I'm using a 12" JL sub with 200 watts and my amp is 400 watt max. When sometimes running lights my amp cuts out at idle. I would like to use my system at the drive through movies but what good would it do if I cant use my sub on battery for 2 hours. So I need help choosing a what farad I need?

I personally run 2 12" Rockford HX2s of a Rockford 501s Amp advertised 1500 watts (not likely) and an additional amp maybe 400w max, I don't know it's an old old Alpine amp for the 6x9s all off a Tsunami 10 farad cap. Don't waste time on those 1 farads they don't cure anything. However, I still wouldn't trust running it for long lengths of time with the car off. Best bet IMO would be a 2nd batt for the drive in movie thing.

10 farad? So you have a 10,000W system?

I put a .5 farad cap on my 1200W amp with one 12"
and it did the trick.

magadith,

what have you done to upgrade the underhood wiring? that will make a big difference. not a fan of caps unless you've done everything you can to upgrade the electrical system. Also, a cap is not going to prolong the time you can play your system; only a bigger battery will do that.

dont waste your time with a cap. do the big 3 instead. i got a 2 farad cap on my 1800 watt (max) amp and its 40 bucks ill never see again. but generally the rule to go by is 1 farad per 1000 watts

Wiring, and or alternator issue.

Deep cycle second battery, or AAA

i only got 600W to mine with no cap, and have no issue with it, im also running a powermaster alt to, a cap on a 400W system is a band-aid, caps to me are for rice, its something to "look cool"

Why do people say caps are pointless?! i put one in my car and it made a HUGE difference..

2 years ago I had most of the wiring replaced.
The Alternator is fairly new too and I have no room for a second battery since my trunk space is all speaker box.

Again, if your goal is to be able to prolong the playing of your system (like at the drive in), a cap will not help you. The only option you have here is to either get a spare battery or get more efficient amplifiers (class d and similar).

However, you really should not be dimming on only one amp. What amperage is your alt?

look into kinetik batteries you can use them on there own or in line with your normal car battery

13.5 when running lights.

that would be your voltage, not your amperage. I don't know about the early 3rd gens, but the later ones got 105 amp alts. IIRC, some of the earlier ones got 65 amp alts, which could possibly explain your issue.

do you know what a cap is or what it does? it basically regulates the power going to the amp. if you cant feed this cap to recharge it in time after the amp sucks the power out of it, it is rendered useless. soo you need to upgrade the wiring, and if done right the cap isnt needed at all. now keep in mind im no capacitor expert, im just a 2nd year electrician but thats the way i understand caps if im wrong someone please correct me

Capacitors DO make a difference. I personally said screw paying that kind of money for a cap when you can just run a secondary power source just for your audio. I personally got a Kinetik power cell. Check out there site at http://www.kinetikaudio.com/2009/default.asp.

My local car audio place sells these so i got a used one from a guy there who needed the HC2400 for his system(its crazy). Im not going to down a capacitor but for the money you can get something with alot more "farad per dollar." I ran my system on full blast at a buddies grad party from college for an hour straight. The car started right up perfectly and guage was exactly where it should. I still am running the OEM alternator and never have any charging, dimming, or any power related problems (well my windows take forever to go up, but this is not a power problem...lol).

Either way lets get on to "does it make a difference". OMG it was night and day to me. Check out my profile for pics of the power cell and my system. Dont get me wrong it hit hard before...but now its so much cleaner and it hits alot harder. Ive never had one person tell me that my system wasnt nice(both loud and quality). The power cell really helped me out and i love the fact that i can bump with the car off and not have to worry about losing a charge.

...as of right now i have the system all out cause it weighs so much and it was causing bad gas mileage. I also want to upgrade to componet speakers all the way around with a 4 channel amp. I like loud but i like quality sound and im just not gettin that with the 4x6 and 6x9's that i have now.

To rap it all up...sry for the long post....Go get yourself a power cell. You wont regret it. I paid $150 for mine from a buddy(it came in the orginal box and was only used for 2 months). The model i have HC800 retails for $199 and is as powerful as 200 1 farad capacitors. Read the site if you dont believe me.

that looks like a deep cycle battery to me which is a damn good idea for any system imo

Your absolutely right. It is a deep cycle battery. In the car audio sales world they call it a power cell it help boost sales. haha you know how it goes. I personally run a Optima Red-Top battery up front due to being good for starting and run the power cell out back to power my audio. I do have them wired together as to assist eachother so its not a true stand alone secondary power system. Like you stated its great idea to have. Personallly i think its the best way to go.

If your overloading your alternator, you should get a higher amp alternator. I Would personally go with a high amp alternator and a Batcap. Its a battery and capacitor hybrid, they work very well. Also how many amps is your systems drawing and what gauge wiring are you using?

The cap in easier terms just takes the strain off of the alternator. at least thats what i've noticed. My car without the cap would have the lights dim all the time and since i put the cap in my lights and electronics run fine. And my battery has not died yet like it would

if you regulate the power to the amp its not going to suck power from the system which would cause the lights to dim. like i said a cap regulates power. so i suppose its not "useless" but rather just a luxury, helps the alternator and battery by not putting a huge load on it over and over. and it also depends on the system, like i said before ive got an 1800 watt amp running two 1500 watt subs (all max watts btw cant remember the rms) and in my experience the cap alone did very little. had to upgrade the wiring. what is the wattage of your system?

Caps are a HUGE waste of money. Do the big 3 and go from there. Big 3 is the BEST bang for the buck. If you still have issues...then a cap won't help.

1st off caps are by no means a long type of storage there made for QUICK bursts of energy.... for example i have a curcit breaker on my system i turn it off the subs pound hard about 2x more times b4 the cap is out of electricity.....

by adding a cap in series you will actually get slightly less voltage to ur system..... because it adds resistance (less voltage = less power)

caps are a good bandaid by helping even out the current drop on the cars electrical system

caps help take slightly take stress off of alts but so would a 2nd batt

your amp isnt all that big so the best idea would be to just get a good batt if ur planning on running the system off for a long time a 2nd one would proably be the best idea.

if dimming headlights are also an issue BIG 3 BABBY!!!!!!

where do you guys put your second battery without removing the spare tire, putting in the back seats, or in the trunk? I can't possibly think of place where you could put a 2nd battery in our cars without giving up one of the three.

Any reason you'd be against putting it in the "cubby" on the driver side? Remove the cardboard liner (if it hasn't disappeared previously) and toss it in there. Out of sight, out of mind. just make sure to get a battery box and vent it if its a lead acid battery.

it fits? that thing is tiny

I have a Kinetik HC800 Power cell in the "cubby" aka the lockbox in the back. Check my profile in the album...i have a picture of it in there....also leave any comments you have on my work in progress!...thanx

you could put it in the compartment in the trunk on the driver side. Its out of site and I really dont use it.

I agree with the theme of these posts - cap is a waste of money. Upgrade to an optima or stinger deep cycle, and upgrade the big 3 and you'll be good to go. I'm running about 1400 watts between my subs and interior speakers, and all i have is an optima. Still gotta upgrade the big 3 - but never had a cap, never needed one.