I Have A Car Audio Capacitor, But How Exactly Does It Help My System?

[Garrett]

when you have a powerful amp it will help make your lights dim less. if your amp isnt powerful enough theyre useless. it has power in it and when the bass hits itll take power from the battery and capacitor then the capacitor recharges itself quickly

[John]

Just Need An Explination?

[N2Audio]

they don't.
Capacitors are useful in systems that swing from very low to very high voltages.
A car audio system swings about 2v (12 to 14) if not less.

A standard 1F capacitor stores 98 joules in accordance with the equation 1/2 x C x V^2 = J. C is capacitance in Farads, V is voltage. However, since you have a battery at 12.5v that will not allow the voltage to fall any lower you have 1/2C x 12.5^2, or 78J below the battery voltage. That means a 1f capacitor only has about 20 joules of usable energy when used in a car's electrical system.
A joule is a watt-second. If you have a 20w amp the cap is useful for a second. If you have a small 200w amp the cap is useful for 1/10 of a second. If you have a 500w amp the cap is useful for 0.04 seconds.
On top of that - once the charge is released it takes time to recharge in order to be released again.

Any dimming a capacitor would improve is just a side effect. That is not what they are intended to do although a lot of sales people will try to do claim otherwise.

The fact of the matter is - if your stock alternator can provide the current your amp(s) need(s) a capacitor won't make any improvement, and if your stock alternator doesn't have enough current a capacitor won't help.

[Garrett]

when you have a powerful amp it will help make your lights dim less. if your amp isnt powerful enough theyre useless. it has power in it and when the bass hits itll take power from the battery and capacitor then the capacitor recharges itself quickly

[N2Audio]

they don't.
Capacitors are useful in systems that swing from very low to very high voltages.
A car audio system swings about 2v (12 to 14) if not less.

A standard 1F capacitor stores 98 joules in accordance with the equation 1/2 x C x V^2 = J. C is capacitance in Farads, V is voltage. However, since you have a battery at 12.5v that will not allow the voltage to fall any lower you have 1/2C x 12.5^2, or 78J below the battery voltage. That means a 1f capacitor only has about 20 joules of usable energy when used in a car's electrical system.
A joule is a watt-second. If you have a 20w amp the cap is useful for a second. If you have a small 200w amp the cap is useful for 1/10 of a second. If you have a 500w amp the cap is useful for 0.04 seconds.
On top of that - once the charge is released it takes time to recharge in order to be released again.

Any dimming a capacitor would improve is just a side effect. That is not what they are intended to do although a lot of sales people will try to do claim otherwise.

The fact of the matter is - if your stock alternator can provide the current your amp(s) need(s) a capacitor won't make any improvement, and if your stock alternator doesn't have enough current a capacitor won't help.

[Garrett]

when you have a powerful amp it will help make your lights dim less. if your amp isnt powerful enough theyre useless. it has power in it and when the bass hits itll take power from the battery and capacitor then the capacitor recharges itself quickly

[Garrett]

when you have a powerful amp it will help make your lights dim less. if your amp isnt powerful enough theyre useless. it has power in it and when the bass hits itll take power from the battery and capacitor then the capacitor recharges itself quickly

[N2Audio]

they don't.
Capacitors are useful in systems that swing from very low to very high voltages.
A car audio system swings about 2v (12 to 14) if not less.

A standard 1F capacitor stores 98 joules in accordance with the equation 1/2 x C x V^2 = J. C is capacitance in Farads, V is voltage. However, since you have a battery at 12.5v that will not allow the voltage to fall any lower you have 1/2C x 12.5^2, or 78J below the battery voltage. That means a 1f capacitor only has about 20 joules of usable energy when used in a car's electrical system.
A joule is a watt-second. If you have a 20w amp the cap is useful for a second. If you have a small 200w amp the cap is useful for 1/10 of a second. If you have a 500w amp the cap is useful for 0.04 seconds.
On top of that - once the charge is released it takes time to recharge in order to be released again.

Any dimming a capacitor would improve is just a side effect. That is not what they are intended to do although a lot of sales people will try to do claim otherwise.

The fact of the matter is - if your stock alternator can provide the current your amp(s) need(s) a capacitor won't make any improvement, and if your stock alternator doesn't have enough current a capacitor won't help.

[N2Audio]

they don't.
Capacitors are useful in systems that swing from very low to very high voltages.
A car audio system swings about 2v (12 to 14) if not less.

A standard 1F capacitor stores 98 joules in accordance with the equation 1/2 x C x V^2 = J. C is capacitance in Farads, V is voltage. However, since you have a battery at 12.5v that will not allow the voltage to fall any lower you have 1/2C x 12.5^2, or 78J below the battery voltage. That means a 1f capacitor only has about 20 joules of usable energy when used in a car's electrical system.
A joule is a watt-second. If you have a 20w amp the cap is useful for a second. If you have a small 200w amp the cap is useful for 1/10 of a second. If you have a 500w amp the cap is useful for 0.04 seconds.
On top of that - once the charge is released it takes time to recharge in order to be released again.

Any dimming a capacitor would improve is just a side effect. That is not what they are intended to do although a lot of sales people will try to do claim otherwise.

The fact of the matter is - if your stock alternator can provide the current your amp(s) need(s) a capacitor won't make any improvement, and if your stock alternator doesn't have enough current a capacitor won't help.

[N2Audio]

they don't.
Capacitors are useful in systems that swing from very low to very high voltages.
A car audio system swings about 2v (12 to 14) if not less.

A standard 1F capacitor stores 98 joules in accordance with the equation 1/2 x C x V^2 = J. C is capacitance in Farads, V is voltage. However, since you have a battery at 12.5v that will not allow the voltage to fall any lower you have 1/2C x 12.5^2, or 78J below the battery voltage. That means a 1f capacitor only has about 20 joules of usable energy when used in a car's electrical system.
A joule is a watt-second. If you have a 20w amp the cap is useful for a second. If you have a small 200w amp the cap is useful for 1/10 of a second. If you have a 500w amp the cap is useful for 0.04 seconds.
On top of that - once the charge is released it takes time to recharge in order to be released again.

Any dimming a capacitor would improve is just a side effect. That is not what they are intended to do although a lot of sales people will try to do claim otherwise.

The fact of the matter is - if your stock alternator can provide the current your amp(s) need(s) a capacitor won't make any improvement, and if your stock alternator doesn't have enough current a capacitor won't help.