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From: Edmonton, AB CAN
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If you wanna know you could use 0.5 Farad's per 1000 watts but current is the real concern, if you used 1.5farad cap it just and no upgrades to alt then you've just added another battery(the cap) for the alternator to charge. do you have a system wiring diagram, cause that would help and make it easier to make adjustments and ideas
yes, you can. the way i have mine hooked up is the power wire runs straight to the capacitor first THEN split into the two amps using a distrubution block. the amps and cap have their own grounds.
thats one way to wire it. there are other options.
thats one way to wire it. there are other options.
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Rep Power: 0 if you are using larger than 4 awg wire you should run both power and ground to the battery, because the body will only give at best the current floe of 4 awg wire, when you use distro blocks use on for power( fused) and one for ground (unfused) use and ground the amps at the same point and run a ground from the deck and ground at the same point, to eliminate noise, there are a tons of ways to wire a system best to plan it out before you go then no issues when you are done ask questions is the best way
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From: Temecula, CA
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Yes, you can use one cap with two or more amps.
When done right a cap can be more more than just a 'band-aid'. Besides the voltage stabilization they will allow for short bursts of currents greater than that which the battery/alternator system can provide in a given time.
You can run a power wire into the cap, run separate wires from the cap to the amps. Or run from the cap into a distro block into the amps. You can use a ground disto block or you can ground the amps and cap together. Many options.
So you're saying there is more metal conductor in one ~17ft run of 4AWG than the entire car's body/chassis?!?
When done right a cap can be more more than just a 'band-aid'. Besides the voltage stabilization they will allow for short bursts of currents greater than that which the battery/alternator system can provide in a given time.
You can run a power wire into the cap, run separate wires from the cap to the amps. Or run from the cap into a distro block into the amps. You can use a ground disto block or you can ground the amps and cap together. Many options.
So you're saying there is more metal conductor in one ~17ft run of 4AWG than the entire car's body/chassis?!?
Last edited by christmaspie; Feb 19, 2007 at 08:36 PM.
(Alterstart Systems Inc - ) Alterstart Dallas Texas thats the 170amp alt that i have on my car and i beat the hell out of it and its still going strong and at a fair price.
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Rep Power: 291 (Alterstart Systems Inc - ) Alterstart Dallas Texas thats the 170amp alt that i have on my car and i beat the hell out of it and its still going strong and at a fair price.
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Rep Power: 276 Heres my answer! Thank you! Rep+
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Rep Power: 276 (Alterstart Systems Inc - ) Alterstart Dallas Texas thats the 170amp alt that i have on my car and i beat the hell out of it and its still going strong and at a fair price.
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Rep Power: 276 Yes, you can use one cap with two or more amps.
When done right a cap can be more more than just a 'band-aid'. Besides the voltage stabilization they will allow for short bursts of currents greater than that which the battery/alternator system can provide in a given time.
You can run a power wire into the cap, run separate wires from the cap to the amps. Or run from the cap into a distro block into the amps. You can use a ground disto block or you can ground the amps and cap together. Many options.
When done right a cap can be more more than just a 'band-aid'. Besides the voltage stabilization they will allow for short bursts of currents greater than that which the battery/alternator system can provide in a given time.
You can run a power wire into the cap, run separate wires from the cap to the amps. Or run from the cap into a distro block into the amps. You can use a ground disto block or you can ground the amps and cap together. Many options.
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Rep Power: 276 If you wanna know you could use 0.5 Farad's per 1000 watts but current is the real concern, if you used 1.5farad cap it just and no upgrades to alt then you've just added another battery(the cap) for the alternator to charge. do you have a system wiring diagram, cause that would help and make it easier to make adjustments and ideas
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Rep Power: 276 If you wanna know you could use 0.5 Farad's per 1000 watts but current is the real concern, if you used 1.5farad cap it just and no upgrades to alt then you've just added another battery(the cap) for the alternator to charge. do you have a system wiring diagram, cause that would help and make it easier to make adjustments and ideas
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From: Charlotte
Rep Power: 291 Well. I have Pioneer deck DEH-6800 that powers up Profile 1000W 4CH amp thats in the trunk. The amp powers up 4 of my Polk DB6500 (2 in the front, 2 in the back) component speakers w/ crossovers and tweeters. The power cable is 5 gauge that came in the SCOSCHE amp wiring kit that I used to wire this up. Recently I've bought 2 10" JL Audio subs in a box that have Rocksford Fosgate 360a2 amp attached to it. I was told to upgrade the wiring so I bought the Monster Cable 300 series multi amp wiring kit and Monster Cable PRO 4CH rca cables for my components that I'm waiting for to come in the mail. I know I will need a capacitor, and i'm scared to think that i will need to get a different alternator and/or battery.
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Rep Power: 276 you need at least 4ga cables, but 2ga would be better. your RF amp can draw over 500w. if the profile is 1000w peak, then you're at 125A current draw which exceeds the limits of 5ga at 118A. 4ga is rated at 135A, and 2ga at 181A. so even with 4ga, you'll be close to the limit. if you go with 2ga kit, you need to upgrade the ground cable on your battery to 2ga as well. i hope that you've already done the Big 3 upgrade also with at least 4ga cable.
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From: Charlotte
Rep Power: 291 wow i did not know about that and i appreciate ur knowledge. i was going to let the 5 gauge wire stay thinking that it does not really matter. i'm going to have to stick with the 4 gauge instead of 2 gauge, since i've already spent $80 on that monster cable kit (at the best deal). thanks so much buit i got more questions. i understand that the negative terminal should be grounded, and that if i use the 4 gauge as power wire, then i will need to ground my battery with a 4 gauge wire as well, right?
so just do the Big 3 upgrade and you won't have to worry about grounds unless you go to 2ga. if you get to that point though, you'd likely need a new alternator.
if i'm understanding you right, then yes. the entire chassis of the car is essentially one big ground "wire." so any wire/cable you bolt to the chassis then becomes part of that big ground "wire." and thanks for the rep.
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Rep Power: 276 stock battery ground cable is 5 or 6 ga. you can do the "Big 3" upgrade for $10-12 with 4ga cables. i just did it tonight on my car. with the car at idle at night and the lights on, i would notice that when the RPMs increased, the lights would get brighter. after this upgrade, the lights are bright all the time. also before, lights would dim with bass notes at moderate to high volumes. now, i have to turn the music up real loud (louder than i like to) before the lights will dim. granted, i'm not running the wattage you are, but the point is that the "Big 3" is a simple, cheap, good upgrade. i bought a 4ga 72" battery cable from walmart for ~$5, and 4 - 4ga terminals for ~$5. then i just cut the long cable to the lengths i needed and put the new terminals on. was done in 20 minutes.
so just do the Big 3 upgrade and you won't have to worry about grounds unless you go to 2ga. if you get to that point though, you'd likely need a new alternator.
if i'm understanding you right, then yes. the entire chassis of the car is essentially one big ground "wire." so any wire/cable you bolt to the chassis then becomes part of that big ground "wire." and thanks for the rep.
so just do the Big 3 upgrade and you won't have to worry about grounds unless you go to 2ga. if you get to that point though, you'd likely need a new alternator.
if i'm understanding you right, then yes. the entire chassis of the car is essentially one big ground "wire." so any wire/cable you bolt to the chassis then becomes part of that big ground "wire." and thanks for the rep.
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From: Charlotte
Rep Power: 291 i do have an SPC grounding kit that i bought a while back and installed myself, so i might look into that and reconnect few of the grounding wires paying close attention to the battery's neg terminal, because from what i hear, grounding the battery is the most important thing, right?
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Rep Power: 291 i don't know. i don't run a cap so i haven't looked into them a whole bunch. i know that Scosche sells an amp kit with 4ga cables and a .5F cap with digital readout for $80. most other brands will be that much just for the 4ga amp kit without the cap, so i kind of look at it as the cap's free. as far as the power cables go, i've never noticed a difference between Streetwires, Tsunami, Scosche, or RF for performance. copper is copper. they're all flexible, small strand cables, so they're all good IMO.
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Rep Power: 276 i'm not familiar with that kit. got a link? or what's the details/specs on it. the most important cable is the one from the negative post on the battery to the chassis. since everything is grounded to the chassis, this cable litterally is the only path back to the battery.
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Rep Power: 291 Oh. My bad, its SCO Grounding kit and heres the link: SCO Heavy Duty Grounding Wire Kit [Part#: LIN-BLU]
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