What is there to know about capacitors? How many farads? what the hell is a farad? And what brands to look form which to avoid?

It seems like anytime i see that someone has a cap i think subconciously, "whoah, that dude knows what they're doing" but Walmart sells caps.

Does neon and digital display make it sound any better?
oigh

 

capacitance is the ability of a dielectic to store electric charge.. it is measured in farads... a rule of thumb is 1 farad for every 1000w... the brand does not really matter.. the digital read outs it not going to make it work any better... and depending on who you talk to they will say that caps are a good thing or a big waste of money... to me caps have a purpose but they are not going to help with dimming lights... they are used to keep the voltage to the amp constant.. this is important during deep bass notes to keep the amp from clipping the output signal..

 

exactly. I got one because I have 1100 watts RMS in my system. Mine also has a voltage read out, something that is cool and helpfull. Turns out that with my system blasting, AC on, heated seats on, and lights on...the voltage never drops below 13 volts. So our stock electrical system is pretty solid, but a capacitor deffinately DOES NOT hurt. If they dont help with the lights...mine dont dim anyway, they do help the strain on your battery and alternator. I blew out my truck alternator within 6 months with my previous system...it couldnt keep up.

I believe the capacitor can help this, plus you know your amps are getting the highest and smoothest power possible. I have also read that they help to reduce alternator whine...dont know for sure, but I do know that I have no problem with this.

here is a pic of where mine is

 

I believe they will help out with dynamic bass notes and music and not with ones that are longer. The cap will not be able to sustain or recharge during a continuous bass not, but is ideal for short dynamic musicc. So I guess it depends what you want out of it and what kind of music you really listen to. and yeah 1 farad for every 1000 watts is the rule of thumb.

 

that's why they call them "stiffening capacitor". I can maintain higher voltage to your amp's power supply for a bass hit. But they won't resolve voltage drop due to bad electrical system. In fact, if your alternator can't keep up to feed your amp, it can be worse if you add a cap because then it will have to charge up the cap while trying to feed the amp and the voltage while drop even more. Think about a 25 hp nitro shot. It can make you faster for a few second, but if you hold it because your car have much less power than you need, your engine will eventualy die. Caps will do the same thing to your system. it will help providing to your amp current that the wire coming from the batt will have hard time to flow on a bass thump, but if it can't get fully charged before the next bass thump, then you're still in trouble...

 

I would recommend a Cap I had a 25 farad fosgate hybird capacitor. It made a huge difference, When I turned my stereo up my lights would dim, after the cap I could turn it full blast and lights wouldn't think about dimming,