ABOUT AUTOMOTIVE POWER STIFFENING CAPACITORS

ABOUT POWER STIFFENING CAPACITORS
WHAT DOES THE CAPACITOR DO?
The capacitor stores a charge that is supplied from the battery via a cable. When you amplifier demands instantaneous high levels of power the cable cannot always supply it.
Think of the cable as a water pipe. If amount of water that can gee out of a pipe depends on it's size. The smaller the pipe, the less water, the bigger the pipe, the more water.
The power cable from the battery can only supply a limited amount of current depending on it's size. Adding the capacitor close to the amplifier overgees the limitations of the power cable by supplying the surge currents from it's stored charge.

WHY DO I NEED A CAPACITOR?
Your car's electrical system typically is designed to run at 70% of it's capacity. when you install a subwoofer amp, that amp can draw more current than any single geponent of the original vehicle's electrical system!
1) If you have ever seen your lights in the vehicle dim during high bass levels, that is a SURE sign that you need a capacitor. Dimming lights indicates that an amplifier is drawing more current surge than the power supply system can deliver. Dimming lights can also be caused by too small of a power wire that supplies +12VDC to the amp or a small or poor ground connection (see WHAT DOES THE CAPACITOR DO? above).
2) High current surge demands on your vehicle's electrical systems caused by amplifiers can damage the electrical system, including the battery, alternator and voltage regulator. If the regulator or the alternator start going bad you will start to hear a "whining" noise in the speakers.
3) A law of Physics, called Ohm's Law shows that as voltage decreases, current increases. ALL WIRE HAS RESISTANCE no matter how big it is. As more current flows through the power wire the resistance increases. When resistance increases the voltage drops (see water pipe example above). WHEN VOLTAGE DROPS YOUR AMPLIFIERS WILL TRY TO DRAW MORE CURRENT! When this voltage drops distortion will increase. This is the #1 reason for blown amplifiers and woofers!
IS IT BETTER TO HAVE ONE BIG CAPACITOR OR SEVERAL SMALL ONES?
The answer to this one is simple... Several small ones. Why? If you look at specification on a capacitor you will see an ESR rating. This is short for Equivalent Series Resistance. Simply put it means how much it resists the flow of current into/out of the capacitor. The smaller the number the better. Bigger capacitor typically have a bigger ESR rating and therefore it will not charge as fast or output the needed current as fast. For those bass notes we need something that can deliver the current to our amplifier quickly and then recharge quickly!
If you refer to the water pipe example above, consider a larger ESR rating the same as a smaller pipe fitting on the capacitor.

WHAT DOES THE CAPACITOR DO?
The capacitor stores a charge that is supplied from the battery via a cable. When you amplifier demands instantaneous high levels of power the cable cannot always supply it.
Think of the cable as a water pipe. If amount of water that can gee out of a pipe depends on it's size. The smaller the pipe, the less water, the bigger the pipe, the more water.
The power cable from the battery can only supply a limited amount of current depending on it's size. Adding the capacitor close to the amplifier overgees the limitations of the power cable by supplying the surge currents from it's stored charge.

WHY DO I NEED A CAPACITOR?
Your car's electrical system typically is designed to run at 70% of it's capacity. when you install a subwoofer amp, that amp can draw more current than any single geponent of the original vehicle's electrical system!
1) If you have ever seen your lights in the vehicle dim during high bass levels, that is a SURE sign that you need a capacitor. Dimming lights indicates that an amplifier is drawing more current surge than the power supply system can deliver. Dimming lights can also be caused by too small of a power wire that supplies +12VDC to the amp or a small or poor ground connection (see WHAT DOES THE CAPACITOR DO? above).
2) High current surge demands on your vehicle's electrical systems caused by amplifiers can damage the electrical system, including the battery, alternator and voltage regulator. If the regulator or the alternator start going bad you will start to hear a "whining" noise in the speakers.
3) A law of Physics, called Ohm's Law shows that as voltage decreases, current increases. ALL WIRE HAS RESISTANCE no matter how big it is. As more current flows through the power wire the resistance increases. When resistance increases the voltage drops (see water pipe example above). WHEN VOLTAGE DROPS YOUR AMPLIFIERS WILL TRY TO DRAW MORE CURRENT! When this voltage drops distortion will increase. This is the #1 reason for blown amplifiers and woofers!
IS IT BETTER TO HAVE ONE BIG CAPACITOR OR SEVERAL SMALL ONES?
The answer to this one is simple... Several small ones. Why? If you look at specification on a capacitor you will see an ESR rating. This is short for Equivalent Series Resistance. Simply put it means how much it resists the flow of current into/out of the capacitor. The smaller the number the better. Bigger capacitor typically have a bigger ESR rating and therefore it will not charge as fast or output the needed current as fast. For those bass notes we need something that can deliver the current to our amplifier quickly and then recharge quickly!
If you refer to the water pipe example above, consider a larger ESR rating the same as a smaller pipe fitting on the capacitor.

HOW DO I CONNECT THE CAP? AND WHERE?
The capacitor should be connected as close to the woofer amp(s) as possible with the MINIMAL amount of cable length between the capacitor and the amp(s). Heavy guage wire should be used for ALL connections and if using crimp type ring terminals for connections, all crimps must be tight and secure. Solder the connections if possible for best results.


THE BOTTOM LINE........LOSS OF POWER CAUSES DISTORTION, BLOWN AMPS AND WOOFERS.
Capacitors help to overgee this problem.
geposed by: Kevin Bradford, Affordable Quality Audio