Will adding a Capacitor help??

rcj_houston · May 6, 2004

Hey everyone. I need a bit more info than I got when I did a search on Capacitor, so here goes...

1. 03' Tahoe

2. New 1200 Watt Sub Amp (Makes the diet Dr Pepper foam in your stomach)

3. New 1200 watt Sony Explode 1200watt bandpass box

4. 260 watt 4 channel amp (bridged to 2 ohms and 520watts) It's ear piercing!

5. Rockford fosgate "piece" from stereo to convert to plug type connectors.

6. Signal isolator to eliminate signal noise form alt.

Ok (inhails) question is when I am really cranking on this system, my headlights blink with each bass hit. TOTALLY ANNOYING! I did all of the installation myself including mounting both amps to a board and under the middle seats.

My alternator puts out right at 160amps, and I calculated the stereo system to draw around 143 amps at full tilt, so I know with running the accessories etc I could probably use a new alternator...eventually...but I do not run it at full volume all the time. I mainly do it do drown out all those fart muffler people at the lights. It's priceless when they see its a 37 year old man in his grown up station wagon!!

Will adding a capacitor to the main power supply line eliminate this blinking effect? Then again...it will save me the money of investing in those blinking head light kits...what to do...what to do.....

Thanx to everyone in advance!

Cheers

Firetiger(MN) · May 6, 2004

Yes, a capacitor will help to eliminate the blink in the lights. Every bass note hit draws a significant amount of power (surge) from the battery robbing it from the lights, etc. A cap will absorb the surge and keep the voltage from dipping. I had two 12" Kickers in my car and put in caps to help and they did a wonderful job.

Also make sure your ground wire is the same size in gauge as the power wire to your amps. That can make a difference as well if you skimped on the grounds.

I miss my system....

rcj_houston · May 6, 2004

Also make sure your ground wire is the same size in gauge as the power wire to your amps. That can make a difference as well if you skimped on the grounds.

The ground wire to the second amp is not up to par. I will fix that this weekend. It is about 1/2 the size of the ground on my sub amp...grrr. Great catch. I will also purchase a Capacitor in the next week or two. Thanx for the help Sir! One more reason I love this site!

Cheers

Firetiger(MN) · May 7, 2004

No problem!

The ground wire won't cure your problem completely, but it will help some.

I did the same thing with my ground and was corrected by a experienced installer. The capacitor will do the trick for sure. I had six smaller caps arranged that looked like a 6-pack of beer! They were cheaper but still did the same thing as the dolled-up stereo shop ones did.

Wingnut · May 7, 2004

I am only running 1500 watts or so, but the cap pretty much eliminated the headlight dimming problem that I was having.

On the other hand, I'm only running about 400 watts in the 92, with a 1 farad cap...And it didn't help a bit. I had to get a bigger alternator.

/$0.02

Animeboy · May 10, 2004

If you do end up installing a larger Alternator, you might think about running an Isolator to another Battery and have your system run off it as well as adding a Cap.

Mark

GM GIMP · May 10, 2004

I have no idea what you guys are talking about.

I just turn on the old factory unit and there she goes.

Actually, I might try a "FLUX CAPACITOR"

rcj_houston · May 11, 2004

I might try a "FLUX CAPACITOR"

If it works, bring me back about 20 of those 1/4 amp draw 1000watt amps please!!

rhilton · May 11, 2004

I know it's a really long write up, but look into this before you buy a cap.

http://www.fordexplorer.net/viewtopic.php?t=3646

BuiltNotBought · May 25, 2004

You will need atleast a 1.0 farad capacitor.

maroonsilverado · May 28, 2004

actually with you already running a 160 amp altenator you could probably get you a relay and put a second battery in the back. just depends on what kind of other accessories you are trying to run or might have to run......i.e. winch, aux. lights, wipers, etc. BUT, if you decide to put a 2nd battery in you're going to want a relay or isolater.....one of the 2. if not your 2 batteries will drain each other down while your car is off. and if you put a 2nd battery in i STRONGLY recommend you put a dry cell in the cabin (i.e. optima). eliminates the chance of the battery spilling and you inhaling toxic fumes.

as for the capacitor......it's recommended you add 1 farad for every 1000 watts. is that 1200 watt amp you speak of 1200 watts peak or 1200 watts rms? if it's peak then that means you're running 600 rms (rough guess) and the other amp is putting about 600 also. so a 1 farad cap would serve your purposes well. if it's 1200 rms and the other amp is pushing 600 that puts you at 1800......which would mean you would need a 1.5 or 2 farad cap......and that's all in theory. in reality you'd probably notice a difference with a good 1 farad cap.

and something most people forget when they upgrade their altenator is to upgrade the wiring from the alt to the battery. this is something that should be done from the get-go IMO. just get you a piece of 4 ga audio power wire and run it from the alt. to the battery, and leave the stock wiring alone. in other words you're just adding a piece of wire instead of replacing. also wouldn't hurt to upgrade your ground wire from the battery to the chassis.

and last but not least you could ignore the first 2 options and get you a bigger altenator and a bigger battery under the hood. would be just as effective as the capacitor. and adding the 2nd battery would be your best bet in eliminating the dimming all together.

im running close to 2000 watts rms in my girlfriends grand am and her lights dont dim the slightest little bit........even with the wipers going, a/c on high, lights on, stopped at a stop light, and rolling the windows down all at the same time lol.......and she's got a bigger altenator, 2 batteries, and a 1 farad capacitor