THe_DeTAiL3R Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 local surplus store where I get my accessories and junk.. http://www.fcsurplus.ca/shopping/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=236&cat=Car+Audio+Capacitors Any of these good? I will have 2 Kenwood 800w(peak) amps, and a Kenwood 250w amp.. to give you an idea of what I might need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97loudcut Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 HIGHER THE FARAD THE BETTER IT IS Yeh but the digital readout and light use up farads so I would recommend trying to find something with no lights and numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THe_DeTAiL3R Posted March 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 2.4 farad? How much power is that good for? I don't have one and don't wanna spend alot of money, but if $80 will stop my headlights from blinking I might buy one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyle Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 IMO, if you are going to put out that much power, caps aren't going to help THAT much. Personally, I am not a huge fan of caps just because once they discharge, they need that much more power to "reload" which puts a bit of a strain on the charging system. Have you upgraded the alt and all the charging wires yet? A second batt might help too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 a cap is the last thing you want to do. I wouldnt get them at all. If you hook up all your amps, you find your having problems, try a "big 3". If that doesnt help, try a better battery, or another one, or an upgraded alt. Id never use a cap. Two batteries will solve almost all problems ( within reason now ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THe_DeTAiL3R Posted March 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 Sounds good. I do need to get better wires under the hood, they are stock and they are shitty. My battery is junk too, amazing it starts the car every morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 Well the stock wires are 8g wires. The wires that you would upgrade would be the battery ( negative ) to ground, positive to alt and positive to AUX. I only see you needing 4g upgrade for those wires. Remember, this is in addition to no in replace of. But the only real way to see if you need to do anything is to just hook everything up and see what happens. Thats what I did and turns out I didnt need to do anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chemicalbrother Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 I'd say with the power you're running, caps wouldn't help so much. RMS power is what you need to look at, b/c that's the 'constant' amount of power being pulled from the electrical system. Just making a guess, RMS power is usually half the peak power, so you're looking at ~925 watts rms, give or take. The "Big 3" is the best/cheapest first choice. I thought that you were supposed to replace the stock wiring? 4awg should be fine though. If that doesn't work, you may want to try a HO alty or replace your current battery with an Optima Yellowtop. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 I hate recommending capacitors. In most cases, they are useless. Even after installing them in customers vehicles, I can tell no difference. Basically, as stated above, they don't work. Get a high output alt, a nice battery, and upgrade your wiring! I couldn't tell you how much of a difference having 4 guage power and ground cables have helped! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THe_DeTAiL3R Posted March 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Well heres the specs for the amps: KAC7201/7251 (both the same specs) 150w x2 RMS. 460w bridged @4ohm (800w peak) KAC 5201 40w x2 RMS (250w peak) speakers: front- Infinity 5010C 75w RMS each rear- Infinity 9602i 100w RMS each sub- 1 Pioneer Premier 12" 500w RMS currently have 460w going to the sub, and the smaller amp (80w total RMS) going to the rears. That just leave the second 800w amp which will put out less than 300w for either the fronts or I may hook it up for the rears cause they can handle more power than the fronts. Either way around ~800w total RMS (probably alot less though) going to everything. I doubt having the 3rd amp will really make much of a difference, as there is only the front speakers which won't use that much power anyways. The sub is the only thing that makes the car suck power when I get it cranked up... I think new battery and wires would definatly make a difference. The wires don't look the best and the battery seems to lose juice just after a little while when it's not being charged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 chemicalbrother, nope, its in addition to. The wires and a better battery will make a world of difference. BTW, C-BAD, can you find somewhere in the specs for the amps what the max current draw is for each amp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THe_DeTAiL3R Posted March 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 I'm not sure.. they are older models now, however this new model looks to have basically identical specifications... http://www.cardomain.com/item/KENKAC7202 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Because I was gonna say if you knew the max current dar you could kinda know what to expect... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1138 Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 C-Bad - Get an Optima battery if you don't have one. They're excellent, and I think that'd help some.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 No doubt it would help. Honestly, I dont think youll need to do much if anything at all. An optima battery and *maybe* a "big 3" at the most. All of which would take you maybe a couple hours to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THe_DeTAiL3R Posted March 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 I definatly need a new battery! When putting in the components today I had a little trickle charger hooked to the battery which kept it good for a couple hours... but when I got the speakers hooked up and cranked it up after 2 songs it went dead. . Amazing the car always starts in the morning. ps. I'm also getting a volt guage so I'll be able to see if my car is using lots of juice when I'm at a stoplight etc. I really liked having one on my old car... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1138 Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 I definatly need a new battery! When putting in the components today I had a little trickle charger hooked to the battery which kept it good for a couple hours... but when I got the speakers hooked up and cranked it up after 2 songs it went dead. . Amazing the car always starts in the morning. ps. I'm also getting a volt guage so I'll be able to see if my car is using lots of juice when I'm at a stoplight etc. I really liked having one on my old car... The charging system on the 1.5 gen cars is worlds better than that of the first gens... I learned that tenfold working on the LE we just got. Also, the newer starters apparently don't take that much power to turn, not as much as the older starters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puggsley456 Posted March 22, 2006 Report Share Posted March 22, 2006 And keep in mind whats going to really hurt with a three amp set up is the fact that those amp arent terribly efficient. I might almost consider consolidating all of your amplifiers......and running a 2 amp system. I myself ended up doing everything to my car to finally be able to turn my system up as high as I would like and only drop .8v...hehe! As stated before Step 1 - "Better Battery" Step 2 - "Upgrade the big 3" see here ----> http://forum.sounddomain.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=007801 Step 3 - "Alternator Upgrade??" Step - 4 "Capacitor" Step - 5 "Second battery/Isolator" - Not really needed unless you compete or like bumpin with the ignition off. Im up to step 4.........possibly step 5 this spring if my alternator goes again...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted March 22, 2006 Report Share Posted March 22, 2006 Personally Id add another battery before a cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted March 24, 2006 Report Share Posted March 24, 2006 I definatly need a new battery! When putting in the components today I had a little trickle charger hooked to the battery which kept it good for a couple hours... but when I got the speakers hooked up and cranked it up after 2 songs it went dead. . Amazing the car always starts in the morning. ps. I'm also getting a volt guage so I'll be able to see if my car is using lots of juice when I'm at a stoplight etc. I really liked having one on my old car... The charging system on the 1.5 gen cars is worlds better than that of the first gens... I learned that tenfold working on the LE we just got. Also, the newer starters apparently don't take that much power to turn, not as much as the older starters. I put all new style starter and alt(cs-130-d) both hand built by PM alternater into a 1990 tgp. The pair have been working flawless since May of last year. the starter doesnt put any more strain on the system than the old one thats for sure. The system puts a huge strain on the alt without the isolater but the dang thing only charges one battery at a time I need a second alt. ...still good to have a charger on hand and charge both batteries like once a week. get a big $100 charger that rolls around on wheels, there the only ones worth a shit. Zap them for 15-30 minutes each at 35 amps. that will take strain off your system for sure. And keeping the front battery charged at all times will keep you going a good while if you have a deep cycle of good size in the trunk. about a week. dont worry about that rotten egg smell, it will go away thats just the batt charging gas coming out the vents. wont hurt a thing. but if you leave it charge for hours it will start blowing tons of that gas and even splatter out everywhere or worse yet explode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fender2082 Posted March 25, 2006 Report Share Posted March 25, 2006 I don't know guys, I have a brand new alternator, 0-ga. wire, and only a 600W amp, and my lights and gauges dim like crazy without a cap. I put one in before we installed it in a buddy's truck, and the dimming was gone. They're actually MUCH less strenuous on your charging system... If you know how they work, you know they only charge/discharge so fast... rather than your amp trying to reproduce a massive bass hit by sucking all the juice out of the alternator at once, it can pull it from the cap, which can then recharge off of your car at a much slower rate. Think about the time taken up by each 'boom' versus the time in between 'boom's........ it's that instantaneous power draw that your alternator can't handle and that a cap fixes. If you're over 1200W I'd say install one, no questions, 1fa. is more than enough. Under that, even with a stinger and 'big-3', be prepared to see dimming at high volumes while at ide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted March 26, 2006 Report Share Posted March 26, 2006 If you're over 1200W I'd say install one, no questions This depends greatly on the car. I know people that have 65amp alts that are running 2000W off the stock electrical system. The only way to find out if youll need one is to hook up all your amps and see. Other wise its a waste of money because what if you dont need one. It also depends greatly on the current draw from the amp. The amp I have is rated at 1200Wrms at 12.5v with a max current draw of 130amps. I know some other amps have a current draw of 300-400amps... it depends on the effiency ( sp ) of the amp as well. Im running off stock electrical system and still at 14.0v Like I said, it all depends and you just have to try it out first, unless you know all the spec to everything then youll have an *idea* of what you might need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THe_DeTAiL3R Posted March 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2006 Okay so if I were to upgrade my battery (I dunno maybe one of those Optima ones?) will this give me enough juice if I want to go to the drive-in and watch a movie (not very loud, but the amps would still be running). I know that right now probably after half an hour w/ the stereo on it probably wouldn't wanna start. I think I really need to upgrade the wiring, and get a new pos. aux terminal box, cause it's kinda busted up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 An Optima battery will deffinitly help out! If your going to be listening to it with the car off, Id suggest a yellow top. But the wiring and alt will only help when the car is running. I know I shouldnt really say this because my power wire is on the AUX too, ( need to get the longer posts to hook everything up ) but hook up the power wire right to the battery. Its just a better place for it and it gets "direct" power if you will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 Well I dont see how I could drain a huge deepcycle that I just fully charged with a few low bass sweeps. and I got a 100 amp circuit breaker that has never been tripped. so I dont know about 300- 400 amp drawing from one amp unless it was like a 8-10 thousand watt system(they do have them..) and a speaker that can use that much power and remain linear. there is a few, soundstream, solo-x 18, jackhammer . The speakers motor is what actually drains your battery. it uses the amp to convert the energy, but a more efficient speaker would work the amp and the battery/alt. less. may not be capable of as much rich lows, but the Dbs would be up there where they should be in the 140+ range. So I guess to come to a good conclusion of whats needed, first you need to look at what the amps capable of, and how much of that power will actually be used when the speaker draws power from the amp at a given frequency at full blast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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