When to use a capacitor?

i would only suggest a flux capacitor if you are having trouble dialing in the correct time and date.....

Originally posted by BumpinYota



time out - Caps DO serve a pourpose; storing energy for breif musical bursts. what does this mean? It means that a cap has a use in your car ONLY if you are concerned about SQ (sound quality) AND (this is a BIG and) if you charging system [alternator] is up to snuff.

for instance if you have a 300amp HO alternator and only a 1000w rms on bass, and on the loudest bass note your voltage stays at 13.8v or higher, then a cap would work. what does it do? It provides instantaneous voltage for the amp before the alternator can respond to the amp's need. This means that on say a loud kick drum hit, the amp wont be temporarily starved of voltage at the onset of the punch. Caps are only there to help soundquality IF your charging system is capable of supporting everything.

A cap WILL NOT rectify light dimming as a permanent solution...

but with an adequate charging system and battery you dont need a capacitor.

Originally posted by Low_SST



Originally posted by BumpinYota



time out - Caps DO serve a pourpose; storing energy for breif musical bursts. what does this mean? It means that a cap has a use in your car ONLY if you are concerned about SQ (sound quality) AND (this is a BIG and) if you charging system [alternator] is up to snuff.

for instance if you have a 300amp HO alternator and only a 1000w rms on bass, and on the loudest bass note your voltage stays at 13.8v or higher, then a cap would work. what does it do? It provides instantaneous voltage for the amp before the alternator can respond to the amp's need. This means that on say a loud kick drum hit, the amp wont be temporarily starved of voltage at the onset of the punch. Caps are only there to help soundquality IF your charging system is capable of supporting everything.

A cap WILL NOT rectify light dimming as a permanent solution...

but with an adequate charging system and battery you dont need a capacitor.

Well "need" in this capacity (pardon the pun) is relative.

If you dont care about sound quality on bass (and lets be honest here, 98% of the population involved with car audio wouldnt know sound quality if it hit them in the face) then no it's not an issue or a need.

However if you want absolute clarity and IASCA winning sound quality, a cap does infact help. (Again provided your alt is up to snuff.) Why? Because at the onset of a sudden bass transient, the amp is temporarily starved for voltage. (We are talking about time in the order of tenths of a second.) Its during this time that the cap would quickly discharge to the amp, so that the amp isnt starved of voltage until the alternator can react to the amperage draw.

ok what you need first is to see how many amps you will be pulling! add the amount of fuse your amps take.. say all your amps have 2 25-amp fuses each...3 amps= you will not be pulling more then 150 total from your alt. i personally would get a deep cycle batt. re spool your alt and add a cap! if your running any air ride that pulls from your alt to so i would go that route but my 2-cents.


there really is no wrong way to do your system.. better to be over powered then under powered!

ok two amps have two 25a fuses and one has two 30a fuses what would that be?

160amps so your pulling no more then 160amps off your alt with your amps!youll never pull that much but you atleast want to have alot more power stored like a cap! a deep cycle batt. and a respooled alt.. everyone has there own opinion on it so just do some research and go the way you want to.. like is said i like to have more power stored then needed but thats my 3 cents!

like i said there no wrong way. just depends on how you want to do it!

laters!!