Power Capacitor?

[r3d_fac3d]

What exactly do power caps do?

From what I've herd they give power to the amp for when the subs draw out power for punchy notes.

Well i keep hearing that caps do not work? why???

What must you have before using a power cap?

And what kind of sound system am i looking at for one to "work", be needed or give any sort of extra performance?

Ive always wanted to get one but always layed off cos i believed that you should really upgrade your battery and grounds before using it. Well i have know upgraded my battery and in process of upgrading my battery's ground etc... and thinking about buy a cap for my dual 300RMS SVC sub's on a 4.1 channel 3200watt amp (4 x 300RMS), is a cap of any sort going to benefit me at all?

rep given! :fcuk:

[Coonper]

Al lot of people think you can use a power cap to stop lights dimming and to stop power surges hitting the battery. Which in certain circumstances they can do.

However, a power cap will not stop the lights going dim/bright, but it will keep them dim all time and pull a large current off the battery constantly.

Hard to explain...

Someone else might be able to put you straight!

[r3d_fac3d]

hmm ok :geek:

the cap has kinda has a RMS? what does the FARAD mean? is that the RMS? lol i should know this as i used to makes mini caps when i was doing a electronics apprenticeship lol.

[jamie_k]

rms is root mean square which is 0.707 x peak power. Farad is how much charge the capacitor can store.

You did an electronics apprenticeship and dont know these basics??

[r3d_fac3d]

lol yes but only for 6 months, and the day release at college was more of a engineering course.

[jamie_k]

a capacitor charges when the alternator/battery is producing excess power than what is being drawn from all the other electtrical components on the car. However when the power drawn by the components exceeds that of the alternator, power can then be taken from the (hopefully fully charged) capacitor which means the battery isnt run down

[r3d_fac3d]

oh ok :) i get it now... so what does the difference in Farad mean? e.g... 1 farad, 1.5 farad, 2 farad etc... that means it just holds more power then?

[jamie_k]

its simple 2 farads holds twice as much charge as 1 farad

[r3d_fac3d]

ok so is it worth buying one?

[jamie_k]

only if your system is too powerful for the car's charging system to cope

[r3d_fac3d]

ok thanks :p

[Predator_R32]

not worth it, tbh there useless and a second battery works much better

[reevesy_vtr]

"A capacitor is an electrical/electronic device that can store energy in the electric field between a pair of conductors (called "plates"). The process of storing energy in the capacitor is known as "charging", and involves electric charges of equal magnitude, but opposite polarity, building up on each plate"
So basicly a capacitor is like a small battery so there is no way that it is draining your battery. and in 6 years of being an auto electrician, fitting car audio and security i have used power caps and they have worked and solved problems. just because a few people who have proably never see let alone used one say they are shit does not meen they are. At the end of the day it is general physics.
:oops: Yes i have cut and pasted this:oops: