Power cap mounting...?

[Luker1990]

Hey people...

I have recently installed a system into my car.... but i did not put a power cap in, however i finally decided that i should because the flickering lights were annoying me! I just wanted no if it is safe to mount the power cap under the bonnet or does it have to be in the boot...?

Cheers for your help
luke

 

[.J.a.m.e.s.]

putting a power cap under the bonnet is like falling asleep with a fag still alight

 

[Dink]

mount it on the matle piece above the fire

should be just as much use

 

[alexbleubolt]

suppose you could put it in the engine bay, if you wont' want it on show, the important thing is to have a short ground lead

 

[hazzel_frazzel]

power caps are generally regarded as a waste of money mate. If your headlights dim, you need a new battery, or if that does not work, a new or bigger alternator

 

[matt|H]

If your lights are flickering you need a better battery.

 

[blackjack381]

Upgrading your batteries wont stop your lights dimming, the only way to stop that is to upgrade 'The Big Three' that means you uprate with larger cables the 3 main power connections in your engine bay.

The Alt to Battery Connection
The Battery to Chassis Connection
and the Engine to Chassis Connection

That will stop your lights dimming

i pull over 3000wrms in my 1.9d clio with a standard battery and alternator

 

[Chris Mac]

have a go with it and see, some say there useless, others say they work.

personally, they have worked for me. they made a big difference in my corsa, stopped the lights dimming alot and i think helped with the overall sound quality.

i was getting 145db

 

[182-racing-blue]

have a go with it and see, some say there useless, others say they work.

personally, they have worked for me. they made a big difference in my corsa, stopped the lights dimming alot and i think helped with the overall sound quality.

i was getting 145db

Go with the powercap and mount it in the boot!!!

A cap has to be charged just before you supply power to it.

It's best to install it as close to the amp as possible. You may need to get additional power and ground wire the same size you have now. Otherwise, cut the ground and power wire leaving enough room to mount it. The overall length of the ground wire should as short as possible (18" or less if possible, not critical).

Remove the fuse at the battery. If you don't have one, you need one that is rated the same as the total fuses that are on the amp. It must be no more than 18" from the battery.

Connect the ground from the chassis to the cap (-) then to the amp (-).

Connect the the power wire (from fuse by the battery) to the cap (+) then to the amp (+).

To charge the cap, get a 12v light bulb with leads. Temporarily connect the power wire from the battery to one side of the bulb (at the fuse) and connect the other side of the bulb to the wire going to the cap. The bulb will light and over a period of time (10-20 seconds) it will get dimmer. When the bulb goes out, the cap is charged. Basically, your going to put the light bulb where the fuse was.

Now you can re-install the fuse.

Hope this helps.

I was getting 147.7db from a single L7 solarbaric.:rasp:

 

[blackjack381]

u were getting 145 db's in a corsa? and what mic was that tested on? what setup u got?


caps are crap and a waste of space, not to mention a fire hazard... that is pure fact not fiction.... if they worked dont u think we woul be using them in competition?

 

[182-racing-blue]

u were getting 145 db's in a corsa? and what mic was that tested on? what setup u got?


caps are crap and a waste of space, not to mention a fire hazard... that is pure fact not fiction.... if they worked dont u think we woul be using them in competition?

LMAO. I did use them in competition and I won. They are only a fire hazard if they are installed incorrectly or you have a leakey boot.

Whats being in a Corsa got to do with it??? I got a friend hitting that in an L reg mini.

 

[mattjk]

Alright Jon (blackjack)

I can vouch for what he is saying he certainly knows what hes talking about when it comes to car audio.

Anyone that knows the basics behind electronics/ice knows that power caps are a waste of time. They are simply a cosmetic thing

 

[Vish]

Upgrading your batteries wont stop your lights dimming, the only way to stop that is to upgrade 'The Big Three' that means you uprate with larger cables the 3 main power connections in your engine bay.

The Alt to Battery Connection
The Battery to Chassis Connection
and the Engine to Chassis Connection

That will stop your lights dimming

i pull over 3000wrms in my 1.9d clio with a standard battery and alternator

Are the lights flickering the same as the sub cutting out on loud bass notes? If so, I fixed with with a larger capacity battery. Went from 40A to 60A battery, wasn't that expensive either (think it was in need or a replacement too) and in over 2yrs it's never cut out since.

I would test those connections though. Mine was battery to chassis was a bit loose and the car wouldn't start at times. RAC man found it and fixed it though

 

[182-racing-blue]

A capacitor is only good so far as the audio system isn't trying to pull too much from the electrical system. A cap doesn't provide more power, it's designed to 'stiffen' the voltage to the amp, nothing esle. If the current isn't there, a cap won't help. The alternator must have at least 20% more amperage power than the entire vehicle and sound system combined for a cap to be of benefit which is ironically the same requirements for an amp to be efficient. [FONT=Tahoma,Helvetica,Sans-Serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma,Helvetica,Sans-Serif]It's recommended for every 500 watts MAX you use a 0.5 Farad cap
Example: 1000 watts MAX - 1 Farad cap[/FONT]

 

[blackjack381]

ok ill do the maths for my 38000wrms and use caps then? me thinks not... caps draw too much current for what they give back.. they have also been proven to have killed a huge number of amps...... just do the big 3 and then review the situation

onevish - yes it can be the same thing,,, bad earths are the general cause of 70% of any audio issues

 

[Vish]

^^ 3800W RMS??!! What set up do you have and in which car? Would have thought the clio would fall apart with that power lol

Yup, bad earth wasted half hour when installing my sub for the 1st time. Not looking forward to re-installing it when I get my next car, easy but hassle!

 

[blackjack381]

not 3800 lol,, 38000 (note the extra "0") and thats the nova (soon) lol

the clio is 3480wrms lol with no cap)

 

[Vish]

38000?! Sorry the zeros merged together when I read it lol All that in a Nova? Is it for competitions etc? Or you just a bit hard of hearing?

 

[mattjk]

PMSL at hard of hearing!!

I will be at Burning Bmouth so I will have a peek!

 

[blackjack381]

yep nova is for competition

the clio doesnt like it.. always breaking lol

 

[Dink]

remember that all amps have caps inside them on the supply voltage rails

so the amp already as a little backup inside and being that it's at a higher voltage is more effective.

the reason caps don't work is because you can use the whole amount of stored power only a very small amount