Sound Systems

[KingsArms]

i just recently put in a 800w kenwood amp with a 12" sub in a box and all that good stuff with an aftermarket alpein headunit and the fraggin' thing drained my battery so now im looking for a copasitator or whatever its called, post some pics of systems in mp5's i would like to see what other peoples look like.

peace and speed
robert

 

[JOS3]

did you leave the radio on while the car was off?

 

[1sty]

A capacitor only holds a charge for a millisecond.
If the battery drained while the car was one and playing the stereo then your alternator is shot becuase that "800" kenwood is really only a 300 watt amp when measure realisticly.

If you drained the battery while the car was off and you were playing the system then you should swap your battery out for an optima yellow top as it has a much longer reserve power then does the factory battery.

If the battery drained after the car and the system was off, then you have something wired very wrong and the amp is not shutting off with the radio or the with the car as it should.


Either way a cap will do nothing to help this problem.

You will find a ton of system pics and audio related infor in the "Car Audio" section

 

[Pro5Lani]

That's odd. I was running a stock HU with a 760w amp with 2 12' subs plus sony speakers. The stock batteries do suck, though. Was the amp on constant power?

My subs are out, once again, for the moment. So, I can't take pics of it, sorry.

 

[KingsArms]

well it was the original battery and i think it was time for its death, but do ya'll think i should get a capasitator or just a yellow top battery ? or both ?

 

[Mxyzptlk]

Yellow or blue top. How is your amp wired? Do you have it powered on by HU or do you have switch for it?

 

[KingsArms]

im not sure how its wired im pretty sure its HU but i had circuit city do it cause i work at one so i'll talk to them later on my break, but how much do those batteries cost ?

 

[Pro5Lani]

You're in grapevine, they don't cost but around..$100 for the red top at sam's, I believe.

Get a switch for your amp, it helps alot. I have a switch for mine and it comes in handy. The remote wire should always be connected to the HU, and that's where your switch should be connected to.

 

[Mxyzptlk]

Yeah I always liked the added security of having a remote switch so that I know my amp is off. Then again most new HUs are pretty reliable as far as cutting power.

 

[1sty]

Any aftermarket headunit will cut power to the amp when it is off. I have NEVER seen a remote wire fail.

Read my post again I already answered your fallow up question.
If you drained the battery from listening to the system with the car off, then the cap will do absolutely nothing. Although Caps in general do practicly nothing. Ifyou like listening to the radio withthe car off then you want to get a battery that has a very large power reserve. Thhe bestof the most common battiers are the optima YELLOW tops. The Red top is a starter battery, it is not a deep cycle battery which is what you want if you listen to the radio with the car off. SVR is another nice deep cycle battery.

Even a deep cycle battery will eventualy be drained. So if you are going to go to a park or something and blast tunes for a few hours then be sure to start the car and run it for 15 minutes now and again.

Be warned, a deep cycle battery will not recharge normalyif you really drain the hell out of it. I did this once by leaving a door in my car open. If you do this, you will need to buy a trickle charger to bring it back to life. The nice thing is that it is damn near possible to kill them from consistant drainings.

 

[KingsArms]

ok awesome i get paid in like a week so i'll go out and buy one, and its time for my 30 odd some mile check up / tune so i'll get that all done and it should be as good as new ^_^ im thinking about starting some modding which should i consider first ?
cold air intake
short shifter
exhaust
lowering
or any other suggestions

thx alot

 

[overdrivex]

well a cap. is good to have if you have a high watt system in your car and dont want to spend money on better battery of alternator. but if you getting the yellow top battery you probly wont need a cap. most people install capaciters on their car so when they are driving everytime a hard bass note hits it doesnt dim the lights or act like a miniture brown out in your car. ther always other alternatives to the cap the better battery is one of them or stronger alternator(doesnt help if you play it while the car is off) and than theres the cap.

 

[Poseur]

NO IT IS NOT GOOD TO HAVE.
caps=worthless wastes of money.
does noone listen anymore?

 

[overdrivex]

thats only opinion caps arnt designed to be back-up batteries or as reserve power. they design for one thing and one thing only and thats to prevent the miniture brown outs most drivers experiance when the bass notes hit and only that.. it a cheap way solve a simple problem compared to buying a 200-500 dollar battery or alternator.. in his case a cap is a waste of money. hes not having the problem of the lights dimming when bass hits. i felt the need to point it out what caps are for couse no body really answered his question of wiether he should get a cap or not.. and just telling him its worthless is completly untrue.

 

[toucci]

In my limited experience, it's difficult to find a situation where a cap is really the right solution

 

[Poseur]

thats only opinion caps arnt designed to be back-up batteries or as reserve power. they design for one thing and one thing only and thats to prevent the miniture brown outs most drivers experiance when the bass notes hit and only that.. it a cheap way solve a simple problem compared to buying a 200-500 dollar battery or alternator.. in his case a cap is a waste of money. hes not having the problem of the lights dimming when bass hits. i felt the need to point it out what caps are for couse no body really answered his question of wiether he should get a cap or not.. and just telling him its worthless is completly untrue.

Show me ONE positive use for a cap. in ANY case they're a waste of money.

also, an optima's like 100bucks

and an alternater's just NOT going to happen ina 3rd gen pro very easily. and DEFINATELY not for $1-400

 

[gen1pro]

You need to make sure you have everything hooked up correctly because it should drain your battery that quickly unless your amp is constanly on. I believe you meant capacitor and that wouldn't help your current situation.

This is what a capacitor does: An electric circuit element used to store charge temporarily, consisting in general of two metallic plates separated and insulated from each other by a dielectric.

 

[wipedawg]

Show me ONE positive use for a cap. in ANY case they're a waste of money.

also, an optima's like 100bucks

and an alternater's just NOT going to happen ina 3rd gen pro very easily. and DEFINATELY not for $1-400

are you serious? Power caps are useful. Indeed they shouldn't be used in place of a good battery...because they wont help at all. The purpose of a power cap is to supply the extra power needed when its hits hard. That way it doesn't put additional stress on your electrical system, and your headlights dont dim when the bass hits.

 

[WetsuitxNinja]

Hundreds of threads on all car audio forums, turns into a pissing contest usually. Try upgrading the wiring first.

 

[1sty]

are you serious? Power caps are useful. Indeed they shouldn't be used in place of a good battery...because they wont help at all. The purpose of a power cap is to supply the extra power needed when its hits hard. That way it doesn't put additional stress on your electrical system, and your headlights dont dim when the bass hits.

The problem with caps is that during those little brown outs, they tyrpicly have not even over come there own internal resistance to supply power to amplifier at all. By the time they do, the battery is catching the system and suppling the power.

I have run 3 Monster Cable 1 Farad Capacitros with virtualy no difference in light dimming, voltage dips, or any difference in audio perfomance.

In combination with regualted power supply amps, they are badicly worthless. In combination with no regualted supply amps I can see there potential value but they will als hinder perfomance. A Capacitor in a DC circuit will resist a change in voltage. Meaning if the voltage drops, it will discharge to compensate. If the voltage raises, the capacitor will suck it up and keep it from the amp for the same amunt of time it provided it.