Capacitor needed?
02-27-2006, 06:28 PM
#1
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Capacitor needed?
i just bought a alpine m450 mono amplifier. It's going to be pushing 450 watts in 2 ohm to my one 12inch sub. My question is, do you think I will need a capacitor for my car or do you think my car will be fine without one?
02-28-2006, 08:03 AM
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Once you get it hooked up and have it running, see if you can notice your lights dimming at all. Im running a 12" hx2 and a mono kenwood I think 1000 watt, something around there, and at nights I noticed that the headlights would flicker a bit. So i went onto Ebay and picked up a 1 farad cap for like 70 bucks or something. Fixed the problem and not to difficult to install. Hope this helps.
03-01-2006, 09:30 AM
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Originally Posted by hardtocope
i doubt 400 watts will need a capacitor. Also does the gain on the amplifier control output of power the amp puts out?
03-01-2006, 11:16 AM
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I'm only running like 375 watts and my lights look like they want to shut off when it's cranked up. Dash lights also. An audio place down the street from my house sells 1.5 farad caps for like $50. Just too cheap and lazy to get one.
03-01-2006, 01:09 PM
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I'm running a Kenwood 1200 watt Mono Amp with a 500 Watt Max 150 Watt RMS Pioneer 12" and my lights don't dim unless I crank it to the point where I feel like I'm gonna throw up.
03-01-2006, 02:00 PM
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I suggest a capacitor..... do you have to have it no you dont.... will it save your battery..... yes
Any time you add a device to the vehicle that draws more crank power it is a good idea to add a capacitor. One battery life and two performance. Everything runs off the same crank if you have a ss/sc you should definately buy a capacitor.
Any time you add a device to the vehicle that draws more crank power it is a good idea to add a capacitor. One battery life and two performance. Everything runs off the same crank if you have a ss/sc you should definately buy a capacitor.
03-01-2006, 02:03 PM
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A capacitor will help smooth out the draw when the sub hits a low, loud beat. You will notice a difference in how your lights work when the sub is hitting a momentary beat. It will not help as much with sustained notes due to the fact that it will discharge quickly.
It is a very very good idea to do in a new car, especially if you have an automatic transmission. The voltage drop can cause the computers to mess up, and in the case of the transmission the solenoids will not work and the trans cant shift until the voltage comes back up.
Needless to say its a good idea.
It is a very very good idea to do in a new car, especially if you have an automatic transmission. The voltage drop can cause the computers to mess up, and in the case of the transmission the solenoids will not work and the trans cant shift until the voltage comes back up.
Needless to say its a good idea.
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