How to wire up a Power cap

[silentlord85]

hiya all, looking for some help/advice.

i currently have a 3k watt rms sub and amp and whenever i turn it up the whole dash and headlights dim/flicker to the beat.
as a result i bought a boss 1.2 farad cap from a mate of a mate. however i have no clue how to install as i have now experiance in this field.

can someone tell how to install or even a diagram

thanks in advance

[waynne]

What make is the amp/power cap? What speakers are you running - is the sub on a separate channel with a crossover?

[pgarner]

power wire that goes to your amp - remove it and fit another lengh to the amp to the power cap BUT dont connect it yet

fit an earth lead to the power caps negitive side

you should have a resistor with the cap to charge it up - with a pair of pliers (it will get hot ) clamp the resistor to the main power lead, the one direct to the battery, and other end of the resistor on to the positive side of the cap. this will begin charging.

if theres a display on it wait until it shows 12.? volts this will depend on your battery.

remove the resistor and connect the live wire to the cap, then connect the power wire from the amp to the other positive side of the cap

jobs a dun one but 1,2 might not be enough for 3kwatt

[turbonutter69]

If you have 3000 watts Rms Then that cap ain't gonna do much for you. Right it goes like this. A 1 farad power cap is good for 1000watts RMS. So in your case you will need a 3 Farad or bigger for your system. But is it genuinly 3000watts Rms. There are 2 types of wattage There is Actual power which is the max it can run for long periods of time. This is usually alot more than the actual RMS wattage...

[silentlord85]

oops sorry got the peak and rms mixed up

both sub and amp same make both 3k watt peak with 1k watt rms at 1 ohm
the cap is a Boss powercap, its second hand so i dont have a resistor and i've been reading about de-energising. i dont know if this has done either.
i havent actually tested it because i dont know what im doing.

is there any other way of de-energising it and powering it up? if not what kind/type of resistor do i need to get.


also does it matter where the cap goes? as i have atm a custom boot install and the cap would have to be near the sub instead of the amp due to the way of the install.


thanks in advance

[turbonutter69]

Originally Posted by silentlord85

oops sorry got the peak and rms mixed up

both sub and amp same make both 3k watt peak with 1k watt rms at 1 ohm
the cap is a Boss powercap, its second hand so i dont have a resistor and i've been reading about de-energising. i dont know if this has done either.
i havent actually tested it because i dont know what im doing.

is there any other way of de-energising it and powering it up? if not what kind/type of resistor do i need to get.


also does it matter where the cap goes? as i have atm a custom boot install and the cap would have to be near the sub instead of the amp due to the way of the install.


thanks in advance

Preferable it would be around 18inches away from the amp and an earth. I have been doing alot of research on de-energizing and I don't think you will have a problem with yours. I have a 2 farad and when I first installed it I did just wired it up an it worked fine. I think you will only have problems when going bigger than 2 farad. A 12v bulb will also work as good as the resistor I am also told. When the light goes out it's charged aparently.

[silentlord85]

thanks turbonutter for the help.

im still alittle confused on the wiring side, i have made this extreme crude pic of how things are now. could you have a look and point us in the right direction.



thanks in advance

[pgarner]

pic got stuc in mod queue as youve got under 10 posts, cap will go inbetween the fuse and amp

wire from fuse to positive on the cap, then another from the positive on the cap to the possitive on the amp.
earth on the cap to earthon the car

[turbonutter69]

Take a look at this pic mate. The brown wire is the earth and would go to the boot floor somewhere. The big silver wire is the power wire from the battery to the Power Cap. Then the 2 blue wires are power wires from Power Cap to each amp. Then the amps will be earthed separately. Hope this helps.

[silentlord85]

erm.. i cant view the attachment. i get torquecars page saying i dont have permission or accounts waiting for activation.

[HDi fun]

The cap needs to be parallel with the amps +ve supply input. Connect the cap's -ve terminal to earth, preferably via a stout cable that goes directly to the car battery -ve terminal.

connect the +ve of the cap directly to the battery via a stout cable and also to the amp's +ve input terminal.

Your diagram shows it in series with the amp on the negative side.

The cap acts as a supplementary battery, supplying current when the amp demands it and when the car's own system cannot cope with the demand.

[turbonutter69]

Originally Posted by HDi fun

The cap needs to be parallel with the amps +ve supply input. Connect the cap's -ve terminal to earth, preferably via a stout cable that goes directly to the car battery -ve terminal.

connect the +ve of the cap directly to the battery via a stout cable and also to the amp's +ve input terminal.

Your diagram shows it in series with the amp on the negative side.

The cap acts as a supplementary battery, supplying current when the amp demands it and when the car's own system cannot cope with the demand.

No don't put the earth to the battery...That gives a weak signal. The earth is best placed 18 inches or less away from the cap or amp. My install is wired up like this. The main power wire from the battery goes to the cap. The 2 other power wires then come from the cap to the amps seperately. They will all be earthed to the boot floor seperately.

[turbonutter69]

Originally Posted by silentlord85

erm.. i cant view the attachment. i get torquecars page saying i dont have permission or accounts waiting for activation.

I think there maybe a pic of it in my profile pics buddy...

[pgarner]

its prob due to you only having 4 posts, youll need 10

get in the polls section or gen chat to bump it up

[turbonutter69]

What make is your Sub? And your Amp and your Power Cap. Answer all these individually mate. It'll get your posts up quicker lol

[turbonutter69]

Right I've now put the install back in the Primera. This is how it's wired up.
1. Earth to boot floor from Power cap - terminal.
2. Positive from battery to Power cap + terminal.
3. 2 Positive wires from + terminal on Power cap to each amp seperately.
4. Both amps Earthed to the boot floor seperately.
5. Remote wire from stereo to both amps.

[gendox]

think you have got a bit confused mate why dont you pop along to the meet in feb and we will show you how there ???

[turbonutter69]

Originally Posted by gendox

think you have got a bit confused mate why dont you pop along to the meet in feb and we will show you how there ???

What?? Who??