capacitor

[white96x]

ok heres the situation. the connection at the battery is good, connection from battery to capacitor is good, and connection from capacitor to amp is good. heres the problem: sometimes when i start my car, or turn the radio on for that matter, i hear the subs "turn on" and everything is cool, but, other times (the car has been shut off, and restarted) i don't hear the subs turn on and all i get is the door speakers (theyre stock, powered by factory amp). The situation is the same whether i'm playing radio or cd. Like i said i've double checked all connections and they are all connected and in proper working order. Is there a possibility that my capacitor went "dead"? i've only had it for ~year, but it was out of commision when the stereo wasn't in (approximately 4 months) so it definately wasn't abused. any help is appreciated.

 

[wilson_nick]

you've prolly already checked but what about the remote wire and the ground, make sure you have a really good ground

 

[white96x]

ya well when i said i checked all connections i implied it......sorry......but ya they're both good. would this explain why it only works when it wants?

 

[Alec]

What is the amp's remote wire connected to?

 

[ewf]

After you've eliminated everything else, you may want to take the capacitor out of the circuit and connect the amp straight to the battery. See if the problem recurs. This should help you narrow it down. There could even be something going wrong with the amp.

 

[white96x]

amp's remote wire is spliced into the back of the headunit......as far as the amp going bad, i'd hope not, it's a 2004 model and worked fine since day one....mmmm also this "cap only working when it wants to"started like a week ago but has persisted and it gets annoying after a while, i just figured it would go away but i guess not......time for a new capacitor????

 

[white96x]

BTW ewf-you're in diamond bar-pretty close to me, check out some of the local So Cal meets coming up if you're interested.

 

[ewf]

Thanks for the invite, white96x. I'm probably not what you'd call a person that's looking for an improved "social life", but where can I find more info on meetings? Maybe I'll check it out.

 

[white96x]

Originally posted by ewf
Thanks for the invite, white96x. I'm probably not what you'd call a person that's looking for an improved "social life", but where can I find more info on meetings? Maybe I'll check it out.

wow!!! you already have too many friends as is? j/k....well look in the trail runs thread section, you just missed a pismo meet a week ago and we are going to be having one soon in barstow.

 

[ewf]

Thanks. Don't get me wrong. It's not like I've got too many friends or I'm some kind of prima donna who's too good for everybody. Just never really thought about meeting with others about vehicles, you know what I mean? But like I said, that may change, and I really do appreciate the offer.

 

[white96x]

no man i understand, but ya the offer's there.....now, back to my problem..................

 

[ewf]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a capacitor should be wired in parallel to the battery which in turn means it is also wired parallel to the amp, right? If so, that probably means that it shouldn't matter whether the cap goes bad or not. If everything is wired in parallel, the amps should still get power from the battery even if the cap goes bad - you just wouldn't get the benefit of the cap anymore.

I still think if you can take the capacitor out of the equation, you might be able to eliminate or confirm the cap, or the wiring associated with it, as the cause of the problem.

 

[CQ7String]

I've seen this condition caused by bad wiring a bunch of times. Check the connections on your amp side, and make sure there aren't any frayed wire ends on your +/-/remote ins touching one another.

Check your wiring from your pwr/gnd to the amp as well. The connections at the amp might be kosher, but you could have a wire with a split or crack in it somewhere along the line.

Good luck. You can always just get yourself a new amp for christmas if that turns out to be the problem, and say "It's from Santa".

 

[CQ7String]

Originally posted by ewf
Correct me if I'm wrong, but a capacitor should be wired in parallel to the battery which in turn means it is also wired parallel to the amp, right? If so, that probably means that it shouldn't matter whether the cap goes bad or not. If everything is wired in parallel, the amps should still get power from the battery even if the cap goes bad - you just wouldn't get the benefit of the cap anymore.

That's correct, aye.

 

[mhn3773]

do u really really need the cap? i mean u technicly shouldnt need a cap unless u are pushing some inasne power..and if i say its insane its alot =) i like em big and alot of power tee hehe

ewf should be able to get u fixed up..hes like the saint nick of problem solving..he brings and answer by on xmas though lol hehe

 

[CQ7String]

Originally posted by mhn3773
do u really really need the cap? i mean u technicly shouldnt need a cap unless u are pushing some inasne power..and if i say its insane its alot =) i like em big and alot of power tee hehe

ewf should be able to get u fixed up..hes like the saint nick of problem solving..he brings and answer by on xmas though lol hehe

Not neccessarily. Depending on what options you have on - volume, heater, air conditioning, a particularly loud bass-hit - your amp can get less than optimal power which translates into your sub not performing as well as it should. Anything that puts a draw on your alternator, basically.

While caps aren't really all that necessary for smaller setups, they're never useless and if you have the cash/time/knowhow to put one in, it's always a good addition to even a modest system.

 

[white96x]

ya i definately need the capacitor. as far as the wiring, i will check it again, but i am pretty positive it is all good, when i say all i mean i checked the ground, remote, power, and their destinations to the cap, and amp.....tommorow i am going to eliminate the capacitor from the equation to see if it changes anything, but if it doesn't where should i go from there? any other suggestions besides buying a new capacitor?

 

[mhn3773]

yah but what im saying is if u at the point like im at where ud NEED a cap..it seems like the wrong way to go a new alt seems like it should be first then a deep cycle batt another batt..then a cap?

just seems like the cap would just bandage a bigger problem..or cause more strain on an already overwhealmed alt im probably wrong..just what i heard

 

[white96x]

not necessarily. i'm sure if i had more power a new alt or second battery would be logical, but i'm not pushing THAT much power.

 

[mhn3773]

what amp alt do u have? 90 -120? i forgot what they are on ur ex