POWER CAPACITOR INSTALLATION

Have you ever noticed that when your bass hits really hard, your headlights dim? If you answered Yes, then you're a candidate for adding a Power Cap (also called a Stiffening Cap) to your system. Your headlights dim because your amplifiers require extra current when producing that big burst of bass. The extra current they pull draws the whole charging system down, resulting in the car lights dimming. Luckily, most musical material doesn't require that extra demand of current constantly, so your battery can eventually recover. However, if the amp's demands are too great, your charging system (battery and alternator) may degenerate if it's put under excessive stress often. This means you better find a way to get more available power for those big surges of current your amps are asking for. This is done several different ways - a bigger alternator, additional batteries or adding Power Cap(s) to the charging system. Extreme systems or competiton vehicles may require all of these. Sometimes, just adding a Power Cap may be the easiest (and the least expensive) solution.

A Power Capacitor is somewhat like a battery in the sense that it can store current. But unlike a battery, it can charge and discharge extremely fast. When used in a 12V audio system, it acts like an extra reservoir of power. When that big bass hits, the amps will pull whatever current the battery can't deliver from the Power Cap. When that loud passage of bass stops, that extra reservoir of power (cap) charges right back up sits there waiting for the next big bass hit. A good rule of thumb for selecting the right size of capacitor is to get one Farad (measurement of capacitance) for every 1000 Watts of power your system has. Below are diagrams showing how to properly install a Stiffening Cap.