I think that these w$#nky 1F capacitors are a load of nonsense (especially the glowing ones or the ones with built in volt meters 
) They might give some benefit at the end of a long pair of cables with significant resistance, but that’s a pretty lousy way to install an OTT high power amplifier system anyway.
The internal impedance of one of these units will be inferior to that of a car battery.
Where is your amplifier(s) located? If it is in the boot then the best option is to relocate the battery into the boot.
) They might give some benefit at the end of a long pair of cables with significant resistance, but that’s a pretty lousy way to install an OTT high power amplifier system anyway. The internal impedance of one of these units will be inferior to that of a car battery.
Where is your amplifier(s) located? If it is in the boot then the best option is to relocate the battery into the boot.
built said:
Nothing of significance.
Here is a good way to test for yourself the capability of a 1F capacitor over a car battery
1) Charge up your 1F capacitor
2) Connect in parallel with your engines starter motor.
3) Activate the starter motor solenoid.
4) Take note of how many revolutions the engine cranks over.
....well i just mount the amp underneath my front seat.
1.shorter run
2.lower cost
3.lower voltage drop
4.shorter rca cables
5.better ground spot via seatbelt hole
6.warm in the winter (oh wait theres no winter over here)
ac has lower loss travelling across long distances than dc...
yes i am cheap.
1.shorter run
2.lower cost
3.lower voltage drop
4.shorter rca cables
5.better ground spot via seatbelt hole
6.warm in the winter (oh wait theres no winter over here)
ac has lower loss travelling across long distances than dc...
yes i am cheap.
Nelson River Bipole. +/- 500KVDC. One of many HVDC transmission lines.
Its only done for long distances, underseas, and/or to connect between grids due to the costs of the rectification and inversion plants. These costs are coming down, so its application is spreading.
Every car amp over 20 watts/channel "transforms" DC to a higher voltage.
Its only done for long distances, underseas, and/or to connect between grids due to the costs of the rectification and inversion plants. These costs are coming down, so its application is spreading.
Every car amp over 20 watts/channel "transforms" DC to a higher voltage.
The energy stored in a 1F capacitor has little value in this situation. If you have the room, another battery would be considerably more effective and cost about the same price.
Sure, a capacitor can provide huge instantaneous current flow, but the energy is VERY quickly depleted and then the capacitor just turns into another load on the system while it is trying to recharge. Not very useful at all.
Sure, a capacitor can provide huge instantaneous current flow, but the energy is VERY quickly depleted and then the capacitor just turns into another load on the system while it is trying to recharge. Not very useful at all.
One real situation:
One person that I know had problems with sound with his old Alpine amp. And he had good thick cables from battery.
And he measured with oscilloscope on amp end: the amp input voltage dropped to less that 3 volts at switching frequency. That was calculated over 1k amps of current.
4 pcs of 0.25F caps helped(right next to amp, mounted on copper bar), and sound was good after that.
One person that I know had problems with sound with his old Alpine amp. And he had good thick cables from battery.
And he measured with oscilloscope on amp end: the amp input voltage dropped to less that 3 volts at switching frequency. That was calculated over 1k amps of current.
4 pcs of 0.25F caps helped(right next to amp, mounted on copper bar), and sound was good after that.
Perry Babin said:
following this entire thread, I learned this:
adding a cap is a matter of 'each to his own'. it simply depends on what you expect a cap to do. if you expect it to replace a battery and start a car engine, then you will be disappointed. if you just want to reduce headlight dimming then it is money well spent.
As mentioned previously...
THIS IS DIY AUDIO.
Try it for yourself and form your OWN opinion.
The cost for a cap is not outrageous, and it CAN be resold if you don't feel the price /performance ratio was not adequate.
In a perfect environment there would be no need for a cap. I have yet to see an automobile which qualifies as a perfect environment. Some are worse than others so benefits vary.
20 yrs ago when we were stringing together BANKS of 80v 10K uf caps because the 60-70 amp alternators were not strong enough and they DID make a HUGE difference. It has become MY norm to stick with that habit as it worked. I have not owned a car stereo without a cap for over 15 yrs. Newer vehicles and amps may have negated the need but I wouldn't know as I still have a trusty 20v 1Fd cap feeding my a/d/s/ P640.2 and Orion 2125sx.
The newer vehicles with towing packages come with 150 amp alternators. I was floored when I saw that. Forget the boat, you could run a mobile DJ service out of that!
Again, it is easy to try it for yourself.
Lastly, PEACE everyone.. This is suppose to be a hobby and FUN.
THIS IS DIY AUDIO.
Try it for yourself and form your OWN opinion.
The cost for a cap is not outrageous, and it CAN be resold if you don't feel the price /performance ratio was not adequate.
In a perfect environment there would be no need for a cap. I have yet to see an automobile which qualifies as a perfect environment. Some are worse than others so benefits vary.
20 yrs ago when we were stringing together BANKS of 80v 10K uf caps because the 60-70 amp alternators were not strong enough and they DID make a HUGE difference. It has become MY norm to stick with that habit as it worked. I have not owned a car stereo without a cap for over 15 yrs. Newer vehicles and amps may have negated the need but I wouldn't know as I still have a trusty 20v 1Fd cap feeding my a/d/s/ P640.2 and Orion 2125sx.
The newer vehicles with towing packages come with 150 amp alternators. I was floored when I saw that. Forget the boat, you could run a mobile DJ service out of that!
Again, it is easy to try it for yourself.
Lastly, PEACE everyone.. This is suppose to be a hobby and FUN.
The trouble with a lot of the caps around these days is they are cheap quality and that means they have high ESR ( Equivalent Series Resistance) which means that their ability to provide the high discharge of current required is severely hampered at best, some of the non electrolytic caps around actually drain power so bad that the manufacturers actually recommend fitting a relay to the cap to disconnect the cap from the system when the engine is not running....
I personally have not had any noticeable improvements when using stiffening caps.....
I personally have not had any noticeable improvements when using stiffening caps.....
Imo
I'd rather take the extra $ for a cap and put it towards more wire strands to feed my amps. I'm sure its nice to have a small storage device for short impacts, but the cap doesn't sustain any extra energy for a reasonable amount of time. They are designed mainly for keeping dc voltage smooth... to prevent ripple. They aren't going to give any extra energy that isn't already coming through the wire. Do you really need that extra .25 seconds of slightly higher voltage? (<just for example.. of course every amp/wire/capacitor combonation would vary)
I'd rather take the extra $ for a cap and put it towards more wire strands to feed my amps. I'm sure its nice to have a small storage device for short impacts, but the cap doesn't sustain any extra energy for a reasonable amount of time. They are designed mainly for keeping dc voltage smooth... to prevent ripple. They aren't going to give any extra energy that isn't already coming through the wire. Do you really need that extra .25 seconds of slightly higher voltage? (<just for example.. of course every amp/wire/capacitor combonation would vary)
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