car audio not for a quiet cabin from road noise.

CrewChief

iTrader: (1)

I'm running an Optima Yellow top from a Ford F150. lol. Works great.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

been running a yellow top since Jan 05. Just added a Monster Cable 1 Farad cap (found it on amazon for $80) to my system when I re-did my sound system this past January

CrewChief

iTrader: (1)

What what!!!!!

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

what what to what?


That made my head hurt.. hahaha

Kennykid2002

iTrader: (1)

What what....in the butt?

You can also use a powercell instead of a cap, bout $100 for a kenetik power cell

I have to do big 3 upgrade too...I looked at my wires and noticed they were horrible grounds
Cant figure out how i'm gonna do the alternator to bat though

nmastereal

how do you do the initial charge to the cap, i heard it will kill your system the first time you boot up

hindude

I'm not sure about car audio, but if it's anything like a regular circuit (which it should be), the cap will start charging immediately, as soon as the circuit is closed. The only way I could think of it killing your system is if you turn it on with your volume cranked the first time. This could inhibit the cap from building a charge, which would make your system suck the power from the battery until the battery is dead. Depending on how fast your cap can charge up, you should be fine if you give it 30 seconds before cranking it. Then just enjoy that thumping bass.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

My cap came with a charging "clip" and instructions. Basically it told me to ground it, attach the ground clip to the positive terminal on the cap, then attach the other end of the clip to the positive terminal of the battery, with the car running. Allow to charge for 5 minutes, then call it good

I did that, then brought it to my trunk and hooked it up.. It seems to work fine.

si.hatch

caps are a waste of money. its better to spend the same amount to upgrade your cars actual electrical system then it is to get a cap.

caps work for about the first note played then they are drained and unable to charge back fast enough for them to be beneficial. and at the same time they lower the voltage your amp is seeing therefore your amp is using less power therefore your car has more power to reduce dimming.

sell the cap and buy a battery and put it in the trunk

J-K

iTrader: (1)

That's not how caps work at all...They stiffen the voltage so that no dimming occurs... A battery will just provide more power not stiffen your voltage. Also, if you just hook up your cap and then try to start up your system you will blow your fuses and possibly damage your system. The cap needs to be charged with a resistor first straight from the battery. After that its all gravy.

Mad Dog Tannen

To charge the Cap...

1. Remove the inline fuse on your power (big red) wire.

2. Take a test light and attach clip to positive side of battery.

3. Stick the test light spike into the fuse connector so that it lights up.

4. Hold it there until light dims and eventually goes out (should take 2-3 minutes)

5. Quickly remove light and reinstall fuse.

si.hatch

http://www.nanopulser.com.sg/capacitor.htm


just sayin.