Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

Hey guys, I have a Power Acoustik 4 Farad Capacitor. This thing really sucks. I mean, idk if its cause i bought it off of ebay, but i really dont think its doing its job. 4 farad is supposed to handle 4000 watts right? Well, i only have a California 1200 watt amp. Everytime i blast the system, i get dimming, and the voltage needle drops quite a bit. I know a friend that has like 3 Rockford caps in his truck, and the needle does not move one bit. So do you guys think that Rockford is the best?

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

caps are all useless, i'd check your gauges, alternator, or do the big 3

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

^^^yup that cap is just one more thing for your alternator to charge.

you would be much better off without it.

get a half decent battery and the big 3 in at least 4 gauge and you'll be fine. your pulling what......500, 600 watts?

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

i would check your ground. no way should you get dimming with that power. and yes, caps are junk.

make sure that you have a solid ground, where is your ground for the amps at anyways????

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

The Best Capacitor is a Battery..And like HillBilly said, you should not have any dimming with your setup if it is properly installed...Check for proper grounds and terminaling...

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

while I do agree that caps are useless unless you have upraded your big 3 and battery, The above statement is a little off. A cap and a battery distribute power very differently. Caps are designed to discharge power very quickly while a battery is more of a slow constant discharge.

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

maybe he meant running 2?

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

it doesnt matter how many batteries you have, they still arent going to discharge as quickly as a cap. Multiple batteries are only good for running the stereo for prolonged periods with the car off anyways.

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

Or what i have seen done before is run a seperate battery for just the system, which i have seen used is a optima blue top deep cycle and just run everything off that. Just a lil of what i have seen. [sm=yeahsmile.gif]

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

if you are going to do that your alternator has to be large enough to power 2 batteries and you have to use a battery isolator to seperate the power flow. Definitely a good idea though if you are running a large system.

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

My statement was very generalized. If you have the need for a capacitor you would be much better off run a small battery in-line for extra storage.Batteries are useful whether the car is running or not, extra storage always helps(Givin of course that your charging system can keep up)...But a battery is much less damaging to your alternator than a capacitor would be...

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

Actually, now that i think of it, maybe that ground is not good. The ground that I have for the amps, is a bolt that is behind the passenger side rear bench seat. A bad ground could be giving me these symptoms right? Maybe I should check it out. That could be the solution to my problem. I've even tried high output alternators, and for some reason, they have all turned out to be bad. I had bought a h.o. alternator on ebay, and a few months later, it left me stranded on the road. Then, i thought the one on ebay was just bad, so i bought a h.o. alternator at advance auto parts. It would not charge very well. So i bought an original alternator at advance auto parts. And it has been fine ever since. It's just that I get those voltage drops with the sound system.

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

put your back seats down, on dirvers side, pull of the cover panel that folds down over the seats. there is a strip of metal that runs along the side that the seats bolt to. on that, there is a bolt just down from the cover panel that looks like it isnt doing anything,. 19mm bolt. pull that bolt up, sand the area down and bolt your ground to that. that is about the best ground in our trucks (2nd gens)

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

test your amps ground resistance with a DMM. You may not need to move it. If the ground is not touching bare metla, take the gound off and sand the paint. Have you upgraded your batterys ground at all? The stock ground (atleast in my 1st gen) sucks. Upgrade your batterys ground to a larger wire. Might as well take care of the rest of the big 3 while you are at it.

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

I have a 2 Farad Capacitor i hooked it up in my blazer when i first bought it and the lights did not dim at all when the bass hit. i had jl w3"s and it was fine. before the cap when my subs hit not even half way up the dash would dim

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

I just bought and had installed a brand new capacitor, and I'm still having the same results. The capacitor that I bought is supposedly a really good one. I have noticed that as the bass hits hard, and everything dims and the voltage goes down, the rpm needle goes up and down a lot. After I turn the bass down, everything goes back to normal like if nothing happened. I'm still not clear on the ground behind the seat. Is it that metal plate that is connected to the that piece that comes down over the seats?

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

no, it is the bracket on the floor that your seats are bolted to. Why would you go out and drop more money before you took our suggestions?

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

well, thats the last time I give you advice....

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

insert "I told you so" here. Why bother asking for advice if you arent going to listen?

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

I know, but the thing is that I was inclined to believe that my capacitor was a defective capacitor since I had bought it off of ebay for a cheap price. Its not that I didn't wanna listen to any of you guys. The main reason why I joined this forum was to get advice. I just wanted to see what would happen if I changed the capacitor. I have seen quite a few people that have a capacitor and are running their cars perfectly fine. That is why I tried it.

I had done the big 3, but I removed the4 gauge going from the back of the alternator to the positive. I did leave the negative 4 gauge from the negative on the battery to the chasis.

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

i still have money on the ground being the issue

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

x2....but thats okay, let him keep spending money...

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

not necessarily, there are many kinds of batteries that are fast to discharge like batcaps or kinetic batteries

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

Ok, so today, I looked at the ground that my sound system has. It was underneath the carpeting that is under the rear bench seat. It was held down by a philips screw, down to a painted part of metal which was all black. So I took off the ground, and took off the paint with a screwdriver, and I also sanded it down. I am still getting the same exact results. I already saw the 19 mm bolt that holds down the seats. I will try that one next, but I think I will have the same results, even if I sand that one down too. Do you guys have any other suggetions or tips?

I was thinking one thing, I have noticed that my voltage needle doesn't really go down when I have the radio around volume 30. Now, when I raise it to about volume 40, and the bass starts pumpin, the voltage goes down and everything dims. But I only get this dimming and voltage loss with the bass. Everything else seems to be fine. And I really havent had any luck with high output alternators. I bought one from an auto parts store a while ago, and it didn't work well. So what do you guys think?

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

What battery are you runnin?

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

I have an optima yellow top. It's D75-25. I was going to get the red top because it had more CCA, but I decided to get the yellow top because it fit the application better. This yellow top only has 650 CCA. Do you think that could be the problem?

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

Since its an optima no I don't think that is the problem at all. My main suggestion that I see all through this post is to go over all your wiring, cause your system is drawing way to much and I believe that somewhere there is a weak link in the system. If you can take pictures of all your wiring from the battery back to the amp and cap that you have and also all the grounds so everyone has a view at what your working with to better advise you on what it could possibly be doing.

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

ok, I'll try doing that. Thanx.

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

I looked over the wiring today. To me, everything was fine. But, I just noticed something when I got home a few minutes ago. I am having the same symptoms I was having with the supposedly "high output alternator" that I bought off of ebay. When I pressed the brake pedal, the voltage needle went down a little bit. It also went down a bit when I put on my high beams. The alternator that I have now is a stock replacement from Advance Auto Parts. It's a Palladium. I had bought a high output alternator from advance auto parts in the past, and I had the same results. I still have it, but the thing is, with that alternator, the voltage was very low. I had installed that alternator with a brand new optima yellow top. I am going to have that Powermaster high output alternator tested, to see if it is ok. Are high output alternators supposed to be like that? That alternator was a 150 amp alternator. I also had "the big 3" when I installed that alternator. I have heard they have low outputs at idle, and hight outputs at higher rpms. Should I purchase an alternator with more than 150 amps? I have also heard that more than 150 amps could damage my electrical system.

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

I can 99% guarentee you this is not an issue of faulty equipment. But rather that of faulty connections/installation. Iirc you previously stated that you had the Big 3 done, but then downgraded two of the wires. Maybe something was not properly termilaed upon reinstallation. Instead of spending more money on product I would advise you to take your vehicle to a Car Audio or 12-Volt professional and pay for an hour of diagnostics...

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

Cloak is right about taking it in to a professional!! Otherwise the two wires you downgraded, you might need to put those back up to what they were!!! Other than that rechecking all connections, making sure you have solid grounds on all your grounds and that you have no open circuts that are touching at all!!!

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

While you're there getting your beefy alternator tested, test your battery as well... Most places should do that kind of thing for free...
If you make them remove the alternator for a bench test, you may get charged, though...

A cap is more of a band-aid than anything else... It may temporarily cover a problem, but that's about it..

Why did you downgrade your big 3 wires?

Having a high amp alternator will NOT damage your system... It doesn't put out 150amps all the time, it only supplies whatever is needed at the time, that's why they have a peak/constant rating, a lot like peak and RMS rating for your amps...

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

I had downgraded the cable from the alternator to the battery because a friend had told me that the larger the wire, the more power it would drain from the battery. You guys have told me to check my grounds and all, and I will do so, but I am starting to believe that my alternator is not suitable for all of the things that I have in the truck. I have quite some extras. That is why I had bought that Powermaster alternator in the first place. Now, the thing is, I had it installed, and it was not working properly. When I had that alternator installed, I had "the big 3". The voltage was pretty low. So then we tried a smaller wire, which is the one i have now, to see if it made a difference, and it was still the same. I have just gone on the Powermaster website, and I saw that the recommended gauge of wire for that alternator is 6 gauge. I hada 4 gauge from the alternator to the battery("big 3"). My question is, could the 4 gauge wire instead of the 6 gauge wire, have caused the high output alternator to give me a low voltage? What else could cause a high output alternator to react that way. I know high output alternators are very sensitive to rpms and pulley size. Should I put a smaller pulley on that alternator? I had thought this high output alternator was defective, but from reading a bit, I now see that there could be something that isn't right. I am going to call Powermaster and ask them for technical support, but what do you guys think.

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

what all are you running? the Leds inside and the cap and the amp? still should not be dimming that much if at all.

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

I have the 1200 wat amp, the cap, the 1200 watt Dual Subs with neon, the leds, the Optx LED tailgate light, and I also have some neons on the inside too. And I have some more extras planned for in the future.

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

Your friend is obviously not a 12-volt expert...

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

Im just gonna say it bluntly.....your friend is a friggin IDIOT and doesnt have a CLUE what he is talking about. Wire by itself doesnt drain power. It is the item connected on the other end that has the ability to drain power. Larger cable provides less resistance allowing the power to travel faster.


No, larger wire will not cause lower voltage. A bad ground at the battery can cause lower voltage. A bad battery can cause lower voltage.

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

First of all, you dont have a 1200watt amp or 1200watt subs. Your subs are probably 200 watts and your amp is probably making 400 at best...Secondly, you definitely don't have enough current draw to promote dimming or large voltage drops. I could run that setup off a 65amp alt no problem...So, I assure you you have a wiring problem. I would bet my money on either the amp wiring or Big 3. But there is a5% chance you have a faulty alterator, bad battery, or bad voltage regulator...But like I said, please have a 12volt expert diagnose your vehicles dimming problem....Until you have that done I really dont feel like helping you any further. My advice, along with Hillbilly and Bobditts, is valuable. And I would venture to guess they feel similar toward the situation...

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

I draw WAY more power than that with the stock alternator and none of my lights hit.

My sub draws 300W RMS when cranked (Amp is 350W RMS)

And when I turn on my 800 or so watts of lights, my needle barely moves, and never leaves the 14V line, unless I'm driving really slow and hit like 500 RPM, then it bogs down, but other than that, no issues...

That's also with the stock AC-Delco battery

The wire reccomendation of 6 guage is the minimum wire they need for optimum performance...

Ask your friend where his flux capacitor is wired in :Dlol j/k

RE: Which is the best Capacitor Brand?
 

Ok, then I won't even bother with the high output alternator. I'm going to take it to a car audio place to get the sound system checked out, and if that doesn't solve it, I might just go back to the electrician I went to. The thing is, I had gone to that car electrician about a year ago for the same problem, and he had told me to get either a second battery or a high output alternator. The car electrician had also said that the system was quite a load, and that therefore I should consider a better alternator or a back-up battery. And btw, could you guys just go over "the big 3" again, just so I could put it all back together again? I believe its a 4 gauge from the positive on the battery to the back of the alternator, a 4 gauge from the negative on the battery to the chasis, and a 4 gauge from the negative on the battery to the alternator bracket. Am I correct?