I need a 1 farad...

does it really matter what brand????

lighting audio, legacy, powercap, Rock Fos, poweramper?

i need some direction.. i reallie need a cap... nooo power in mah civic!

 

All capacitors are pretty much the same. The only reason why you would go with one brand over another is if you want it to match your other amps and set up... Or price may be an issue as well...

 

keep in mind cheaper caps have lower ratings than higher quality ones.

 

what do you mean "lower rating"?

volts? what... don't understand

 

just as a quick example:

Boss 1 Farad: 20 volts nominal- 24 surge
Audiobahn: 24 volts nominal- 30 surge
Lightning Audio: 16volts - 24 surge.

now i dont know what numbers are good, but im just pointing out that different brands have different numbers.

 

as long as those #'s are over 14.4V it is fine. a cap can only charge to what your system will charge it to. whish is why it won't help if your car has no power its just another load. you have to look at your wiring,altenator and battery 1st.

 

oh yea its the ESR you want to look at when buying a cap not the Voltage.

 

what is the ESR? the smaller number the better?

 

ESR is the equivalent series resistance of a capacitor. An ideal capacitor would have only capacitance. As you remember, all conductors have resistance. In a capacitor, there are multiple conductors like the wire leads, the foil and the electrolyte. The resistance of all of the conductors contribute to the capacitor's series resistance. It's essentially the same as having a resistor in series with an ideal capacitor. Capacitors with relatively high ESR will have less ability to pass current from its plates to the external circuit (to the amplifiers in the case of stiffening capacitors in car audio). Low ESR is desirable when using a capacitor as a filter.