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Need Capacitor?

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Old Jul 31, 2002 | 12:44 PM
  #1  
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Default Need Capacitor?

I have a 96 civic with polk audios in the front and jbl's in the back. I also have a pioneer 300 wat max amp powering two lightning audio 12" subs. I was wondering would a capacitor be worth the money to install one into my car and also how well do they work? One more thing how hard would a capacitor be to install if anyone could help me out that would be great thanks alot
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Old Jul 31, 2002 | 07:14 PM
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Well let me just ask you first, are you lights flickering? Usually when that happens, a capacitor is needed. People usually say for every 1k watts, 1 farad cap is needed. That is true, but i usually add capacitors when ever i think is needed.
Capacitors are well worth the money! You should be looking to spend no more than a $100 for 1 farad.
Caps aren't that hard to install. You'll see for yourself when you buy one and read the instructions
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Old Jul 31, 2002 | 07:17 PM
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From: Lll
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turn your stereo on full blast at night with the headlights on, maybe even your heater. if any lights dim, usually a cap will fix it.
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Old Jul 31, 2002 | 07:17 PM
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LjN_728 is correct. Unless your lights dim significantly at high volumes, I wouldn't worry about it. With only 1 amp that maxes power at 300 watts, you shouldn't need one....
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Old Aug 1, 2002 | 05:03 AM
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alright thanks guys no i havent really noticed any significant flickering or anything of that nature at all.
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Old Aug 1, 2002 | 01:21 PM
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No flickering tells you that the system isn't drawing more power than your electrical system can handle, or trying to compete with power with the rest of the car, so a cap probably isn't necessary.
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Old Aug 1, 2002 | 02:57 PM
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100 is too much. i'm gettin one 88 shipped thats a "poweramper" and includes plat. terminals 10ft of 4 gauge and fuse and 60amp fuse.... all that for 88



my RPMs dip when it hits hard time for one you think?
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Old Aug 7, 2002 | 09:36 AM
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when I install a cap, it needs a ground right? its a stupid question i know. but i was given the impression that you didn't need a ground...... and I have two 8 gauge wires... do you think I can crimp it into one ring terminal?
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Old Aug 7, 2002 | 10:10 AM
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yes it does. what do you mean by crimp it into one ring terminal? where are the wires coming from.

but generally yes.
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Old Aug 7, 2002 | 10:23 AM
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well i have two 8 gauge wires... one for each amp. I didn't bother buying a 4 gauge then having to buy a power distributor and all that stuff. so I just bought another amp kit. Well, I want to hook up both amps to the cap. if i buy those gold plated O-ring terminals... looks like this O=... can i buy a big enuff one so I can put both 8 gauge wires in there and crimp them together in the terminal?

did i make sense?
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