Capacitor?

[kranman]

alright in my car i will be running the new Alpine MRD-M1005, which will be powering two of my JBL 15's. I know this amp is gonna be taking away too much power, and im kinda low on cash. So i will need a cap. Wut would be the nicest one i could get for around 50-80 dollars? I would like to go through etronics.com because they have stuff there really cheap. ANY SUGGESTIONS GUYS? Thanks guys!

-Ryan

[benjaminallen84]

oh boy

if you already didn't know, the cougar electrical system blows ass. running that kind of power, even with a cap, is gonna put hella drain on it. my suggestion is do the big three, get a high output alt, and a second battery in your trunk, along with getting a cap. not a good thing for someone who is low on cash. failing that... i have this (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=50547&item=5761476006&rd=1) one and it works very well. but again, you're gonna decrease the life of your alt until you do what i mentioned above. good luck.

[crazyoldcougar]

the high output alt and second battery is just a wee bit of over kill for any single amp...which is at most drawing 80 amps...

**best bet is YES do the big three wires in the engine bay..and then just buy a yellow top blue top or red top any of the deep cycle batteries, and you will be fine.**

cap would be a waist of money....

[brade07]

With a one farad capacitor you should be fine.
I would reccomned a yellow top battery, but since you have a limited budget I'd say dont worry about it for now.

With changing the wires under the hood to 4 gauge itll work fine.
Im running a rockford 500bd pushing 2 12's, and an alpine 400 watt amp pushing my speakers. Ive had no trouble yet.

I'd probably reccomend the 1.2 farad power acoustik one. If you dont wanna go over 80 bucks.

[slomoe]

If you still want a cap i can sell you my lightning audio 1.0 farad digital cap.
It worked well in my 1500 watt system, but you will still get some light dimming unless you do the other upgrades as well.

[blurredvisionz]

right now I'm running 0 guage wire to a 3 farad cap drawing about 700rms out of one amp then I'm running all the guages and neons and don't have a problem with my electrical system. I have a optima red top for battery. my LED read out on the cap when it is hitting is about 13. and up to 14.1 that is pretty good. the cap is also good for running a power in verter off of it. I am running a 750 watt power inverter. I picked up the cap for about 89.00 on Ebay so power is capable for low price.

[crazyoldcougar]

a cap is gonna do more damage to your current situation then it will any good..consider it a bandaid, that leaks badly..it may slow the dimming mildly but will very adversely affect your alt and battery, you alt is now gonna have to work twice as hard to keep your battery and cap charged...just upgrade your wires and see how your system works after that...

[wanderingmind]

Originally posted by: crazyoldcougar
a cap is gonna do more damage to your current situation then it will any good..consider it a bandaid, that leaks badly..it may slow the dimming mildly but will very adversely affect your alt and battery, you alt is now gonna have to work twice as hard to keep your battery and cap charged...just upgrade your wires and see how your system works after that...

A cap more damage than a system without a cap? I haven't heard that before.

[benjaminallen84]

a cap doesnt do that

think of it this way...whenever you turn up your stereo, and the bass hits, the amp needs extra power for that hit. it draws it from the battery, hence the lights dimming on bass notes. if you have a cap, the amp draws that extra power from the cap instead. a cap doesnt make anything work harder. it keeps the current draw between it and the battery constant, and when you need that extra power, its stored in the capacitor. having that constant power also ensures that your amp(s) are getting the exact rms they need, and can make your system louder. caps are your friend.

[LostRacer]

hmmm..this should get interesting...:biggrin: I've seen the cap argument before..this should be fun.

[Jameseypoo]

Caps are junk. More strain on the battery and alternator.

[slomoe]

The theory as to why caps are bad is this:

The cap is constantly using its charge so the alt needs to work harder to keep it charged which puts a bigger strain on the alt. I think its BS though. I ran a cap on my 00 for two years and never hurt anything. The car even still had the original battery. It helped the dimming so.... i dont see whats wrong with them.

[benjaminallen84]

i ran a harder system that what i have now in a 99 blazer

killed the alt in one months

got a factory spec alt + 3 farad cap...never had a problem for a year and a half...plus no light dimming etc

they're worth it to me

[seven]

Im runnin' 1200w's(120amp fuses because i kept blowing every 80amp fuse i put in) on 1 battery..stock alternator..and no cap.. I do get dimming lights but I've always heard they were crap.. But one day when i get an extra 50 or so I'll go try one out..

[LostRacer]

are those fuses the inline or on the amp itself?? if theyre on the amp itself you may want to get checked out. If its the inline add up the amperage of all of your components using that fuse and match the amperage..if its still blowing there is something wrong somewhere..Adding a bigger fuse can result in damaged equipment or even fire.
.

[blurredvisionz]

check out this company called BATCAP they are really good. charge 100 times faster then any cap so your alt doesn't even know it is there

[Jameseypoo]

Batcap is a good investment :)

[slomoe]

alumapros are nice too but $$

[rbls4ever]

i had a 220 watt amp and it would dim the hell out of my lights. so i got a cap and it helped so much no dimming and louder cleaner music. the i upgraded to a 760 watt amp and i disconnected the cap and it doesnt dim my lights at all. the reason is that the other amp had a unregulated power supply and would eat any amps i had. so in that case get a cap. it needs it litterally to "stiffen" the current so you dont kill the alt. a regulated power supply like my new one will regulate its power and make full power even when the vehicle amps drop. so a cap isnt neccesary but would still help high load situations. im still upgrading my wiring anyhow to 2 guage rockford fosgate wire from the alt to the batt. that should fix my craptacular wiring