will adding a farad cap reduce strain on my battery and alternator???? thanks

When the bass hits the amp(s) will pull juice from the cap. Stiffining Capacitors have almost instant discharge and charge. Since it is almost instant charge a cap really wont add or remove strain from your alternator. But it will lessen the strain on the battery, unless the amp(s) is pulling so much juice that the cap can not recharge, then the extra juice will come from the battery. It will not hurt anything to install a cap.

Originally posted by Rollin Single
When the bass hits the amp(s) will pull juice from the cap. Stiffining Capacitors have almost instant discharge and charge. Since it is almost instant charge a cap really wont add or remove strain from your alternator. But it will lessen the strain on the battery, unless the amp(s) is pulling so much juice that the cap can not recharge, then the extra juice will come from the battery. It will not hurt anything to install a cap.


Couldn`t have said it better myself

To add fuel to the fire, if you are running your system with BASS, BASS and MORE BASS in mind, a capacitor isnt going to help you.

If you are running a system with Sound Quality in mind and run decent bass but not a whole lot of it, a cap can help out during the short bass transients.

Might i suggest a 6 pack configuration of farad caps? hehe. Really though, there are several companies that sell gold plated adapters to setup 3 packs of farad caps.

Originally posted by 98ranger4x4
Might i suggest a 6 pack configuration of farad caps?

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!! Hell yea that would kick some a$$!!!

thanks guys!!! im just fed up with my lights dimming all the time and i got a really good deal on a 1 farad cap on ebay only 50 bucks brand new, lightning audio too:afro:

Adding that cap will probably not stop your lights from dimming. It will only supply your amp with instantanious power for a split second for massive bass hits that draw more power than your battery can supply for that split second. Usually lights dimming will not be helped by this.

Some factors that can help with dimming lights are...

1) make sure your power wire is of a gauge that can handle the current draw properly. Running 500 watts on an 18 gauge power wire will cause problems. What kind of amp to you have, and what fuse does it call for (in amps) and I'll suggest a power gauge for you.

2) improper ground. Make sure your ground wire is of the same gauge as the power wire, and is grounded to the body well. put a ring terminal on it, clean the paint off the body somewhere under the carpet near the amp, and run a bolt thru. running a self tapping screw for your ground, or god forbid using a seat bolt ALWAYS causes problems.

3) you may need a bigger alternator. although this is usually only needed on multi large amp installations.

4) you may need a second battery with a battery isolator. again these are only needed on multui large amp installation.

Let me know your setup and i'll suggest what to do.

Brent

ok heres what im runnin at the current time. I have lightning audio 8 guage power wires both power and ground. MTX 275X amp (around 300 watts max power) pushing 1 10" MTX 6000 series sub in a thunderform box. I just had an alternater replaced but im getting it checked again cause i think its acting up. If thats the case ill buy either the alternator for the 4.0 or get a 200 amp one. My ground is on a self tapping screw:( so ill try to look for another source, it has a the ring on it so its secure and i have took a piece of steel wool to the area around the ground to remove paint. I have some 4 guage wire around the house someplace if you think that i should upgrade. Im looking into either getting another 10" or installing a amp for my door speakers so i need to know what i should do to get things ready. thanks

8 gauge is fine for that amp. And I hate to disagree with 98 4x4,but the cap will help in your situation DCales. The lights are dimming when the bass hits,correct ? If this is the case,thats exactly when the cap releases it power and therefore it will help. It may not totally solve your problem,but neither will upgrading your power wire(matter-of-fact,upgrading the wire will make it harder on your amp to pull the neccessary amperage through the bigger gauge wire) The only real solution to this problem is to upgrade your alternator to a higher output unit that provides more ampere.

i think that im gonna have my alternator tested pn monday. i have the 1 year warrenty thing on it and i think that i can get a refund if i want so if its possible the stock altanator can start sitting in a box like much of the other stock parts.

Do your headlights dim or is it just your dome light?? I was running a single 10" sub for a while with a MTX thunder250D, which was pushing conservatively 400+ watts of power. I didn't have a cap and my headlights were fine. The dome dimmed a little but that was it. A cap helps with the quality of bass as well, because when the music calls for it the power is there. I don't know how noticeable it is. I am in the construction stages with my stereo, right now have 4-10" mtx 6000 series subs running off of one mtx 6500D that pushes somewhere around 1100-1200+ watts of power. I don't have a cap and I have a stock alternator. It runs it and sounds pretty good, but at night I see my headlights dim when I have the music up. I am going to get a cap and see if it fixes the problem, but I don't know if it will.

for the most part its just the done lights and the interior lights that start dimming. The headlights arent noticable to much but they still irritate me. Ill soon be getting underbody neons as well as a stero upgrade so id guess that if the alternator has to get replaced the time is now before i start going crazy with other stuff. My truck is also getting repainted in about 8 days so i have to watch what i spend for awhile since paint isnt cheap !!!!!!!! See what im concerned about is i actually burnt my first amp out in about 6 or 7 months. It was an orion that was a floor test/show model so i think that might have had alot to do with it but i dont wanna fry another amp since i couldnt afford another replacemet. thanks guys

I Am sucking so much power. i need a cap so bad..!!! There going for like $120 on ebay for a 1 farad cap by audio bahn digital!!!!!read out!!

i got a lightning Audio cap 1.0 farad for $56. no digital reading but its going under my seat so theres no point in it. look around and you can sometimes steal them using the buy it now option. good luck!!!