What sort of light bulb can be used a resistor for charging a capacitor? Can any old 12V bulb work or does it have to have certain specs? This cap is small -- 1.2 farad.

 

Some capacitors come
with charging resistors. If yours does not, you can simply buy an
automotive bulb and wire it in series with the capacitor's + lead while
the capacitor is grounded. The bulb will continue to dim until the
capacitor is fully charged. Once the capacitor is charged, it should
be treated as you would a car battery; caution must be used to be sure
not to short the terminals.

 

Thanks. That's what I thought. The package said it included a bulb, but alas that's quaility for you. So any 12V bulb it seems.

 

Yup any 12v will work.

I have always used a test light cause the clips are handy and free`s up a hand.

Usually a cap comes with a resistor. What brand of cap is it?

 

http://www.legacycaraudio.com
I wrote to their support twice in the last 2 weeks, and no response. Won't be buying anything under their label again -- and they have several labels including Legacy and Pyramid. The 2nd time, I wrote to support, sales, and dealers. Nada!

Thanks for the tip about a test light. Need rather large clips, but that's a great idea and I'll use it.

 

Do you really need a cap?

Are your lights dimming when the bass hits? If they are a cap will help to a point.
If your lights arent dimming, dont waste the money on a cap just yet.

Look into upgrading your stock ground points such as battery to frame, battery to block, and block to body. Then upgrade the wire from your alternator to the battery. 4 gauge wire is a good choice.

try those suggestions before adding a cap to your system.

Also when grounding your amplifier, male sure it is a good clean grounding point and the ground wire is the same size or larger than the power wire. What goes in , must come out and if the wire is too small you will have resistence problems and that will cause heat.


Try checking out www.phoenixgold.com and checking out the technical downloads.


Join the forum there and ask any Question you need, the guys there are great.

 

just an fyi, save your money and buy quality... elgacy is, well, crap....

 

Toyrantula: It sounds like the options you suggest before installing a cap would be much more money. Are there negative issues with using a cap that I should know about?

 

no 4ga wire is CHEAP compared to a cap. Even 1/0 (the only thing in my truck) is cheaper than a cap and it works better. Caps are ONLY meant to supply instantaneous power to the amp for a sudden bass transient (read kick drum).

Caps only make things worse on long duration bass notes where the alt is already overloaded....


For some great drunken fun have your friends lick the terminals of a charged cap! (dont really let them do that)

 

Sorry it took me awhile to respond. Fighting with Future shop over repairs to my good computer, stuck with this old POS NEC for now.

You can get 4gauge wire cheap at any welding supply shop. Pick up the ring terminals from any auto or welding supply store. A cheap way to crimp the wire to the terminal is to use a blunt edged chisel and a big Fn hammer.

I solder mine in using my stove element. I fill the terminal with solder, then grab it with the pliers and stick the wire in. Then run it throught the cold water in the sink.

I suggested the other options only because it is cheaper than a cap. I wont gaurentee it will stop lighjt dimming when the bass hits, but it is a cheaper fix to start with.

I used to have a cap in my system but once I went into the SPL game it was a problem. Because the cap discharges so quickly and needs to be recharged between notes , it can become a parasitic draw on your competition system. It would take awhile to explain why in detail. So I will sum it up this way.

if you just want some tunes to listen to, then try the suggestions i offered to begin with, if that doesnt cure you dimming issues then by all means add the cap. Rule of thumb is 1 farad for every 1000 watts of amp power.

If your into serious competition then a bigger amperage alternator and deep cycle batteries are the way to go.

Try checking out www.termpro.com or www.dbdrag.com they have some white papers on the site that are pretty good at explaining some thoery.

 

I think I'm getting the picture. My mono amp is only rated to 700 so I should be good. At present, am not interested in competition. I think my right ear is already damaged from my current setup so am not terribly anxious to beef it up more. Thanks for the links.

 

What you have for equipment shouldnt put a tax on your system. Legacy is overating thier actuall power output, ao you should be fine with the wiring upgrades.

If at all possible and your wallet or woman allows, look into possibly upgrading your system for a btter sound quality.

What really matters in Car Audio is your the one who needs to be satisfied ta hell with what everyone else wants. Your the guy thats listening to it.

So good luck with your system.

Anytime I may be able to help out, just drop me a line.


I notcied by your avatar that your from BC, whereabouts? I am in Vernon. If your anywhere near Kamloops drop by JT`s Autosound and tell him that Ty sent you in.

JT is my cousin, so he would help you if at all possible.

 

Thanks Toy.

I'm going to leave the cap out of my setup for now. It's not that I needed one, I just thought it was something that was nice to have. From what I read, it's not all that useful.

I was on top of Sugar Mountain last August. One of my skid plates was ripped off on the way down. Beautiful view from up there and I understand that we just squeaked in (up) in time as a few weeks before and after there was snow on the ground. I left a geocache if you're into using a GPS.

PS: I'm in Surrey.

 

well.... stiffening capacitors do have a function. They provide current source to keep the power supplies in the amps (and the car) happy until the variable intensity regulator inside the alternator that your toyota has senses the load and increases its own capacity to keep the voltage more stable. The cap is really a band-aid for a weenie alternator. 200A alternators in cars are very common in competitions-- u wont see many caps there.

T