ok all of you audiophiles, i've got one for you!

does anyone think a fualty (ie; gone bad) 1.5 farad cap could cause a bad of enough draw, to completely drain a BN Optima Yellow top, in less than 48 hours?

this is in my brother's Summer Dime (his show truck).

the only non-factory electrical components in the truck that could cause a draw, IMO, is the aftermarket deck is wired into direct power (it's been like that for 11+ years), the compressors for his air ride system-but the brain for the system (i think it's a Dakota Digital system) is wired into the ignition. and the cap has constant access to the power supply (the battery)


i'm leaning to the cap myself. any one else have an idea?

 

I've heard that bad/malfunctioning caps can cause the battery to die overnight. Is it staying on all the time? If not, it probably just needs to be replaced, unless there's something wrong with his wiring or voltage regulator.

 

try dropping the cap out for a night after a full charge. it's gonna confirm or disprove your theory chris.

 

what exactly do you mean by "staying on all the time?"? do you mean the stereo?

i'm thinking the cap has finally kicked the bucket (it is 11+ years old now). but it's kinda weird, the battery has been back in the truck for about 2 weeks now (since we put the interior back into it after a slight face lift), but the radio was just put back into it 4 (maybe 5?) days ago, and then the battery went dead in the next day & a half (or so).

maybe the deck has screwed up (it's now going onto it's 7th? season) and has left something energized. the amp isn't on, so i can't think of what might be "on" other than that.

and if the amp isn't drawing any power, then how could the cap be drawing power (if it in fact is).

as for replacing the cap..............that ain't gonna happen.

unfortunately, when we designed the box in '99, we never thought of having to replace the cap, or the fact that this box set-up would still be used.

might just have to cut the power line under the box, & bypass it, see if it still happens. if it doesn't............well, i guess we're gonna be stuffing a new one under the box somewhere.............


anyone else have any ideas?

Mack? Thomas?


*sorry Uber, got pulled away right before i hit "post"

 

most head units (stereo) have a switched power and a constant power supply. hell stock units do too! its how they keep time and your settings, this could be the issue if the head unit has said F u i'm out and is slowly kicking the bucket as well. but best bet Chris is to just disconnect the power feed to the cap over night and check before/after voltage numbers on the batt itself.

if the cap has crapped there's a chance internally there's a short happening in it that's running power thru it from pos to neg and not properly charging, or the control circuit isn't registering the internal voltage in it, which in fact could cause a nasty and dangerous condition of overcharging it. its like any other battery really, just stores power for immediate use, and by being as close as it is, provides that extra bit of juice under heavy load to the amp.



btw off topic, did u get my pm?

 

Uber beat me to it. if a cap takes a sh** on you it can internally ground from the pos to neg and just cycle power through it. in every show truck/car i've ever seen... if it isn't used montly, the owner throw the bat charger on it and let it sit like that. my brother with his fully custom 04 GTO and stock 1977 Datsun 280z 2+2 have their own trickle charge units powering them until he drives them.

Radio shouldn't be a problem really. Also, if it ends up being the cap. yank that crap out and thrown a slim battery or 2 under there. my 2 cents really. feel free to pm me....

or i could be the cool kid and tell you to email me at [email protected] haha.... its an actual email i use. i'm going on NO SLEEP btw... sorry

 

Ditto, they can totally break down inside. Think how many times that suckers been heated up, Im sure it got its moneys worth in boom times and would be proud to be replaced by a younger newer model.

Unhook it and try a couple days with it out, problem gone Im betting.

Now, I figure you should discharge it toally and cut the bugger open with a sawsall or something so we can all have a peek, if I remember right its like tin foil and copper? in there, and some oil or greasy textured acid. Im not kidding man, I have the coolant separation going, kill the cap!!!

 

Suggestion....Get rid of the cap if its gone bad and replace it with a second battery. A second battery is better then a cap anyway

 

Man, you've got me. I don't know much about Farad caps except they aren't really necessary. I've always heard it's best to run a battery instead.

 

a cap and a batt are the same technology really, the difference is the batt is gonna store more power but not have the same response time as a cap will. now thats negated when you use something like a kinetik's cap since it in fact is a battery but designed with the same response as a cap. i have a couple Chris and if ur bro's interested i have a kinetik 600 HC i'd be willing to part with, they claim its better than 100x1farad caps. Did a google search and of course it doesn't say either way what it truely is, just speculation that its in that range. also u can install them in ANY direction as its a sealed unit.