Capacitor
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Capacitor
Ok i dont know **** about capacitors help!!!! LOL
Well my friend gave me a Stinger 1/2 Farad capcitor.
The specs that are actually ON the capacitor say 1/2 farad 20vdc
95 Degrees C
I am getting a 15 inch sub with a RMS of 450 and max wattage of 900. I am powering it with a 1200 watt amp by Hart Professionals.
I was wondering if this would work. Since my truck batery is soo large my only problem is that the lights flash... Soooo with that Capacitor work? I know stinger makes good stuff.
Plz Help
P.S. BTW the part number on it is STIFF-500 if that means anything to any insano audiophiles out there.
Well my friend gave me a Stinger 1/2 Farad capcitor.
The specs that are actually ON the capacitor say 1/2 farad 20vdc
95 Degrees C
I am getting a 15 inch sub with a RMS of 450 and max wattage of 900. I am powering it with a 1200 watt amp by Hart Professionals.
I was wondering if this would work. Since my truck batery is soo large my only problem is that the lights flash... Soooo with that Capacitor work? I know stinger makes good stuff.
Plz Help
P.S. BTW the part number on it is STIFF-500 if that means anything to any insano audiophiles out there.
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Joined: Oct 2003
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From: San Diego
Your 1/2 farad cap is big enough to power 500 watts RMS. With a Ford trucks alternator there is really no need for it unless you think it looks cool. They do not do anything for the lights flickering but you would notice it more in when you turn up the volume to reallly loud volumes with less distortion only if the wires running back to the amp are not big enough.
I'd say your time and efforts would be better spent upgrading the wires from the alternator to battery +, Battery ground to engine ground, and the wire from your motor to the chassis. Throw 4 - 2 gauge on all those connections along with minimum 4 gauge from the battery to the amp will give you more bang for your buck than any cap.
They work best in car installs with long power wires and in small imports where the alternators are only throwing out 60-80 amps. I most cases these guy's are using additional battery's instead of the caps these days.
I'd say your time and efforts would be better spent upgrading the wires from the alternator to battery +, Battery ground to engine ground, and the wire from your motor to the chassis. Throw 4 - 2 gauge on all those connections along with minimum 4 gauge from the battery to the amp will give you more bang for your buck than any cap.
They work best in car installs with long power wires and in small imports where the alternators are only throwing out 60-80 amps. I most cases these guy's are using additional battery's instead of the caps these days.
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From: Atlanta, GA
I, as usual, go against the grain on this topic. To know exactly what the cap does in a DC circuit is key. All the cap does is resist a change in voltage. What this means is that if you had a large enough alternator, large enough power and grounds, and large enough cap. In other words a connectivity path with plenty of room for the electrons to flow unrestricted as they are demanded by the load. What the cap can and will do is help to maintain voltage at whatever level the charging system is operating at. In short, it will actually give you more power from an amp but on a very small scale and for very short bursts. Where I feel this helps is by adding slightly more headroom into your system. Is it worth the extra money? For most probably not. For someone that wants to squueze every possible drop of performance from their system regardless of cost it would be worth it.
I would just like to say that caps have gotten a very bad rap because of idiots in the industry attempting to use them as a fix for a deeper problem. They do have an impact to a system, be it an extremely small one and arguably an inaudible one. The main thing to consider with any purchase is the cost vs performance aspect.
That's my story and I'm stickin to it.
I would just like to say that caps have gotten a very bad rap because of idiots in the industry attempting to use them as a fix for a deeper problem. They do have an impact to a system, be it an extremely small one and arguably an inaudible one. The main thing to consider with any purchase is the cost vs performance aspect.
That's my story and I'm stickin to it.
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I'd say caps are pretty much useless. Theres MUCH better places to focus your time and attention on. Besides, if you have an amplifier in your system, you already have capacitors.
To put it simply (VERY simply), theres 2 devices in a power system. Ones that make power, and ones that use power. Caps use power. I'd rather upgrade my alternator or get an additional battery or rewire my grounds and powers with larger wiring.
My .02 cents anyways.
To put it simply (VERY simply), theres 2 devices in a power system. Ones that make power, and ones that use power. Caps use power. I'd rather upgrade my alternator or get an additional battery or rewire my grounds and powers with larger wiring.
My .02 cents anyways.
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first of all, cuzzins said the cap was GIVEN to him. so it cost him NOTHING! go ahead and use it. it will help.
current must travel from the battery/alternator to the amplifier. if the amp draws too much current, then the voltage sags. that's why these big caps are sometimes refered to as "stiffening" caps. they stiffen the voltage, reducing sag. you need voltage and current to make power. it will not make a HUGE difference, but they do improve the performance of your system. shockwave uses the analogy of a power system. think of a supercharger. it is put in place to make power. but it uses horsepower to run. does that make it useless? nope, it sure doesn't. it actually helps the engine. a capacitor uses power, but in doing so, it helps the voltage and current going to the amplifier, improving your system.
-ECM
current must travel from the battery/alternator to the amplifier. if the amp draws too much current, then the voltage sags. that's why these big caps are sometimes refered to as "stiffening" caps. they stiffen the voltage, reducing sag. you need voltage and current to make power. it will not make a HUGE difference, but they do improve the performance of your system. shockwave uses the analogy of a power system. think of a supercharger. it is put in place to make power. but it uses horsepower to run. does that make it useless? nope, it sure doesn't. it actually helps the engine. a capacitor uses power, but in doing so, it helps the voltage and current going to the amplifier, improving your system.
-ECM
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Joined: Oct 2003
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From: San Diego
first of all, cuzzins said the cap was GIVEN to him. so it cost him NOTHING! go ahead and use it. it will help.
I was wondering if this would work. Since my truck batery is soo large my only problem is that the lights flash... Soooo with that Capacitor work? I know stinger makes good stuff.
I've got a 2004 150 with Hifonics BX1500 D wired back to within 1 foot with 1/0. There is also a ZX 4400 tapping off the distro block but even being brand new and having propper wire running to the power supply and also having done the Magic 3. My trucks lights will flash as well but only under extreme volumes. I'd spend my time upgrading wiring before messing with that cap.
My very first experiance with caps was way back in the day. I ran an old alpine side by side **** cass. hu, 2 punch 150's and RF subs and comps. Were talking mid 80's here. All this was mounted in a 60's volkswagon bug. In that situation the difference was night and day cause when the subs dug in, it made a huge difference holding the amp stable but we are taking 60 amps coming off the alternator and at that time, very small wiring. It was not as common to get good wire as it is today.
These days with a nice class D, there is alot less need for them. IMO
Welcome abord ECM
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From: San Diego
One other thing I forgot to add in about this cap is if he doesn't have everything that came with it and has never installed one before, he could fry it as fast as he could install it. Make sure to charge it up!
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The problem with caps isnt as simple as "It reduces voltage sag". It very well may not. While the cap does hold a charge, you have to make sure your cap can respond to the current draw to be of some use. Usually music is dynamic enough that it really doesnt help. If you look here
http://www.welcometotheden.8k.com/caraudio/Captest.pdf
you'll see just how little benefit a cap gives you.
Now dont misunderstand me, I'm not saying dont use a cap. I personally plan on putting in a cap just for the looks of it. I think they look good. And if you found one at a good price (or free!) and want the look go for it. But I wouldnt buy a cap expecting any performance gains by doing so.
http://www.welcometotheden.8k.com/caraudio/Captest.pdf
you'll see just how little benefit a cap gives you.
Now dont misunderstand me, I'm not saying dont use a cap. I personally plan on putting in a cap just for the looks of it. I think they look good. And if you found one at a good price (or free!) and want the look go for it. But I wouldnt buy a cap expecting any performance gains by doing so.
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thankz for helping out. As a note to you all i have either 4 or 8 guage wire throughout my truck for the system. And the fuse that is running off my battery is huge. I dont totally know about the specs on it, all i remember is it was 90 something i think. It is in tube and it is huge.
Probably wont go through the hassle of putting the Cap on. I will just deal with the lights... and you are all right HAHA my lights only barely flicker like when the doors are open and i am blasting it. It am not affected at all when i am driving my truck around. Headlights not affected. I even think it only flashed when i am not running my truck LOL. BTW if anyone does have any more comments throw them out. Here is a link to the sub i am getting if anyone else whats to check it out.
http://www.koveaudio.com/xk_series_popup.html
also check out www.koveaudio.com
Probably wont go through the hassle of putting the Cap on. I will just deal with the lights... and you are all right HAHA my lights only barely flicker like when the doors are open and i am blasting it. It am not affected at all when i am driving my truck around. Headlights not affected. I even think it only flashed when i am not running my truck LOL. BTW if anyone does have any more comments throw them out. Here is a link to the sub i am getting if anyone else whats to check it out.
http://www.koveaudio.com/xk_series_popup.html
also check out www.koveaudio.com
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From: Atlanta, GA
I would just like to say once more for the record. A cap in a properly built system will add some benefit. There is no debating it. There have been numerous charts from testing posted to back the fact that caps in fact will help reduce voltage sage on peak demand. There have also been tests run that show that because the reduced voltage sag the amp does produce more wattage albeit a slight amount. The problem I see is that in all these cases of testing the people conducting the tests were doing so to prove they are not worth putting in a system. So be forewarned that all though the results show an increase they all have the negative twist that they are useless.
For those of us that strive for the absolute best a cap is a worthy investment but only after all other upgrades have been done. In short caps are for more than just looks. The problem is that for so long they were pushed to be a solution to power charging and as the answer to get huge increases when it simply is not the case. Don't be the sheep, be the shepard and form your own conclusions from the facts presented and of course your own ears. Psycho-acoustics? Is it really worth it if you think it sounds better? I think so since your ultimately the one that has to be happy with your system.
Oh, to address your original question. No it will not really help with dimming lights. At least not significantly.
For those of us that strive for the absolute best a cap is a worthy investment but only after all other upgrades have been done. In short caps are for more than just looks. The problem is that for so long they were pushed to be a solution to power charging and as the answer to get huge increases when it simply is not the case. Don't be the sheep, be the shepard and form your own conclusions from the facts presented and of course your own ears. Psycho-acoustics? Is it really worth it if you think it sounds better? I think so since your ultimately the one that has to be happy with your system.
Oh, to address your original question. No it will not really help with dimming lights. At least not significantly.
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From: IL
I agree with cgorris.
I think caps will make a difference if :
- you have an older car with a less-than-optimal charging system for the gear you have installed, or
- you have serious high-end gear (and lots of it) sucking all your current out.
The explanations of what caps do were plenty concise in the above posts, so I won't get into all that , except to summarize by saying that caps put a small 'barrier' between the amp and the charging system to (hopefully) prevent something like a huge low end hit from sagging the voltage available and sucking all the juice out of the system, resulting in dimming lights and such.
And since I'm a computer guy, what could be more appropriate than a computer analogy. Think of capacitors like the buffers used by CDR applications. instead of sucking system resources by reading directly from an I/O bus, the application buffers some data and reads from the buffer instead.
Speaking of dimming lights, I saw two posts above that mentioned that caps dont do anything for dimming lights on bass hits.. I always thought that was one of the positive side effects. (?) Maybe someone can explain why that wouldn't happen. I understood that the cap buffers the juice necessary to feed (for example) a large spike such as from a low end bass note. So, since the spike draws from the cap, everything before the cap remains unaffected. Is that wrong?
I decided against a cap for my system because my truck is new and the charging system is well equipped to handle what the 500/5 requires.
And just a little real-world-application note, my brother's system consists of a very beefy Earthquake 300 to power his W6's, and a 4 channel Kenwood amp to power the mids and highs, and adding a full farad cap made a huge difference in his car, which is a 96 Chevy Cavalier. I can say that the improvement was dramatic because the ground wire to the cap loosened and eventually came off, and we noticed a tremendous drop in SQ until he pulled the panel down to see what was going on.
</.02>
-skoal
I think caps will make a difference if :
- you have an older car with a less-than-optimal charging system for the gear you have installed, or
- you have serious high-end gear (and lots of it) sucking all your current out.
The explanations of what caps do were plenty concise in the above posts, so I won't get into all that , except to summarize by saying that caps put a small 'barrier' between the amp and the charging system to (hopefully) prevent something like a huge low end hit from sagging the voltage available and sucking all the juice out of the system, resulting in dimming lights and such.
And since I'm a computer guy, what could be more appropriate than a computer analogy. Think of capacitors like the buffers used by CDR applications. instead of sucking system resources by reading directly from an I/O bus, the application buffers some data and reads from the buffer instead.
Speaking of dimming lights, I saw two posts above that mentioned that caps dont do anything for dimming lights on bass hits.. I always thought that was one of the positive side effects. (?) Maybe someone can explain why that wouldn't happen. I understood that the cap buffers the juice necessary to feed (for example) a large spike such as from a low end bass note. So, since the spike draws from the cap, everything before the cap remains unaffected. Is that wrong?
I decided against a cap for my system because my truck is new and the charging system is well equipped to handle what the 500/5 requires.
And just a little real-world-application note, my brother's system consists of a very beefy Earthquake 300 to power his W6's, and a 4 channel Kenwood amp to power the mids and highs, and adding a full farad cap made a huge difference in his car, which is a 96 Chevy Cavalier. I can say that the improvement was dramatic because the ground wire to the cap loosened and eventually came off, and we noticed a tremendous drop in SQ until he pulled the panel down to see what was going on.
</.02>
-skoal
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Read the link. The cap does not stop voltage sag. Ok, technically it does, in the order of say .01 volts.
In the big scheme of things its up to the individual. I've seen the cap argument alot, some say it helps and others say its a bandaid and does nothing. Its like the amplifier sound quality argument, it'll always be around and it'll always have people on both sides. So ultimately, I leave it up tot he individual who has the system. If YOU want a cap, then by all means put one in!
In the big scheme of things its up to the individual. I've seen the cap argument alot, some say it helps and others say its a bandaid and does nothing. Its like the amplifier sound quality argument, it'll always be around and it'll always have people on both sides. So ultimately, I leave it up tot he individual who has the system. If YOU want a cap, then by all means put one in!
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...
Actually the hart professionals amp is not listen anywhere... the serial number is HT-1200 but it isnt even listed on the site...thats all their old old stuff.
This is the link to the sub i am gunna get
http://www.koveaudio.com/xk_series_popup.html
It is the XK15D. Any other questions...post away.
I am not totally sure how this is gunna hit but i am damn sure it is going to hit a lot harder than my 2x10s in seperate boxes LOL like .4 cu. FT. LOL. So i am damn sure that a 15...higher series sub in an approx 1.55 cu. ft box will sound a lot better. I will fill you in after next week. After i do everything.
New 6.5 inch component set in the front. LOL keeping my Hart Pro. 6x8's 2-ways in the back. I am getting a Pioneer DEH-8600MP (i dont care what you say its the same **** as the 9600 and better...video inputs). Maybe some tint in the front LOL. And of course to protect my precious investments...a viper alarm system.
Eventually i am getting some new rims...i am not sure what the manufaturer is but i believe it is American Alloys. Not too sure though.
Well yeah i am done HAHA tell me what you think...
This is the link to the sub i am gunna get
http://www.koveaudio.com/xk_series_popup.html
It is the XK15D. Any other questions...post away.
I am not totally sure how this is gunna hit but i am damn sure it is going to hit a lot harder than my 2x10s in seperate boxes LOL like .4 cu. FT. LOL. So i am damn sure that a 15...higher series sub in an approx 1.55 cu. ft box will sound a lot better. I will fill you in after next week. After i do everything.
New 6.5 inch component set in the front. LOL keeping my Hart Pro. 6x8's 2-ways in the back. I am getting a Pioneer DEH-8600MP (i dont care what you say its the same **** as the 9600 and better...video inputs). Maybe some tint in the front LOL. And of course to protect my precious investments...a viper alarm system.
Eventually i am getting some new rims...i am not sure what the manufaturer is but i believe it is American Alloys. Not too sure though.
Well yeah i am done HAHA tell me what you think...