dszx13

i was wandering whats a farad? i was told by a friend i should look into gettin one. i kno the basics on what they do. i jus wanna learn more about em. thanks

Bassick

Capacitors used in car audio are used as signal buffers. If certain powerful bass notes hit, it will buff out the electric current to avoid over-drawing power or not allowing enough power to go to the amp when it is required. Most people who think they need a capacitor installed are sadly wrong. There are a lot of people out there that get them to prevent dimming head lights if your system is pulling to much current. Now, if your system is only causing dimming here and there and it is barely noticable at all, then a capacitor will work as a slight bandaid, not a cure-all. However, if your lights are dimming to where it is noticable and your amps are pulling to much power, a capacitor will actually hinder the vehicles electrical system by adding one more thing that it needs to charge up. If this is the case, you need first a bigger battery for under the hood, upgraded electrical wiring (big 3), then finally a more powerful alternator if it still persists. To give you an idea of how crappy a capacitor can be, I once had a 20 farad capacitor in a van that i used for audio competitons. To make a point, i dropped out 3 alternators so i was only using 1 300 amp alternator. I depleted the entire 20 farad charge in less than 5 seconds, turned my system off, and it took almost 12 minutes to charge it back up. So, all-n-all, I would suggest a battery first.

Good old Bill

Mr Bassick, thank you for the lesson and the wake up call for education I received 45 years ago and naturally have forgotten 110% of it. As I remember a capacitor and a condensor store electrical energy, (love your comment about using or consuming power, I agree). Please correct me where I go astray, a capacitor is used in AC circuits and is measured in MFD (micro farads), while a condensor is used in DC circuits and is measured in ????. My brain is on a beer break, what are they measured in?

ford4wd08

i thought that i was taught that a capacitor is a capacitor it can be wired in in either AC or DC and is measured in Farads ( or micro Farads), all i know is that they can charge up and and hold a voltage, like in a computer or something if the power was to suddenly cut off the capacitor could run the computer until it was shut down properly, it has been over a year since i had electricity in physics ha im into more mechanics and rotational stuff now, i can only remember so much lol

dszx13

thanks for yalls info!!

Bassick

I beleive condensor's are measured in micro farads. only other condensor i can think would me measured otherwise is a refrigerator's condensor which is measured in psig.

Good old Bill

Thanks for the feed back and have to admitt, I chuckled about the referigerant condensor, there are those also. Just have to love our english language and the multiple use of words. Perhaps the condensors and capacitors are one and the same. Thanks anyway.

loganberry

for the price of a good cap you can get a battery and there 10 times better in every case.