Capacitors

[napapacoda]

Not sure if anyone has any experience with buss bars for capacitors, but I had a few questions about them. I have a buss bar that will allow up to 4 capacitors to be linked together. I only want to link 3 so I figure that should be no problem. They are all lightning audio 1 farad capacitors, but one of them has a voltage readout. It is not a digital readout, it is just like led bars( I think like 3 red, 3 orange and 4 green) to show whether the voltage is constant or not. Is there any problem putting these all together or since one has a voltage readout it will not work? Also, is there anything I should be aware of when installing these compared to just the installation of one (my current setup)? Lastly, on a bigger side note, the reason I bought these is because my amp for my front and the amp for my rear speakers are drawing so much power that if I turn the gain up on the subwoofer, the voltage level on the capacitor I currently have installed fluctuates. I am hoping to make this a cheaper fix then to purchase a larger alternator (plus if I ever sell my car/system, I can get money for used capacitors, but I get $0 for an alternator, not to mention those are expensive). Hopefully this makes sense to someone, hehe.

[matrix]

No problem installing all 3 capacitors. Just make sure you tie all the positives together and all the negatives together. They will all charge to the same voltage. All the capacitors will do is store current for you.

When you install this, be very careful of the existing capacitor as it will still be holding a charge. Do this:

1. PULL THE POWER FUSE BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING.
2. Turn on your stereo and it should only power up for a second or 2.
3. Confirm that the caps are discharged via the leds.
4. For security, I usually short the cap after a few minutes of having the stereo on (with the fuse pulled). Just use a screwdriver with a good insulated handle.

Now the bad news...adding this cap will not help too much. Problem is that the caps store energy, but they need to get this energy from someplace and that is the battery. So as the caps discharge while suppling current to the amps, it will be looking to replace that charge from the battery. As it discharges to the amplifier, it recharges from the battery :(. Now the battery need to be recharged and that makes the alternator work harder. If you need more current than the alternator can provide, the battery starts providing that current. So if the battery is being discharged to provide the current to the stereo, your alternator is constantly charging the battery to it's best ability, but it is still not enough to fully charge it and over time the battery dies. You replace it with a new one and the same thing will happen over time (even an Optima). Then at some point your alternator will fail because of the extra load.

I had this problem in a previous car and replaced the battery AND alternator several times. My final solution was running 2 alternators. I never had a problem of lacking current again and never killed another battery.

Don't want this to sound like doom and gloom or to discourage you (heck I plan on doing this too :)), just want you to understand what could happen and be prepared if it does.

Good luck.
:)

[myeverlovinsir]

Well said matrix. tks:)

[napapacoda]

Thanks for the reply matrix. I am glad to be forewarned of the possible problems I may run into. I figured it wouldn't help that much, but I wanted to try a cheap and easy fix that I could install. I had no idea that a second alternator could be added on, I thought I had to find someplace that sold high current alternators. Any idea on the cost of a second alternator with install? On my next stereo setup (hopefully in a year or less) I plan on using 1 4 channel amp instead of 2 2 channel amps for my speakers. Hopefully that will help. The biggest reason why I have 2 2 channels is that I'm running orion HCCA 6s in the front and they need 2 ohm stereo for the woofers, but my rears only need 4 ohms and I just happened to have a few PPI 2 channel amps around. I know I could still use a 4 channel amp in this, but I didnt want the fronts getting that much more power than the rears without separate gains. Plus I had a kenwood amp and unfortunately it couldn't take the stereo 2 ohm load. But when I can finally afford a new EP, I think I'm going to put HCCA 6s in the front and rear and find a nice spot for the rear tweeters. That way I'll just use a 4 channel PPI amp and save on some wattage so I can run some good bass.

[matrix]

The car I had 2 alternator on was not a Civic. It also did not have air conditioning so I put it there. So unless you want to give up the air conditioning you have no option but to go to a high current alternator or just wait for it to blow and replace it.

BTW, Orion (my personal fav) and PPI are great amps.

[napapacoda]

As much as that is tempting, I can't give up my AC, even if it is to power up my system, hehe. I guess this is my best bet, at least for now. I actually had my battery die on me like 6 months ago and purchased a new one. I think the new one has some sort of warranty so if that one dies, I should get a replacement for free. Orion HCCA amps are hands down my top choice as well.

[2K2SilverSi]

I wonder if there is an alternator you could use that would hook up to where the idler pulley is where the power steering pump would normally reside

[Ocelaris]

Do you know what the alternator rating is for the 2002 SI? I thought there was supposed to have an amp rating. I Just got a new RF 200ix and was going to add it to my system, but don't know if it'll be too much with my MTX 6304 ~75x4.

I think my system is going to be pulling ~ 100amps? the 200ix says it'll pull 50 amps, and the 6304 will be pulling about the same. Where can I find the alternator rating? THanks, Bill