whats a capacitator

[d-UNiT]

what exactly is it?

whats its functions and why should i get one for my system

(feroz at soundsarround was pressuring me into it)

[Primer_Drift]

Mods please move this to the I.C.E. section,

Refer to this (http://cardiscountstereos.com/Caps.asp) D-unit.
Good on you for not folding to salesman pressure without knowing what it does:thumbsup:

[d-UNiT]

sorry for wrong section i wasnt quite sure, and now im glad to know what one does!

[Weapon_R]

You shouldn't get one, its not needed.

[d-UNiT]

are you sure cuz the system drains quite a bit of power from my battery and i often idol low

[EK 2.0]

Originally posted by Weapon_R
You shouldn't get one, its not needed.

BUT...Firoz said it was a good idea and he has spinners...if kids like these dont buy shit from him he won't be able to buy more spinners...

[d-UNiT]

lol true that dogg

spinners on an accord is cool :thumbsdow

can you say mid life crisis?

*** [ maybe 3/4 life crisis :tongue: ] ***

[spike98]

I second weapons input. If you are having current draw problems then you should get a new alternator. All a cap will do is minimumly stabilize the voltage, maybe ~0.2V. It will do nothing for the amprage draw.

[Weapon_R]

Originally posted by d-UNiT
are you sure cuz the system drains quite a bit of power from my battery and i often idol low

Then spend the money on a decent alternator. Better yet, if its for your CRX, go down to pick and pull and get 2 alternators from there. They'll run you about 30 dollars. That way, if your alternator goes, you have 2 more.

Think about it: If you're worried about your alternator going, why spend $150 for something that won't save it anyways (trust me, even if some guy named Feroz says it will, he's trying to build up his commission). Use that money to buy a new alternator or 5 used ones.

[BumpinTalon]

haha! I've finally stuck it to the man and convinced people that caps are useless

for a short description of why they are no good, read the second post here:
http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.php?s=&threadid=85474

and for a longer one, read my two posts in here:
http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.php?s=&threadid=88552

[braden883314]

A cap holds charge, keeps your headlights from goin dim and sorta flickering when the bass is goin

~Braden

[BumpinTalon]

Originally posted by braden883314
A cap holds charge, keeps your headlights from goin dim and sorta flickering when the bass is goin

~Braden

read the two links I gave. it just gives the appearance of helping. it does not actually solve the problem, in fact, it will kill your alt & bat faster.

[d-UNiT]

thanks a lot guys


fucking firoz

im just glad i decided to talk it over with the fine people here

[lastprodigy]

its called a capacitor....it just holds some charge for those thumping bass spots so your lights dont go dim but will drain your battery/alt more, it looks nice n ot extremely functional so i would say waste of money, unless you wanna look h-core with your system in the trunk but i dont thinkt ahts the case with your 87 rex

[d-UNiT]

yes we all know my rex is a peice of shit

this is beside the point

i just wanted to see if it helped at all, it probably is my alt, cuz my battery is a fairly new motormaster one

oh well i dont intend on sticking with the rex for too long

hence wtb integra thx

[lastprodigy]

Originally posted by d-UNiT
yes we all know my rex is a peice of shit

this is beside the point

i just wanted to see if it helped at all, it probably is my alt, cuz my battery is a fairly new motormaster one

oh well i dont intend on sticking with the rex for too long

hence wtb integra thx

haha sorry dude i haven seen your car im just assuming thats its not a show car or a trunk you wanna show off..........didntmean it the wrong way!!!.......firoz sold me a capacitor when i was 16 for 2 type S's haha....luckily i sold it and got my money back!.....he still hooks it up though

[d-UNiT]

frioz is pure gong show, and i know you didnt mean it like that, im not offended, im not gonna deny it either dude, it gets me from point a to b with music so its good in my books for now

[Truckguy]

Caps can help in the right situation. But not to stop your lights from diming. Your battery, and Alternator are more important. A cap will help smooth out the voltage going to your amps. It is there to provide a quick discharge when the amps require it (usually for a heavy bass note.) The general rule of thumb for caps is to have 1 Farad per 1000 w of amplifier.

[BumpinTalon]

Originally posted by Truckguy
Caps can help in the right situation. But not to stop your lights from diming. Your battery, and Alternator are more important. A cap will help smooth out the voltage going to your amps. It is there to provide a quick discharge when the amps require it (usually for a heavy bass note.) The general rule of thumb for caps is to have 1 Farad per 1000 w of amplifier.

the amp already has more capacitance then that BUILT INTO the amp. adding another cap is a waste.

[SWX]

Originally posted by BumpinTalon


the amp already has more capacitance then that BUILT INTO the amp. adding another cap is a waste.

NO amp i have ever seen has that much capacitance built in it. And no it would not be a waste as long as all the rest of the electrical system is in good working order along with up graded grounds and proper power wire is installed.

[b_t]

it is a complete waste.
every component you add to your system is another drain on the battery and alternator your car has to handle. if everything was 100% efficient, then a cap would not be a waste, but you "pay tax" every time you have to charge the cap and on everything that goes through the cap, and that is why they are pointless.
...my alpine has just under a farad of capacitance. :dunno:

[JordanEG6]

we are missing the point here. he asked what it is and it consists of an insulating dielectric sitting between 2 concucting polarized plates. when the current is moving positive direction it charges the voltage and eventually charges fully creating an open circuit. once the source is cut off the cap begins to discharge the oposite direction as long as it has a discharge path shorting the circuit until the current and voltage eventually dissipates its power through a resistor.

phew...thank god for EET. :bigpimp:

HHAHAHAHAHA :rofl: :rofl:

[pikamonk]

lol. Alright. Simple answer? Don't get one, you don't need it.

IF you are having dimming problems etc. check wiring first. Make sure your grounds are all good etc. Consider upgrading the "big 3" not sure if it's been discussed much in these forums (yeah... I'm a newbie) but over in sounddomain it's usually one of the first things people suggest. Off the top of my head neg on batt to neg chassis, neg engine block, pos to alt make them as big as you can do. 0/1, 4 awg. Wahtever you want and fuse it.

2nd of all, don't get another battery or cap if you are having electrical problems. Even if your alt is a little small you shouldn't have problems up until greater than 1000W on a 80-ish amp alt. (guesstimate) If you do, it's wiring or a problem with the amplifier. The ONLY reason to get a 2nd or better battery is to have greater runtime when the engine is off. To eliminate all these things... you could simply wire your stereo straight to your alternator and you wouldn't have to worry about any extra draw from the battery, cap etc. It's been recommended, but I've never used it personally since I wouldn' want to listen to music ONLY when my car is on. Depends on the application. Anyway here's a loooongggg article by Richard Clark about caps and batteries. If you don't know who he is, do a google search. Him and David Navone, I guess, are the "godfathers of car audio'

http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=208812

[Nate25]

Only way you'd need it is if your amp was cutting or clipping then you CAN get one. Or like said before get a better alternator. Getting a better battery could help but you'd get a better result from a alternator

[pikamonk]

Originally posted by Nate25
Only way you'd need it is if your amp was cutting or clipping then you CAN get one. Or like said before get a better alternator. Getting a better battery could help but you'd get a better result from a alternator

wrong. don't just put a bandaid on the problem. Fix it.