okay so i hooked up my cap tonight and after i charge it it starts loosing charge right away, farily quickly to and it didnt stop my lights dimming i have an 1800 peak amp powering two 1500 peak subs with a 2 farad cap and im wondering why my cap drains so damn quick right after charging

 

That's what it's suppose to do, it's meant to give quick short bursts of current to your amps when they need it.

If you're having light dimming problems, you need to look at your power source. A cap is actually putting more of a strain on your already strained electrical system.

Sometime you can put a cap in a system and it might appear to fix the headlight dimming problem, but really that's just a bandaid fix. To really fix it, you need to upgrade all your wiring (big 3) and upgrade your alternator.

 

[quote=cdoyle;3553882]That's what it's suppose to do, it's meant to give quick short bursts of current to your amps when they need it.
quote]
i know its suposed to drain what im saying is it drains after i charge it with my stereo OFF theres no aparent reason for it to drainthe amp is nto on and has no power going to it by the time i remove the test light and putt the fuse back in ive lost about 3volts at the cap and if i dont put the fuse back in the cap drains to 7 volts climbs back up to 13 then blinks the number 6 on the digital readout with no power source to it

 

It is normal for it to loose its charge with nothing connected to it. Your battery looses it's charge with nothing connected to it too.How long in time is it taking to discharge?

 

about one volt per second

 

Are you chargeing it up with a resistor in series with it? are you removeing the resistor after chargeing and before you turn the stereo/amp on?

 

im using a test light that came with it and the amp is off

 

what is the name and model # of the cap?
Many caps come with a resister that is used only when initially chargeing them. after which it is removed. did your cap come with one? The resistor isn't the same as the test light. The resisters' purpose is to charge the cap slowly so the altinater doesn't have a heart-attack.

 

So incorrect....

A test light is the very same thing as a resistor in this case. In fact ma ny caps come with small incandesant bulbs used for the sole purpose of charging and discharging the cap. The light bulb approach gives visual confirmation that the cap is charged or charging. With the bulb in series with the voltage source, during charging the bulb will start bright and slowly dim until it's off indicating that the cap is charged. During a discahrge where you place the bulb leads across the positive and negitive cap terminals, the same effect applies, starts off bright and dims down to off indicating that it's discharged.

The alternator won't care about the cap, it will be charged long before the alternator is even a thought. If the resistor or bulb wasn't used the cap would charge instantly, and in some cases this can cause the cap to explode, or vent due to pressure created within the cap during a quick charge event. It is this slow charge that is the purpose of the resistor/bulb, to charge at a slow and safe rate.

 

My bad. When he mentioned "test light" I thought he was useing a test light to determine the voltage drop. not for the chargeing. So my question still remains: is it disconnected after the charge process and before running the system?
Something is draining the cap or preventing it from chargeing dureing it's duty cycle. the resistor/"test light" would do just that.