Rep Power: 316

can someone give me an idea on how big of a capacitor ill need.
i was told that i should get at least a 50 farad cap ?
can someone recommend something for me.
thanks

i will be running the following:

2 Xsite 1000 watt amps 1 for each sub

amp specs :

Class D Circuitry
•Multi-Stranded Power
Supply Toroids
•Blue Anodized Heat Sink WIth
Lazer Diamond Surface
•Brushed Aluminum Case
•Remote Bass Control
•THD:0.05%
•S/N Ratio>100dB
•Variable Sub Sonic Filter
15Hz-40Hz
•Variable Phase Shift: 0-180°
•Variable Bass Boost Control:0-18dB
•Frequency Response:25Hz-200Hz
•Tiffany-Style Input & Output RCA Jacks
•Milspec Double-Sided Epoxy Circuit Board
•Data Link Port (Combines 2 Amplifiers Into a Single Output

2 400 watt amps 1 for the highes 1 for the mids

400 watt amp specs :
Blue Anodized Heat Sink With Lazer Diamond Surface
• Brushed Aluminum Case
•4 Guage Power Inputs With True Connect Screw Down Terminals
•Single Sided Controls and Connections for Easy Installation
•Optional Digital Volt Meter
•Optional Remote Bass Control


•Brilliant Blue Power Indicator Light
•Full Variable Crossover
•Mosfet High Speed Switching Power Supply
•THD:0.02%
•Frequency Response:10Hz-40kHz
•Variable High and Low Pass Crossover
•Subsonic Filter:20Hz-50Hz
•4 Way Protection Circuitry

2 12" subs

12" ULTRA HIGH EXCURSION SUBWOOFER
•100oz Massive Double Stacked Strontium Magnet
•Power Handling:1000 Watts R.M.S.
•Frequency Response:20Hz-500Hz
•Efficiency:92.5dB
•3" Black Aluminum Voice Coil Former

2 sets of the 6.5 components :
6.5" 2-Way Speaker System
•Power Handling: 160 Watts Max Power
•Frequency Response: 50Hz-20kHz
•18oz Magnet
•4 OHM Impedance
•0.5" Mylar Dome Tweeter
•Sensitivity: 94dB

and the 6x9s :

XSS693
6x9" 3-Way Speaker System
•Power Handling: 220 Watts Max Power
•Frequency Response: 50Hz-20kHz
•30oz Magnet
•4 OHM Impedance
•0.5" Mylar Dome Tweeter
•Sensitivity: 95dB

 
Rep Power: 257

Lol hahahahahaha A 50 farad capacitor? What idiot told you that?
Something eqivalent to 50 farad is a 12v battery. Get a Yellow top and stick it in the trunk. You're not powering anything major, so a 1 farad would do. I don't know if a "50 farad" cap exists, but i bet it's expensive as hell if there is one.

 
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yeah its like $400 bucks for a 50 farad cap..
as for who told em it was a shop i was gonna go to, to get my system done.

i thought that was a little dumb they where saying that since the amps arent the best quality Xsite (sister company to audiobahn, alphasonic) they would take alot fo power from the battery...

i have a yellowtop up front, and i have 3 1 farad caps (given to me by friend) so i thougt that would be plenty

 
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I don't know anything about your amplifiers, but if the wattage rating is REAL.. you are probably going to be needing a HO alternator and an extra battery.

Find out what kind of current those amplifiers draw. The 1000/1 call for a 100A fuse, which means that you're probably going to see up to a 50-60A draw per unit. If you're two sub amps can draw 100A together, without the other amps or accessories, your electrical system is going to be in trouble.

Hopefully the shop knows what they are doing. Maybe the amps are bogus and way over-rated.. I don't know.

Personally, I don't see caps as being a solution to an overloaded electrical system. Heavy cables, extra battery (shortest power run possible), HO alternator all make more sense to me.

 
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A03 thanks for the input.
again not good with all this stuff..
can you recommend a good high output alternator ?
and a second battery in the trunk, i guess another yellow top would work ?

 
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dont run a cap...they just put more strain on your alternator...its one more thing they have to charge...instead do the big three and get a yellow top. then if your still having electrical problems do a high out put alternator....Just doing the big three and a battery should make a work of difference....

heres a link on how to do it...

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showth...t=official+big

 
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I believe the general rule is 1 farad of capacitor for every 1000 watts of RMS power.

 
Rep Power: 276

big-3 DIY first: http://forum.sounddomain.com/forum/u...=5;t=007801;p=

then consider going with better batteries and HO alternator.

a capacitor is not the cure for your vehicles electrical system or just your car in general. anything over 1 farad is considered overdone imo.

 
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$400 for a 50F cap is a complete waste of money because you can get a H/O alternaytor for that

as said above

do big 3 before you do anyhting
then yellow top
and then finally H/O alternator

 
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im deff. gonna take the advice do the big 3 and the yellow top.
i appreciate it

 
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I think you will be fine with the gear you have. If you ask these folks their experience with these upgrades, I think youll find the crowd thins out pretty quickly.......

why not install the 3 caps you have now? couldnt hurt! and youve already got them!

any why buy more gear if itll be fine as it is now?

besides, you can always buy a second battery later. no problem. same with the alternator. my vote is skip it.

 
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myself and whiterabbit have pushed the limits of power in the 7thgen civic many many times

I have personally run close to 2500 rms off an entirely stock electrical system, (its not entirely stock anymore) and i believe he has broken the 3k mark with just an upgraded battery...

i highly doubt youll require anything outrageous

 
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not to mention scott stoner who used to rep for Adire audio. Ran over 10,000 rms. for SPL competition. five batteries, and a stock alternator.

and that was his daily driver! We've got tough little charging systems, we really do.

 
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stoner....
hehe
i remember him

 
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For 2 1000 watt amps I would get 2 1.2 F caps, 1 2.4 F cap or if you could get something over 2.4 but no more than 5.

Anyway always install caps in parallel. In series they will only defeat eachother.

 
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Never ran a cap myself, but I am using a HO alt and it makes a difference. I really have to push the limits of my system to get my lights to dim, but the simple fact that my amps are still getting over 13.5volts consistant, at idle, is good enough for me.

 
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i appreciate everyones help.
really cleared things up.

 
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Back when I still had my civic, I ran 2 JL 1000/1's, and a 450/4. All of it was powered by the stock electrical. I got minimal dimming, which didn't really bother me. Before that I ran a HiFonics Colossus and a HiFonics Olympus. Again, stock electrical, a tad more dimming, but still not enough to bother me. I did however switch to a Optima battery later on, and did the big 3 upgrade as well. This was well into the third year of the stock battery's life and at least 6 months of running the JL gear. The battery was still good, I just decided to switch to the Optima because the dimming started bothering me for some reason. Everything electrical was running fine, I just wanted to rid myself of the dimming.

I think Rabbit hit the nail on the head. There's no need spend money if you don't have to. Try using the 3 caps you have, since you already have them and they were free. You have enough farads to cover all of it, being as the general rule of thumb is 1 farad per 1kw. There's no just cause to go and buy a battery and buy a new alternator without trying out the gear you have. Why spend the money on the wires to do the big 3 (which isn't a bad investment by any means) about $40 for the wire. Or $100 at least for an Optima? Or spending $300 or so for a H.O alternator. I can't justify that because you haven't tried the gear running off of stock electrical. You'll likely get a little dimming from running the gear you have. Will it be enough to bother you? I can't say. The caps may effectively reduce or eliminate the dimming. They may do nothing. But I can't say that either, as they're not guranteed to effect it at all, or completely eliminate the problem. It's something you have to try and see.

Don't spend money you don't have to until you see if you deem it necessary.

 
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Lookin at the big 3 DIY... Does n-e-1 know what terminal that is on the battery??? That would seriously clear up a lot of the clutter in my engine...

 
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its both terminals.

by the way, I think it is VERY important for anyone here who might actually spend money on a cap to realize that not all caps are created equal.

the really big ones, figure about 5 farad up, are carbon caps. (or was it the other way around? I dont think it matters much). They are super high ESR capacitors, and as a result do nothing for voltage drops. Even the 50 farad models. Current capacity wont help if you cant access it fast enough! that was the problem with the batteries to begin with!

so I'd always avoid them. always. personally.

 
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No I'm talking about what looks like a distribution block on the positive terminal... Does anyone know what type of terminal or connection that is???

 
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I ran nearly 1K RMS for 3 years with a yellowtop before my alt. took a **** on me...

Yellowtop.... $120
1 farad cap....$50
Finding out a used alt. was only 35 bucks.....priceless

 
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are you sure it was the stereo that caused the breakdown?

honda blamed aftermarket parts for why my transmission popped out of second gear. They claimed that for years.

is it possible a misdiagnosis is resulting in a correlation between your stereo and the alternator breakage? especially considering how many people out there have your exact model civic and have ran much more than a killowatt with no negative effects?

those arent rhetorical questions, im curious about your actual input on my analogy and opinions regarding the large number of people I mentioned in the previous paragraph.

 
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Oh it's an absolute possibility that my stereo had nothing to do with it..

 
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I agree. But don't you think that the forum kiddies, rather than conclude that for themselves, will read what I've quoted below and conclude that a relatively medium sized stereo will cause an alternator failure?

 
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Sometimes I forget....