Whats a decent/cheap capacitor to get? I am currently using a Rockford Fosgate P2002. 600w peak power 200w rms. How many Farad and all that stuff. I'm kinda new to audio related things.
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Capacitor
- Thread starter Fastway135
- Start date
Upgrading the alternator only works to a point, folks. Admittedly, I have done this as well, even so, I've had very good luck with a 1 farad cap. I think I'm running a fair bit more power than you, though. 
Leftovers from my foolish youth...
Leftovers from my foolish youth...
My friends got 2000watts to his speakers and 4500 to his sub. Also has other little electrical toys... No cap.
He beat the shit out of alternators til he finally gave in a bought a yellow top and alternator meant for that power and hasn't had problems since.
He beat the shit out of alternators til he finally gave in a bought a yellow top and alternator meant for that power and hasn't had problems since.
Are we talking real power, or advertised power? And what resistance is he running his amps at?
Or better yet, how high is the amperage draw from the entire system on high?
Or better yet, how high is the amperage draw from the entire system on high?
Turbo. Targa. Life.
SupraMania Shirt Slinger!
Dave, hate to argue with you, but they're right. Caps are a waste of money. Upgrade your alternator, get a larger battery or even a seperate battery for your system, hell even run 2 alternators and you'll have plenty of amperage.
Topher E said:
If the alternator could hande the extra load the lights would not be dimming. Good quality amplifiers have plenty of capacitance built in. Another vote for upgrading the alternator and battery and forget the cap.
Turbo. Targa. Life.
SupraMania Shirt Slinger!
Correction made. lol
If you've got enough amperage supplied to begin with, you shouldn't be anywhere NEAR the peak output. You should have enough room to compensate for a hard punch of bass.
If you've got enough amperage supplied to begin with, you shouldn't be anywhere NEAR the peak output. You should have enough room to compensate for a hard punch of bass.
Turbo. Targa. Life.
SupraMania Shirt Slinger!
Aaron why the fuck didn't you order a goddamn hoodie? I don't care if you're in Egypt and it's 130*--you need a fucking hoodie!!!
Turbo. Targa. Life. said:
Ok fine then, hook it up XXL biatch! :biglaugh:
Turbo. Targa. Life. said:
Depends how fast your alternator regulator circuit is. Some are faster than others.
Bass hits ----> you go from 20 Amp draw to 40 Amp draw for a split second. Alternator either adjusts right away.....or it waits a split second and then adjusts.....but by then the lights have dimmed and the amplifiers are not drawing the current since we're between bass hits so the regulator overshoots its mark a bit. Repeat that cycle, for that lovely disco light show
It's a hit and miss since even "identical" alternators will have different lag in voltage regulation. The way to gauge it, is to see what the overall average voltage is with the system cranking. If the alternator is too small, your average voltage will droop when playing bass heavy stuff. If it's big enough but just has a lazy regulator, your average voltage will be fine, but your lights will still dim to the beat. A capacitor may help in that case, depending how drastic the situation is.
Most electronic volt meters will give you a good average display. To see instantaneous voltages you can use a cheapo non-dampened analog meter or a portable oscilloscope with time logging (nice toys).
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Shawndude said:
That's where the battery upgrade comes in. A good battery like an Optima has more capacitance then a standard battery and will charge quicker and handle higher output amperage spikes without dropping voltage.
Like others have said, I'd always suggest to get a alternator and a optima battery before the cap....
But even a modest stereo, say 500W RMS can cause the lights to dim when the bass hits, I guess it depends on the health of your alternator/battery.
A while ago I ran one 4-ch phoenix gold amp (about 500W RMS) to run components up front and 2 subs in the back, and it was pushed the entire 500W, lights dimmed like crazy, added the 1F cap and all was good... until the alternator died.
Now 5 yrs later different setup... I've installed a redtop (relocated to the back) and a mr2 100amp alternator from autozone (lifetime warranty), I have a 600WRMS amp running at about 400WRMS to 4 speakers (no subs yet, no cap yet either) and no dimming at all for me. Later on I'll probably throw in a sub with another 600W amplifier and a capacitor, but even 1F would be sufficient. 2F is for much larger stereos, anything more is overkill I would say.
The capacitor is always a good idea though to prolong the life of your alternator and battery.
But even a modest stereo, say 500W RMS can cause the lights to dim when the bass hits, I guess it depends on the health of your alternator/battery.
A while ago I ran one 4-ch phoenix gold amp (about 500W RMS) to run components up front and 2 subs in the back, and it was pushed the entire 500W, lights dimmed like crazy, added the 1F cap and all was good... until the alternator died.
Now 5 yrs later different setup... I've installed a redtop (relocated to the back) and a mr2 100amp alternator from autozone (lifetime warranty), I have a 600WRMS amp running at about 400WRMS to 4 speakers (no subs yet, no cap yet either) and no dimming at all for me. Later on I'll probably throw in a sub with another 600W amplifier and a capacitor, but even 1F would be sufficient. 2F is for much larger stereos, anything more is overkill I would say.
The capacitor is always a good idea though to prolong the life of your alternator and battery.
BTW: When I added my cap a long time ago, it resulted in much cleaner sound too... so for sound quality, it doesn't hurt at all and you could actually benefit a lot.
Turbo. Targa. Life.
SupraMania Shirt Slinger!
*sighs* anyone who thinks cap's provide anything beneficial needs to visit here:
http://www.caraudiocentral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1888&highlight=capacitor
Glasswolf/KikiTheCat is probably THE most knowledgable car audio tech I've ever run into.
http://www.caraudiocentral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1888&highlight=capacitor
Glasswolf/KikiTheCat is probably THE most knowledgable car audio tech I've ever run into.
bigaaron said:
With the engine running, you would need to drop down to battery voltage, for the battery to do any good at all. Battery is nothing but an extra load on the alternator with the engine running. Guess what happens once your alternator is overworked enough to drop down to battery voltage?
Basic electronics is lost on people willing to spend thousands of dollars on noise makers.
But this is exactly what I didn't want to see in a MKIII sound section. Same old questions asked thousands of times on tons of other car sound forums answered wrong most of the time anyway. Topics which are in no way special or related to the MKIII.
Shuffles off....