Originally posted by steveng
so dlh1999, what was ur conclusion? cap doesn't do **** and an efficient amp will help? to be honest, i don't know much about stereo. i just knew there's something called alternator but what does it do, i have no idea. so could you be more specific? sorry i am too stupid at this point. alternator, a new battery or a cap, which one should i get in order to get rid of the dimming lights?
also, what you mean by class A amp? what class is mine? i have Alpine MRV-T707 and later on i will get a new V12 430.
sorry if i asked too much
No problem...I'll probably repeat some of what WiLL said, but here goes:
Your alternator is belt-driven, and supplies power to your battery and in turn your electrical system. It spools electricity and sends it to the battery to power electronics on the car. So in a sense the alternator is as crucial to the system as the battery. However, they have limits: They are spooled to produce enough power for your cars basic electronics & stuff: heaters, lights, etc. and not made for any major additions to the electrical system. Therefore, anytime you add something electrical to the system, like amps, you're adding to the load that the alternator must produce. So upgrading your alternator in theory will allow you to run a stereo better, but is generally really spendy. Does that make sense? Let me know if this is confusing, and I'll try to explain again.
Okay, as for my thoughts on caps. In my case the cap was pretty much useless because my amps were too much for my electrical system to handle anyway. So adding the cap just added to the strain, and killed off the alternators by overloading it (they tried to produce more power than they were capable, and eventually fried themselves). I had 2 Class A amps running. These amps produce awesome sound quality, but at the same time they are require a LOT of constant power...anytime they're on, they use as much power as they can. In your case, assuming you have a more efficient amp than what I was using, a cap could certainly help you out. If your stereo is just barely a strain, a cap could be what you need. I'd maybe try that first. If that doesn't do the trick, maybe a new battery. It wouldn't hurt to have your system tested...a lot of tire places and auto shops around here to those tests for free. But I wouldn't spend a ton of money right now...see what will solve your problem by trying cheap things first. I hope I'm helping here...I've kind of lost my train of thought, but I'll read this over in a little while and write again if I think I've forgotten anything...otherwise, let me know if I need to clear things up.
Hope that helped...:thumbup: