i was just wondering if its alright to use a power cap on mono amps. only one shop that i have talked to said its a bad idea, the others recommended me to use it. you guys probably have more experience and know how than them guys. sometimes when i open my trunk the power cap is reading somethign weird on the read out, when the car is off its at about 12.6 and when running its at about 14.5. it just shows lines sometimes, is this maybe becuase when i start my car my bass starts hitting before the cap gets charged or turned on.
Replies (3)
Swez on 03/21/2003 19:49:40
Well, you may not want to hear this answer, but better to know then be in the dark about caps.
Caps are generally well thought of by shops that sell and install them as they generate sales and is a high profit margin item as well. But the fact is... a potent battery, a well matched alternator and larger power wires are much more effective than any cap could ever be.
A Cap will only store an minimal amount ot energy. When large bass hits come into the amp, it needs all the power it can gather, to meet that demand. In severe cases, the amp will steal power from the head lights, A/C blower... wherever it can find . The Cap can give you a quick shot of extra power, but only for a few milli-seconds. Then it runs out of gas and has to recharge again.
Having adequate battery storage capacity... no problem as the amp will just draw what is needed from the battery while the alternator refills that momentary loss of current.
Caps are nothing more than miniture batteries. They too, store energy... but have a mere fraction of storage capacity that a typical 600 CCA rated battery has. A very poor bandaid approch to power management.
If your lights were dimming on large bass hits, upgrading the battery to a larger CCA rating (say.. +800 CCA) and adding larger power wires between ALT/BAT and a larger wire to ground off negative battery terminal, will usually resolve that.
Most stock power wires in the average car are #8/6 gage wire. Just changing these to say #4 gage, will help a lot and cost less than $20.00.
Hope that explains Caps to your satisfaction,
Swez
compvr15s on 03/21/2003 20:27:10
thanx swez, so should i just get rid of the cap all together. and add bigger cables between my alt and my battery, and would a dry cell with high cca help too. i have 4awg wire for pos and neg. ground is only about 8 inches long and grounded to a sanded bare metal area. i just dont wanna fry my amp. if i go ahead and get a dry cell should i still use my regular battery for the car and use the dry cell for my system and use that stinger product(cant think of what its called). if that dont fix it ill have to upgrade my alt right? if i have to do that ican i just get the 150 amp rebuild kit cuz i have 105 right now and its got some power draw with the cap hooped up right now. thanx again
Swez on 03/22/2003 08:54:13
Depending on the amp used and how hard you push it, may nt have to do much more than upgrade the ALT/BAT wire gages. I'd start there.
If you still have power management issues (light dimming) then going to a larger battery would be your next choice. Dry cell, Deep cycle batteries work for situations where you routinely draw high amounts of current with the engine not running. But for normal engine start and such, use a standard battery design with a high CCA rating.
No need to spend a ton of extra cash on big brand name batteries either. Diehard, Interstate and NAPA brands will do the job just fine. The trick here, fitting that larger battery into the existing space and battery cage. A little fabrication will ususally do the trick.
About using 2 batteries... not an easy solution as this puts more strain on the alternator, need an isolator system to charge both batteries and a few other challenges. Not recommended here, unless you are running SPL Comp amps that demand 200A or higher current draw.
About that 105 alt... is usally adequate for audio amp systems rated under 1500 watts RMS power output. If a GM product, there are several alt versions available from GM (aftermarket) that drop right in. You can get 120, 140 and 165A versions that drop right in the space you have now. If you feel you need more Alt power than that, there are places that you can obtain ultra-high output models... but not cheap! You can buy kits for minor upgrades... 105-120A and be OK. But if going larger, best to just buy one that is already fitted with proper regulator, brush kits, diodes, stator and field coils.
No need to buy expensive OEM units from a dealer, at ~$400.00 a pop. I have found local autoparts stores that offer rebuilts for well under $150.00. A new (not refurb) may cost >$200, but with most refurb life time warranties... why spend the extra cash.
Finally, about that Cap... if you can sell it, use the cash to upgrade as noted above.
Good luck,
Swez
Replies (3)
Swez on 03/21/2003 19:49:40
Well, you may not want to hear this answer, but better to know then be in the dark about caps.
Caps are generally well thought of by shops that sell and install them as they generate sales and is a high profit margin item as well. But the fact is... a potent battery, a well matched alternator and larger power wires are much more effective than any cap could ever be.
A Cap will only store an minimal amount ot energy. When large bass hits come into the amp, it needs all the power it can gather, to meet that demand. In severe cases, the amp will steal power from the head lights, A/C blower... wherever it can find . The Cap can give you a quick shot of extra power, but only for a few milli-seconds. Then it runs out of gas and has to recharge again.
Having adequate battery storage capacity... no problem as the amp will just draw what is needed from the battery while the alternator refills that momentary loss of current.
Caps are nothing more than miniture batteries. They too, store energy... but have a mere fraction of storage capacity that a typical 600 CCA rated battery has. A very poor bandaid approch to power management.
If your lights were dimming on large bass hits, upgrading the battery to a larger CCA rating (say.. +800 CCA) and adding larger power wires between ALT/BAT and a larger wire to ground off negative battery terminal, will usually resolve that.
Most stock power wires in the average car are #8/6 gage wire. Just changing these to say #4 gage, will help a lot and cost less than $20.00.
Hope that explains Caps to your satisfaction,
Swez
compvr15s on 03/21/2003 20:27:10
thanx swez, so should i just get rid of the cap all together. and add bigger cables between my alt and my battery, and would a dry cell with high cca help too. i have 4awg wire for pos and neg. ground is only about 8 inches long and grounded to a sanded bare metal area. i just dont wanna fry my amp. if i go ahead and get a dry cell should i still use my regular battery for the car and use the dry cell for my system and use that stinger product(cant think of what its called). if that dont fix it ill have to upgrade my alt right? if i have to do that ican i just get the 150 amp rebuild kit cuz i have 105 right now and its got some power draw with the cap hooped up right now. thanx again
Swez on 03/22/2003 08:54:13
Depending on the amp used and how hard you push it, may nt have to do much more than upgrade the ALT/BAT wire gages. I'd start there.
If you still have power management issues (light dimming) then going to a larger battery would be your next choice. Dry cell, Deep cycle batteries work for situations where you routinely draw high amounts of current with the engine not running. But for normal engine start and such, use a standard battery design with a high CCA rating.
No need to spend a ton of extra cash on big brand name batteries either. Diehard, Interstate and NAPA brands will do the job just fine. The trick here, fitting that larger battery into the existing space and battery cage. A little fabrication will ususally do the trick.
About using 2 batteries... not an easy solution as this puts more strain on the alternator, need an isolator system to charge both batteries and a few other challenges. Not recommended here, unless you are running SPL Comp amps that demand 200A or higher current draw.
About that 105 alt... is usally adequate for audio amp systems rated under 1500 watts RMS power output. If a GM product, there are several alt versions available from GM (aftermarket) that drop right in. You can get 120, 140 and 165A versions that drop right in the space you have now. If you feel you need more Alt power than that, there are places that you can obtain ultra-high output models... but not cheap! You can buy kits for minor upgrades... 105-120A and be OK. But if going larger, best to just buy one that is already fitted with proper regulator, brush kits, diodes, stator and field coils.
No need to buy expensive OEM units from a dealer, at ~$400.00 a pop. I have found local autoparts stores that offer rebuilts for well under $150.00. A new (not refurb) may cost >$200, but with most refurb life time warranties... why spend the extra cash.
Finally, about that Cap... if you can sell it, use the cash to upgrade as noted above.
Good luck,
Swez
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