Rep Power: 327

it's not working as good as I thought it would... hrmmmm. Headlights still dim a little bit when I turn it up loud, but not as much as they did I think. Now, I know that the cap is working because the amp stopped "popping" when turning off (although I have no idea what the cap. has to do with it..lol I just like the fact). Also, I know that it's recommended to have a really short wire going from cap to amp, but mine's around 1.5 feet. Could that make a difference? Oh and I didn't charge the capacitor before installing (recommended in an old thread), but it's a used one, so it should have some charge left in it.

So yeah I guess my question is "Is there something wrong with the setup?" Or is it expected for the lights to dim slightly?

 
Rep Power: 786

caps aren't the be all and end all of headlighjt dimmming and other electrical problems. I would have recommended a repalcement battery. I have an Exide 34XCD in my car and it made all t he difference int he world. That and amplifier tuning. tune your amp properly and it will suck a lot less power and you will notice little if any difference in output.

As an example, some buddies of mine have an SPL car. They did all kinds of testing on their system and got it up to 166.5 or so. Then they bought a current clamp to measure the actual current draw and it was around 160 amps per amplifier (12 amplifiers). Through tuning and soem other tricks, they got the current consumption down to just over 104 amps and they went up 3 DB. So in this case they even got LOUDER and they are using less power.

 
Rep Power: 327

interesting.. thanks. I've heard of using some kind of special noise recorded on a cd to tune an amp, but it didn't say where to get it. Any idea what it is?? Or better yet, where can I find good writeups on tuning an amp?? Mine's Phoenix Gold Octane-R 5.0 by the way..

 
Rep Power: 387

I got to agree that tuning and a battery is a large difference. I run a optima yellow top as my main battery and a alumapro 5 farad cap with a JL audio 300/4 and 500/1 along with other goodies. the battery made the most difference

 
Rep Power: 328

Caps are effective at reducing noise. Not always have an effect on dimming. Battery, big 3 and alternators are your best bet there. Caps charge instantly. Still, I'd try shortening the wire to see if it helps any.