When should I get a capacitor//high output alternator
#1
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When should I get a capacitor//high output alternator
well i got a sub in my trunk but im not worried that would drain too much batery, but now i have a dvd player in my car and i dunno if i shud get a capcitor//high output alternator. with these 2 things shud i even bother worrying about my battery life?? if not, what mods would force me to make that change?
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Rep Power: 0 cap if your sub and amp is powerful. alt. if you have immense power. example: i have 2 12"s powered by a 2000 watt rms amp, with a 6 farad capacitor. stock alt. i see little dimmage of the headlights if turned up all the way. in your current setup you are probably good, unless your throwing down about 1000 watts rms with your amp.
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Rep Power: 0 I wouldnt worry about it with ur set up. ... A sub and a DVD player is no reason 4 a cap or alt. Unless that sub/amp combo that u have is really really serious...
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Rep Power: 257 For every 1000 watts its good to have 1 farad cap. If you get too big of a cap you will need a bigger battery cause it will drain it. And then with a bigger battery your alternator will be short lived or atleast shorter.
Do your lights dimm when your subs hit, any lights interior or exterior?
If so its probably a bad idea to roll yuor windows up while bumping your subs, and you should probably get a cap.
Do your lights dimm when your subs hit, any lights interior or exterior?
If so its probably a bad idea to roll yuor windows up while bumping your subs, and you should probably get a cap.
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Rep Power: 304 The only reason to buy a cap is if headlight dimming bothers you, and even then the cap doesnt always help. A H/O alt you wouldent need to even begin considering unless you were over 2000 watts or so by a good margin.
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Rep Power: 0 I have 4100 watts and still dont need a HO ALT. Rockford 801s = 2400w and Rockford P4004 = 1700. I dunno if ur going on max power or RMS cuz that would lower it to like 1200w rms total. I gotta yellow top but that's just 4 starting in those cold as hell Wisconsin winters when its like 20 below. And I got 3 caps which is over kill and I could get by with 1 and 2 would b just fine but I got them at Best Buy when I used to work there for like $45 instead of $150 so It was a buy 3 for the price of 1 and I was like *** it, why not?
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Rep Power: 257 yeah rms, never max power. Dimming of the head lights is not the only reason, a cap allows the subs to hit harder, and does not strain your battery an alt as much, if its not too big.
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Rep Power: 0 alt will cost too much....u relly dont need it.....i would get bigger bettery and cap get it done under 200 doller....if u runnin more then 1000w rms.....i got 34xcd
runnin 1600 rms amp....and two 12" 750w rms each solo-baric L7
got all the parts not installd yet.....shop told me that wont be any problem....
runnin 1600 rms amp....and two 12" 750w rms each solo-baric L7
got all the parts not installd yet.....shop told me that wont be any problem....
Last edited by jay78; 08-24-2005 at 02:31 PM.
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Rep Power: 264 you can buy a one farad lightning audio aka rockford fosgate cap from pep-boys for $99.99 i am not sure if this is a great deal but i know i sold them for 150-200 in an audio shop.
Last edited by nick95673; 08-24-2005 at 02:34 PM.
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Originally Posted by nick95673
you can buy a one farad lightning audio aka rockford fosgate cap from auto zone for $99.99
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Originally Posted by jackburton
yeah rms, never max power. Dimming of the head lights is not the only reason, a cap allows the subs to hit harder, and does not strain your battery an alt as much, if its not too big.
Not true.
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Originally Posted by LayinLo
Not true.
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Originally Posted by jackburton
yeah rms, never max power. Dimming of the head lights is not the only reason, a cap allows the subs to hit harder, and does not strain your battery an alt as much, if its not too big.
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Rep Power: 257 If the cap supplies power when the battery cannot, then with out the cap, the subs are not gettin as much power, even if its only brief, it still will get more power to your subs, thus making them louder. Caps definitely take a little strain off the electrical system. An upgraded battery will prob do more than a cap, but they are both useful.
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Rep Power: 303 I'll be willing to bet you $100, on a mic that if you add a cap you will not see an increase in SPL. You're not very educated about capacitors are you? Search for capacitors, there's a therad here I posted a long time ago that'll teach you a thing or 12 about them. By the way, the bet above would be easy money, so I'm not going to rip you off like that. Caps are never guranteed to be useful, and that's teh problem. They have adverse effects as many times as they have positive effects. Fact of the matter is caps only help dimming. Nothing more, nothing less. They don't increase voltage and they don't keep voltage steady at 14.4 v and they don't increase SPL numbers. That's a myth.
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Originally Posted by jackburton
If the cap supplies power when the battery cannot, then with out the cap, the subs are not gettin as much power, even if its only brief, it still will get more power to your subs, thus making them louder. Caps definitely take a little strain off the electrical system. An upgraded battery will prob do more than a cap, but they are both useful.
Caps are an added strain, its one more thing that has to be charged. The time it takes a cap to discharge is counted in fractions of a second, so it is literally impossible for it to have an affect on the voltage/volume of the system. All they do is have a slight potential to reduce dimming.
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Rep Power: 0 theres so much ppl talking crazyness here.
a cap wont save your alt or battery or anything.
it doesnt serve any purpose at all except it reduces NOTICABLE dimming.
the first think you guys should do is the big 3 wiring upgrade.
second could be upgrade to a deep cycle battery.
third is a H/O alt.
cap is just a complete waste of money IMO.
a cap wont save your alt or battery or anything.
it doesnt serve any purpose at all except it reduces NOTICABLE dimming.
the first think you guys should do is the big 3 wiring upgrade.
second could be upgrade to a deep cycle battery.
third is a H/O alt.
cap is just a complete waste of money IMO.
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Rep Power: 0 u know what, unless you have a HARD CORE class D amp, for your SUB or subs, you don't need a new alternator or a cap. if you have a decent sub amplifier, than i'd suggest a cap, a cap does put out better bass,
like me, i have a JL 12w7 with the 1000/1. mines on the lowest setting, and it's still draining power like a bitch. even with a cap. a cap is just temporary power. a new optima battery will provide a longer steady power. but a alternator will just make it so you just need the alternator. unless you don't put 1000+ dollars in to ur sub//amp i'd highly doubt you need an alternator. a cap, i'd suggest.
like me, i have a JL 12w7 with the 1000/1. mines on the lowest setting, and it's still draining power like a bitch. even with a cap. a cap is just temporary power. a new optima battery will provide a longer steady power. but a alternator will just make it so you just need the alternator. unless you don't put 1000+ dollars in to ur sub//amp i'd highly doubt you need an alternator. a cap, i'd suggest.
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Originally Posted by ihjoon
u know what, unless you have a HARD CORE class D amp, for your SUB or subs, you don't need a new alternator or a cap. if you have a decent sub amplifier, than i'd suggest a cap, a cap does put out better bass,
like me, i have a JL 12w7 with the 1000/1. mines on the lowest setting, and it's still draining power like a bitch. even with a cap. a cap is just temporary power. a new optima battery will provide a longer steady power. but a alternator will just make it so you just need the alternator. unless you don't put 1000+ dollars in to ur sub//amp i'd highly doubt you need an alternator. a cap, i'd suggest.
like me, i have a JL 12w7 with the 1000/1. mines on the lowest setting, and it's still draining power like a bitch. even with a cap. a cap is just temporary power. a new optima battery will provide a longer steady power. but a alternator will just make it so you just need the alternator. unless you don't put 1000+ dollars in to ur sub//amp i'd highly doubt you need an alternator. a cap, i'd suggest.
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Rep Power: 257 Okay i have done some research and this is one of the most highly debated topics whne it comes to car audio if not the most.
"The only reason a capacitor prevents lights from dimming is by smoothing out the voltage rails. those rails will still be sagging though if the alternator can't keep up. this just emans you'll have non dimming lights getting about 10 to 11 volts instead of the 12 to 15 they should."
READ THESE:
http://pub14.ezboard.com/fcaraudiota...picID=10.topic
http://pub14.ezboard.com/fcaraudiota...picID=23.topic
There are still come discrepencies, but bottomline caps are useful for more than dimming lights.
"The only reason a capacitor prevents lights from dimming is by smoothing out the voltage rails. those rails will still be sagging though if the alternator can't keep up. this just emans you'll have non dimming lights getting about 10 to 11 volts instead of the 12 to 15 they should."
READ THESE:
http://pub14.ezboard.com/fcaraudiota...picID=10.topic
http://pub14.ezboard.com/fcaraudiota...picID=23.topic
There are still come discrepencies, but bottomline caps are useful for more than dimming lights.
#26
Re: When should I get a capacitor//high output alternator
get a cap IT DOES HELP even if u got some haters that act like they know everything( popcorn) there just saying what they believe from stuff they read prolly doesnt even have a car but will be quick to give u advice on yours. I have a 500 watt class d alpine amp and im running a 1 fared and a 1.4 fared cap with it and it DOES HIT HARDER my cap wont ever read under 13.3 so my amp doresnt get under 13.3 volts and it pushes more power then if it was struggling without the caps gettin low power when it really hits like 11 volts. just dont get a cheap cap dont get a cap that says 3 or 4 fared and is 40 online buy 1 or 2 real 1 fared capacitor and it will stop the lights from dimming and get u a higher constant power to ur amp which when the amps calling for it it will get and it hits a lil harder and a lil cleaner if someone tells me im lyin ill post a video on youtube with and without my caps so we can settle that
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Rep Power: 338 Re: When should I get a capacitor//high output alternator
dude... they were in here 6 years ago...
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