Cap?

[VXcommforlife]

I was cruisin around with mates the other night and we where talking about my subs and a mate of mine said you should get a cap and i was wondering what it is and what it does?

[Juztin]

He may be referring to capacitor?, thats about the only thing I can relate it to lol.

Wait for the Pro's to answer =P

[davway]

id say capacitor as well.
someone will tell you why.

[VXcommforlife]

id say capacitor as well.
someone will tell you why.

yea it is called a capacitor but is it worth putting in or not.

[Devils_Thunder]

A capacitor is a device that stores charge (power). When your sub kicks it draws a lot of power (spike) from your battery.
When this happens you may get your headlights and interior lights dimming because there is not enough power for both, a capacitor helps to compensate the battery with it's stored charge.

[holdenboy]

A capacitor is not worth incorporating into your system, headlight dimming can be solved by upgrading your earth cable/s under the bonnet. If the problem persists then a bigger / higher quality / second battery will solve it, provided your alternator is charging fine.

This has been covered before and has caused dissagreements, basically everyone has an opinion on this and as you can see from my above statment im not a beleiver in capacitors

[Post Vintage]

Screw the disagreements, I have been involved in car audio for 11 years now and he is on the money with everything said there.

In my bimmer I run a Century "High Performance" (Top of the Century range) N70Z (4WD Battery) and 0 gauge (85mm lugs) cable to my amp. The alternator is the factory 140A unit . I have a P4 2.8Ghz computer, a power inverter running it, a 15" LCD screen and two other amps for my front and rear speakers and the one single battery does fine. There is three 0 gauge earth cables grounding the battery also.

Make sure cable size is overkill and you get a new battery. Get another ground cable for your battery and earth it somewhere good where it will contact alot of clean metal.

[StoneX]

A capacitor is not worth incorporating into your system, headlight dimming can be solved by upgrading your earth cable/s under the bonnet. If the problem persists then a bigger / higher quality / second battery will solve it, provided your alternator is charging fine.

No.

Headlight dimming is the voltage dropping. This is usually the voltage dropping from the alternator voltage (14.x) to the battery voltage (12.x)... Having a second battery doesn't stop that dimming, it just helps stop the voltage dropping so low (below 12v) that damage is caused to amplifiers.

[acarmody]

If I may hijack the thread a little. I have some headlight dimming in my car to the point where I can see the difference when I'm driving, its not a huge drop or anything but I don't want to attract unwanted attention. I have 0gauge to boot and 0gauge from negative to strut tower, a D34 Yellow top and the alternator is fine, is there anything else I could do?

[holdenboy]

StoneX.....yes i know how headlight dimming is caused, most of the time it can be solved by upgrading your earths under the bonnet, what i should have suggested after that is to get your alternator looked at. Bad headlight dimming usually means the voltage is dropping below 12.x volts (battery voltage) anyway, hence the reason for me suggesting a new/bigger/second battery.

acarmody.....i would run another earth from the neg. terminal to the engine block etc.(alternator housing bolt is ideal), just to make sure your getting as much charge current as possible.

[acarmody]

Another earth? Oh well off to JB to get some 0gauge. It still has the factory earth as well as the 0gauge to the strut tower.

Is it worth the money to get some good battery terminals? I can get the stinger dual 0gauge for both + and - (+ having digital display) for about $160.