Heres why you do not use capacitors!!!

[02Zetechse]

thats not the point of the post... the point is, so many people recommend them to others,without the knowledge that the common cap will not be of any benefit. In order for it to be useful, you would need one such as http://www.maxwell.com/products/ultr...e-start-module

[freemind]

I am trying to make that point as well.

[02Zetechse]

Id like to point out ... a 1 farad cap is approximately 20 amps , quality amplifiers have caps internally, the idea that a external cap charges when a internal cap disharges is wrong, they all discharge and charge at the same time , not opposite of eachother. therefor you need to recharge another cap which is more electrical strain

[alaskanzx5]

i have a 10 farad rockford cap. not only can i hear a difference if i take it out i lose number on a spl meter and everyone that listened to the with and with out cap could hear a big difference in the quality of the sound.

i tested my voltage drop with out my cap and i was losing around 1v more at full tilt then with the cap installed.

they should have chosen a better brand for their testing and am i the only one that noticed that they where using more then 1 type of meter to watch the voltage?
maybe between the need of a better brand cap and a matching pair of meters to watch voltage with they could do better testing with more solid results and thats all im saying for this entire thread.

i use a cap and it help my voltage and sq, hate me if you want...

[freemind]

Caps are a band-aid for a bigger problem.

[02Zetechse]

no one is hating anyone, alaskan,if you could try to get a amperage draw before and after your capacitor... Im curious to see if the max draw changed before and after . Freemind, you are right its nothing but a band aid, many people swear that a cap also causes more wear and tear on the alternator

[02Zetechse]

You're much better off having a good battery, and heavy duty alternator. If you're lights are diming, it's usually a sign of either the battery is geting to the end of its life, or the alternator isn't doing a good enough job. If the battery is good, and the alternator is bigger than stock, a secondary battery would be a better option.

quoted from another site


If your lights dim, what makes adding another load device a good idea?

[freemind]

Solid earths(grounds)are paramount.

[freemind]

This was taken from Zed Audio's manual.


"Stiffening capacitors -
These are of NO use with our amplifiers due to the fact that the amplifiers have fully regulated power supplies. The power supplies will compensate for small volt drops which exist on the +12v power cable. The amount of current drawn by a particular amplifier would drain a fully charged 1 Farad capacitor almost instantly. Consider the theory. Energy (Joules) = Power(Watts) x Time(Seconds). The energy in a 1 Farad capacitor = 0.5CV.V= 0.5x1x12x12= 72 Joules. Let us assume a medium size amplifier such as Draconia. Let us assume that we are playing it such that all four channels (into 4 ohms each) are just clipping on the loudest musical peaks. This means that we are delivering 300 watts on peaks. The amplifier's average efficiency is about 45. The peak to average power ratio is about 20 so average power is 20 of 300 = 60 watts. The input power is therefore 133 watts. If the 1 Farad capacitor was charged to 12 volt and we remove the main source of power - the battery, the amp would remain playing for 0.54 seconds! (Put the numbers in the formula (E=PxT above and solve for time T). Now compare this to the battery. The amplifier will play for some hours (depends on actual battery of course) as compared to 0.54 seconds! So what good is a 1 Farad capacitor? Assign the above example to a Megalith playing into a 1 ohm load. Going through the mathematics the 1 Farad capacitor would keep the amplifier playing for 0.14 seconds. So if the voltage at the amplifier's power terminal dropped by say 1 volt the amplifier's power supply will correct for this on a continuous basis. The stiffening capacitor however has nowhere close to the energy reserve to compensate for a 1 volt drop. The main internal power supply capacitors hold 100 Joules of energy and these are more effective than any stiffening capacitor since they do not have to contend with the in-efficiencies of the amplifier's power supply."

[02Zetechse]

^ thank you that is an excellent explanation ... I Know a cap is of no use to me in my current setup as it makes 3500+ watts @ 1 ohm , drawing over 400 amps of current .