school me on power caps

 

maybe i shoul be a bit more clear. explain to me what exactly a power capicator for in car audio works and how do i know which one i will need. i dont understand the farad ratings, or even what a farad is for that matter

 

then you seriously need to do some reasearch kid. it didnt take me but a little while to understand farad rating, what capacitance is (dictionary it), and what the point of one is.
if i were talking a dude into buying one (i used to sell audio) i would tell you this "ever had the lights dim when you either turn up your speakers loud or have your subwoofers hit and dim the lights? then this is a good way to go."
now, thats just a sales pitch for the dumbee, ulitmately, once you get into advanced audio, electrical, or master level, most people laugh at caps cause there are BY FAR better ways to run high power systems.
just do some studying, go to a bookstore and look up car audio stuff, or "how to wire damn near anything"
research and there is always the search button.
im only telling you this because i taught myself car audio, and got my MECP the hard way.

peace

 

that only answered a third of the question and just cause u taught yourself car audio the hard way doesnt mean i wanna learn the hard way

 

how many watts you planning on running?

 

im gonna be running:

(sub) JL Audio 10W6v2 400rms/ 800max
(sub amp) JL Audio 500/1
(componenet amp) JL Audio 300/4

 

if you plan on running jl amps. u dont need caps stabalize the voltage bcs they have r.i.p tech they will roughly produce the same wattage 12v to 14v... all caps do is keep power on tap near the amp for power spikes. most peaple run caps bcs there lights dim or the voltage drops and causes there amp to clip but the truth of the matter 90% of the time its a diffrent problem and caps only bandaid it.caps do help your amp run better,cooler,and longer when everything else is at 100 percent but it hardly justifys the very small gains

 

just get another battery, if you are worried about drain.

 

you should only need a 1 farad cap if you looking into going that way. about .5 farad for every 500 watts rms is a enough to do the job. more farads wont hurt you just more expensive and not needed at that point.

 

buy your cap online, if you go to your local shop a 1 farad digital cap will run about 130 bucks, i got a 10 farad lanzar digital cap for the same price online, but like everyone said with a setup like yours you shouldn't need one, escially with your 100amp alternator in that fd, if all your electronics are up to par you should be okay

 

thanks guys this setup is going in my jeep. i already have an optima in it and the 100amp alternator in it is getting replaced with a 136amp alt.

so i shouldnt need a cap from what you guys are telling me.

 

you shouldn't just make sure you use a suitable power wire, like 4gauge should do the trick, make sure to put a good battery terminal and perhaps upgrade the stock battery to chasis ground, most vehicles use 4 to 8 g and that may cause some problems if they used the 8, just install it and see how your electronics work, turn the heat on blast, turn on the headlights and hold the brake, with the system cranked up loud your lights should not dim when the bass hits, if it does, try the ground upgrade, if they still dim, have the alternator checked, if that is pumping what it should then you should get the cap. or even just a high output batter, the one shaped like a 6 pack i heard is good.

 

You dont need a cap

 

Even better run some 0 gauge back to a distribution block really close to the amps and that will yield better results than Farads

 

i have the 6pack optima already. ordered thicker battery cables with quisconnect terminals. all i need is a larger alt.

 

unless your running another alt or at least beefd up 1 your just moven the problem down another link in the chain

as for wire if you plan on running 17 ft or less you get away with 2 guage anything more you should go up to 0/1. oxygen free copper is a plus when looking for good power wire.