power caps?

[w.reid306]

power caps, what on earth do they do?

ive jus put my power cap (audiobahn from jshrek, thanks) into my install, wired up as booklet said, (basically parralel with amp) but im concerned that as it always has a live feed, and an earth, that it will drain my battery whilst parked, and ignition is off or does it turn off the display after a certain amount of time?

to be on the safe side tonight, i took the fuse out of the power line lol i dont wanna be bump startin the car at 7am tomoz!

 

[Cookie Munster]

power caps, what on earth do they do?

ive jus put my power cap (audiobahn from jshrek, thanks) into my install, wired up as booklet said, (basically parralel with amp) but im concerned that as it always has a live feed, and an earth, that it will drain my battery whilst parked, and ignition is off or does it turn off the display after a certain amount of time?

You have it wired up correctely and the display should turn off after a couple of minutes. I had one wired in to my car and in the whole time I've never got a flat battery.

As for how they work, the best way I can describe it is it will take power from your main battery and store it until needed by your amp. As amps sometimes require a lot of power very quickely, that is when it will kick in to provide that power. Car batteries are designed to give out a lot of power but at a controlled rate and not fast enough for most modern amp requirments, caps will instantely give out all the stored power they have if required and so make up the shortfall of your battery.

Hope this helps
CM

 

[andy_gdon]

Spot on Cookie.

Personally i've always thought they were a waste of time, money and effort. I ran 3 genesis amps (produced 141db without setup) and never required one.

 

[-Pete-]

they are a waste of time. single 1 farad caps are a waste of time and money. caps should should be where they are needed, inside the amp!!!

they drain power from your system.

 

[w.reid306]

cheers cookie,

ill pop that fuse in now.

@ pete, but they look gd in an install!

 

[-Pete-]

if thats your thing then go for it

i wouldnt waste my money on something that can actually be detrimental to my system all for some aesthetics but then horses for courses. if people like them then buy them, just dont bother wiring it up to your amps

 

[Graham2]

Pop a fire extinguisher in beside it, good for another 1A of power

 

[Chris Mac]

people say they do nothing, other say they do work.

i know on my car, when i added mine into the system, it dramatically help in stopping my lights/dash lights/neons etc flicking when the music was up loud

 

[Cartunes]

cheers cookie,

ill pop that fuse in now.

@ pete, but they look gd in an install!

A bunch of flowers would look pretty in an install, and would be as much use! I'm with Pete, don't use caps, they are a waste of time. Use a second battery if you need more power, don't forget to uprate your alternator too....

Lesson over, i'm off to beat up some kids i saw using bell wire for speaker installation............

 

[Graham2]

I was under the impression that the consensus among those in the know was just to buy a good battery instead. For example, I've yet to see one of the AA installs posted up here with a power crap in it?

 

[Boydie]

upgraded battery is all that is needed for a big system or to get a battery from a bigger derv engined car

you can get the yellow top batteries for silly money but with my first clio i bought a 2.0turbo derv battery from an old rover and it solved al my light flickering problems

the one in the a3 is grand, havent had to change it....yet

 

[l60mcm]

I would not but up for using one my self all I have in my install is two extra batteries

 

[-Pete-]

caps just take power from the battery and store it and a farad isnt much at all and once its gone it then drains your battery to recharge itself. does the music stop just so you can recharge it? nope course not!

as i said before, caps are already inside the amp, where they should be! i think the circuit designers know what theyre doing especially the better amps.

if youre going to put money towards an install and you have to throw at a cap, dont bother! your money is better spent on a bigger battery, thicker cable or more sound deadening!!! all of these three things have tangible benefits that can be heard or noticed. thats the bottom line.

power caps to the values of .5 farad or even to the 2 farad mark are a waste of time.

 

[w.reid306]

Pop a fire extinguisher in beside it, good for another 1A of power

was actually thinking of doin that... mainly cus its handy to have, and mite save sum1s life, not nescesarily my own.

Use a second battery if you need more power, don't forget to uprate your alternator too....

So if i get another battery, how do i wire that in, also why do u uprate ur altonator?
how much does it cost to do this roughly?

 

[Cartunes]

Second battery is my fave choice, though can be pricey!
you require:
split charge relay, fusing, cables, battery, terminals and know-how (easy peasy but takes time!)
Cost to most of my customers has been around £90 for parts. Alternator upgrade only if necessary, as it provides more charging power for the two batteries.

 

[andy_gdon]

You have a big derv battery and your not running a huge amount of power so a second battery and power cap won't be required. Plus, how often do you require full power - only at sound offs. Get it outta there!

 

[w.reid306]

i actually ren outa batt yday whilst working in my path, was hard to get it push started round a corner! lol. cudnt find me jump leads either!

im running 2 amps, audiobahn 4ch and phenix gold 2ch

 

[-Pete-]

a second batt or bigger batt is the cheapest and easiest option but also upgrading the cable to and from the battery and alt is also a very easy and big improvement to make.

an uprated alt is very pricey and would be one of the last things on my list to do but also its only needed if youre running a mental system!! and we're talking spl systems and the like.

im running a large system myself and its all of a standard alt with a larger battery and upgraded engine cabling and its fine even at full tilt and i must be pulling potetntially around 250 amps down the car if not more. no power caps, no second battery etc

(my system consists of all class a/b amps too, 3x large amps, one active crossover, one bass cube, one 30 band eq)

 

[andy_gdon]

i actually ren outa batt yday whilst working in my path, was hard to get it push started round a corner! lol. cudnt find me jump leads either!

im running 2 amps, audiobahn 4ch and phenix gold 2ch

Was the engine running?

 

[w.reid306]

nah it wasnt, it was sittin in the path for about 3 hours, but i mustve only turned the amps on for a total of 15 mins!

my batt is quite gd anyway, its a diesel batt, for a 2ltr

@ pete, u said upgrading the cabling from the batt, do u mean the batt to amp power cable? (im using 4 guage atm, which i think is more than enuf) or cabling from altonator to batt within the engine bay?

 

[w.reid306]

*duplicate post*

 

[andy_gdon]

depends what size of amp you are running (ie RMS power) and how much your asking of them. 4g should be grand but 0g is the daddy lol

 

[w.reid306]

or ill jus go to the local power station and knab some of their overhead cables

altho sayin that, overhead cables are used for high voltage, not high current

 

[alan_d]

its interesting reading some of the opinions on caps, in my experience mine mellowed out the bass delivery and made it a much smoother solid listen, weirdly, my spl dropped, but the SQ was much the better for it

 

[-Pete-]

i mean the cables in the engine bay running from your alt to your battery, from and from your battery to you earth etc, otherwise known as "the big three"

can really help stop voltage drops and improve voltage down the car as voltage drops occur over long lengths of cable due to cable resistence.

you want the thickest cable you can afford really. i run zero gauge down the car and zero gauge to everything in the engine bay and each amp has 4 gauge directly into it in the shortest possible lengths too.

alan_d, you said your sq improved??hmm strange, i sense a placebo effect to be honest friend. and your spl reduced becuase power caps suck power from your system, not add to it. why do you think no spl guys, no proper spl guys, use them. they all use fatter cabling and more batts. look at the likes of gary in his fiesta van. why on earth would he get a second alt, more batts and bigger cable if a cheapo power cap would sort things out for him, thats right, it wouldnt!

i know youre not saying that alan but im just explaining.

a power cap ,takes power from your battery and system, it doesnt just generate its own power (obviously)

the cap sucks power and then dishcarges quickly and then has to draw current to recharge all the while your system is still playing so is actually trying to play with less power while the cap recharges. so alan, you say it was smoother, but that to me is because there would have been a drop in power from your amps!

caps are a waste of time and money and to repeat what i said, they should be where theyre meant to be, INSIDE THE AMPS!