caps SUCK!!!!!!!!!
they are useless and ur putting money in salesmens pockets. all they do is regulate the power supply, wich if you have regulated amps then u dont need them in the first place. they do NOT give you power or stop your lights from blinking. if anything you can get a BAT CAP. this works as a battery and a capacitor

 

caps SUCK!!!!!!!!!
they are useless and ur putting money in salesmens pockets. all they do is regulate the power supply, wich if you have regulated amps then u dont need them in the first place. they do NOT give you power or stop your lights from blinking. if anything you can get a BAT CAP. this works as a battery and a capacitor. there is different amp ratings. i have 2 400 amp bat caps, wich gives more amps than a optima yellow top. also these things are rated at 100 farads, so they out do anything a normal $60 cap can do. please for the sake of the CL god dont buy those usless POS. mine cost a lil less than 200 each, wich is cheaper or a lil more depending on product. anyways check em out www.batcap.net IF i catch you guys keep buyin em im gonna start bustin caps

 

PS they weigh like 5-10 lbs each VS a 40-50lb battery

 

Actually, caps ARE NOT meant to be used for dimming lights and all. Caps are not meant for regulating power supplies either.

Caps are meant to hold out DEEP bass notes and prevent your amp from clipping. Anyone who knows what they are listening to will hear the difference, but to the normal consumer, you will never know and it is a waste of money. On top of that, general rule of thumb is 1 farad per 1000watts, that's a bunch of crap too.

 

Got to agree with Ron on the clipping prevention and deep Bass notes but caps also help with slight dimming light.
During deep bass notes, the amp draws more current, less current go to the lights so the lights are dimmed. If the cap is there, instantaneous current is supplied to the amp so less or no current is drew from the lights. However, if the lights are dimmed all the time, get a high output alternator.

 

Constant power supply is a good thing

 

dimming lights is not something your gonna see with HID, and they do regulate the power, they keep a constant volt, were as a non regulated amp will go from 12.5v to 17v for bass notes. the capacitors in the amplifier should already do this, so caps are unnecissary to a point, but the sq guys use them for necissary precautions.

 

the only thing that dims in my car is the dash lights!!

 

When I said dimming lights, I refered to the instrument cluster and interior lights. If you have the headlights dimmed, either upgrade your alternator or jank out the whole system.

 

Caps do not store current. They only supply voltage regulation. Typically caps are used to filter noise in electronics, but as to there worth in audio I'm not sure about.

StreetEffectz, how does the cap keep the amp from clipping? I thought they were put on the power supply to the amp.

 

not trying to nit pick but a cap opposes a change in voltage by attampting to provide an additional source of stored energy, the lights dim because the voltage of the electrical system fluctuates from 14.2 volts (from the alternator) with the engine running and the static voltage of the battery (12.8 volts) during bass hits or additional current requirements of the amps.
the flashing occurs when you consume all the available current provided by the alternator and the system begins to pull the voltage down to the static voltage of the battery. (12.8 volts)
a cap will sometimes help reduce the light flicker but if you were to put a voltage meter on the battery you will see that with a cap installed the voltage still falls to the same level as it originally did without the cap. it just takes a little longer for the voltage to fall to that level and any bass note of longer than a second or so will take it there eventually.

because of this fact you usually dont see the lights flicker because the change in voltage is not as fast as it is without a cap.
as for clipping this would be true as long as the voltage is held constant at 14.2 volts. unfortunatly a cap even in a farad size will take only milliseconds to drop from 14.2 to 12.8 volts that amount of storage in a cap is not even 1 time constant of the cap's charge / discharge cycle. (there are 5 time constants in the charge / discharge cycle of a cap)

that being said a cap is of little help to a charging system that is subjected to repeated pulsating current intense requirements.
if there is any bennifit i suppose the cap may provide the voltage regulator a few miliseconds to react to the voltage change and increase the stator winding voltage of the alternator so that it can go from a minimal output to full output more efficiently.

as far as clipping.. that depends on the size of the cap, and how long it can hold the voltage up with the amount of amps the system pulls. eventually after a few milliseconds the cap is electrically not doing anything after the voltage falls to the 12.8 volt level because at that point the current is comming from the alternator and whatever the alternator can't provide comes from the battery.
if it helps clipping during that few milliseconds then i guess it could help but if your bass note or high current requirements last more than a few miliseconds i really don't see a bennifit.

also if the amp has a regulated power supply it makes absolutly no difference with reguards to a clipped signal because a regulated power supply as the name implies regulates the voltage on the supply rails at a preset voltage. so unless the voltage falls all the way to 11.0 volts (as most amps are rated for) the voltage to the amplifier outputs wont clip any easier if the electrical system voltage falls anywhere within the 11-16 volts thoes amps are usually rated at.
clipping occurs when the output signal is drivin at or beyond the supply rail voltage. this results in a clipped output signal on the top and bottom of the sine wave.

 

I thought Cap where devices that hold charge when current is passed through it? It's purpose is if you suddenly get a burse of demanded power and there isn't enough power supplied, the Cap is suppose to supply that extra power needed....right??!??!

 

Well first caps are not charged via current, they are charged via voltage. Second when the volatge from the alt. drops the caps try to keep the voltage constant at the amp but they discharge very quickly leaving the battery to do the rest. So unless your power needs are very very short they realy don't do anything for you.

 

Awesome!!! Thanks !!! So I'm okay with a RED TOP Exide Orbital?

 

yes red top is ok for very small setups
i have a yellow top, 300a alt, and 2 300a batcaps

yes caps restore the audio current wave, more for sq setups, yet completely useless really