power cap not working? - Saxperience

shash_128 · 14th January 2009, 11:35

i'm running a power cap with my two 12's, recently my car battery went flat and now the power cap's display is off with just a red led light on. How do I charge the power cap to make it work again???

rkid147 · 14th January 2009, 13:53

have u tried disconnecting the power cap so that it loses all its power then reconnecting it mate?

chewy

bpm · 14th January 2009, 13:57

To do this, you need a resistor and a volt meter. (Most capacitors come with a resistor.) To charge the capacitor, replace the fuse in the power wire’s main fuse holder with the resistor while charging the cap. With the negative power wire connected to the battery and power flowing through the amplifier’s main power wire, carefully place the probes of the volt meter on the positive and negative terminals of the capacitor. After the volt meter reads 12 volts, the capacitor is charged and you can disconnect the negative wire from the battery and swap the resistor for the power fuse.

shash_128 · 14th January 2009, 17:33

i have tried disconnecting it but that never worked, where can I get a resistor from? I lost mine!

Ashleyp · 14th January 2009, 19:32

you relalise that a power cap does nothing but put strain on your cars electrical system right?

it doesnt help your sound system in anyway

rkid147 · 14th January 2009, 19:50

If you are willing to spend the money on a power cap to buy a decent one, then i beleive that they do work!

Chewy

reevesy_vtr · 14th January 2009, 20:39

Your power cap WILL still be working as they are like a battery. Just because the display is not working it doesn't meen its broken. It probably broke as when the battery went flat the cap would have gone flat to. When you jump started or put a new battery in the car you should have disconected the cap as you would have given it a big power surge and this may have blown the display. To test its still working just disconect the earth and put a multi meter on the + and the - and you should have a steady 12volts.

Regardless whether power caps work or dont work the guy has one fitted and he has asked if we may know whats wrong with it.

Ashleyp · 14th January 2009, 21:35

allthough i agree reevsey.. i still think it would be easier to remove the power cap completely, theres no need for them and they just put strain on your power supply

reevesy_vtr · 14th January 2009, 21:53

So Ash is putting another battery in putting a strain on the power supply then?

Ashleyp · 15th January 2009, 18:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by reevesy_vtr

So Ash is putting another battery in putting a strain on the power supply then?

huh? sorry i dont get it.. or what that has to do with my point tbh

reevesy_vtr · 15th January 2009, 18:31

What i am getting Ash is people are very quick to say a power doesn't work because there lights still dim when they have fitted one but they will not stop this. If you look at the physics behind a capacitor you will see that they can make a difference. Dont get me wrong, it is best if you are looking for more power it is best to add another battery BUT (this is what i was saying) with another battery that has to be charged aswell so this is going to put a bigger strain on the battery than a power cap will. So if you are looking at just getting steady flow of voltage to to amps then a power cap will help.

From another site
"A conventional battery, as we all know has a positive and negative terminal. The chemical reaction within creates a flow of electrons, causing an electronic device (in this case an amplifier) to work. The stiffening capacitor (power cap) is similar to a battery in that it stores a charge. The fundamental difference is it cannot create electrons. It can only store and supply (discharge) them upon demand. The advantage with a capacitor is that it discharges in one twenty thousandth of a second, unlike a battery that does in one second. The battery therefore cannot discharge fast enough to effectively supply the amplifier and this is the reason for "power sags."

Ashleyp · 15th January 2009, 19:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by reevesy_vtr

What i am getting Ash is people are very quick to say a power doesn't work because there lights still dim when they have fitted one but they will not stop this. If you look at the physics behind a capacitor you will see that they can make a difference. Dont get me wrong, it is best if you are looking for more power it is best to add another battery BUT (this is what i was saying) with another battery that has to be charged aswell so this is going to put a bigger strain on the battery than a power cap will. So if you are looking at just getting steady flow of voltage to to amps then a power cap will help.

From another site
"A conventional battery, as we all know has a positive and negative terminal. The chemical reaction within creates a flow of electrons, causing an electronic device (in this case an amplifier) to work. The stiffening capacitor (power cap) is similar to a battery in that it stores a charge. The fundamental difference is it cannot create electrons. It can only store and supply (discharge) them upon demand. The advantage with a capacitor is that it discharges in one twenty thousandth of a second, unlike a battery that does in one second. The battery therefore cannot discharge fast enough to effectively supply the amplifier and this is the reason for "power sags."

ahh.. i see what you mean now.. yeah i agree the theory behind it is as you say.. however in most "average" set ups. there isnt the need for a power cap as your system wont put enough strain on the electrics to warrent extra power. hence how a power car is therefore bad for the electrics because it IS putting strain on your electrics to supply a sound system which is not in need of extra power.. if that makes sence?

reevesy_vtr · 15th January 2009, 19:53

Errrrrr. kind of but if you do have one and there isn't that much of a strain on the power system of the car then it will give extra power when needed...... When i did the big install in the mutant Fiesta we put a yellow top in the car and the alternator got really hot as it was working really hard so we had to uprate the alternator and then there was a quite noticable difference in sound and the voltage recived at the amps. So i think yes the big 3 helps a little and so does a cap (imo) and even another batter but if you really need more power then a bigger alternator is what is needed.

Ashleyp · 15th January 2009, 20:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by reevesy_vtr

Errrrrr. kind of but if you do have one and there isn't that much of a strain on the power system of the car then it will give extra power when needed...... When i did the big install in the mutant Fiesta we put a yellow top in the car and the alternator got really hot as it was working really hard so we had to uprate the alternator and then there was a quite noticable difference in sound and the voltage recived at the amps. So i think yes the big 3 helps a little and so does a cap (imo) and even another batter but if you really need more power then a bigger alternator is what is needed.

will deffo agree with that

shash_128 · 16th January 2009, 11:19

With my power cap the car's lights don't dimm and theres always a strong powerful bass

SimonsSaxo · 19th January 2009, 18:24

power caps are only any good for systems with a big ice install that surge alot of power.

McBain · 19th January 2009, 18:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by SimonsSaxo

power caps are only any good for systems with a big ice install that surge alot of power.

Actually caps are of more use in lower power SQ installs where they can provide a little extra energy when needed.
In big power installs cap aren't as much use as thet simply cans supply the amount or short term energy required, it big power installs you really need a better alternator and battery system, you've got to remember the only source of electrical power in your car is the altrernator, the battery only stores energy and is a load on your alternator.