Capacitor, battery, or alternator?

[eddiev9]

I've only got about 500W RMS of power (two amps combined) at the most and my lights still flicker when the bass hits at high volume.

I've been peaking into car stereo forums... and there's much debate on whether to get a capacitor, "better" battery, or bigger alternator. Most people say "caps are useless" and a battery would make no difference.

In my case, I don't think that I really have to go all out...would a 0.5 farad cap be the best way to go?

 

[kolesy]

The rule of thumb for picking out a capacitor would be 1.0 farad for every thousand watts. So you need to factor in how much peak watts you are running. You said that your lights flicker oly when a big bass hit comes at high volume. In that case you are digging into more than just your rms wattage. So you may need to step up to a 1.0 farad cap. They are not to expense, generally cheaper than a good new battery. They work really well too! Should most definitely solve your light flickering problem! Any more questions feel free to ask. Do you understand how a cap works by chance?

 

[eddiev9]

Thanks for the advice, kolesy...

Well, the way I understand caps is that they kind of reserve/buffer power until a burst is needed from the amp on the bass beat; taking the stress off the battery...am I on the right track?
The peak power of my Alpine is 360W (what it says on the box); those are powering my door speakers and tweeters. And my MTX gives off 323W at the most to my sub (what it said on the test result sheet that came with the amp).
Most of the car stereo forums I've read have people with 700-800 watts of power to their subs and have a seperate amp(s) for their speakers and tweeters just use a 1.0 farad cap., so I figured a 0.5 would be sufficient in my case since it'll be covering only the MTX amp at 323 watts. Should be enough, right?

 

[juge]

alternator amp

hi ther i got 2003 reg crd right hand drive ,and my alternator making some nose and people say have to change it and no idea wich one will fit.136 amp or higher.and in uk they cost too much so looking to order from state.
and power steering pump is leaking at the moment iam just adding liq.

 

[sharpy]

a capacitor will make a diff and i use one.....i think a 1 farad should be a minimum. a bigger battery ground wire will also make a diff. wire yure main power wires to the cap and then use the cap for the distibution of power to the amps.

i use a 4 ga wire from my batt to the chassie.

 

[bmrrwolfe]

a capacitor will make a diff and i use one.....i think a 1 farad should be a minimum. a bigger battery ground wire will also make a diff. wire yure main power wires to the cap and then use the cap for the distibution of power to the amps.

i use a 4 ga wire from my batt to the chassie.

Just throwing this out there, this thread is from 11/05