capacitor or 2nd battery?

Question

money not an object. also, how would i wire the 2nd battery? would i have to run it to the alternator or could i just run it straight to the amp?

i know a capacitor isnt a battery, thats why im asking the question.

is there a way to recharge the battery without connecting it to the alt?

Answer 1

While the article that Javin M provides holds true, there are a few errors that time has altered. This article was written some time ago and changes have occurred in the manufacturing of capacitors. In the article an ESR of .017 was given, the problem is that caps made today have an ESR of 0.0016 or less which is a far cry from the days of old.

What does this mean? It means the calculations and information now change quite substantially and can no longer be held as true.

Running a second battery is never a good idea as it's just an added strain on the alternator. A cap is only good so far as the audio system isn't trying to pull too much from the electrical system.

I know a cap can be beneficial as I'm running one and I measured a definite change in my electrical systems response curve to big bass hits with an oscilloscope, however, this won't be the case for ALL vehicles.

If your total system power is more than 1000 watts RMS you will need to:

1. Upgrade the alternator to a high output alternator
2. Upgrade to a heavy duty deep cycle battery
3. Upgrade the "Big 3" - that is to replace the power wire between the battery and alternator and the ground strap.

Failure to do this will result in you replacing them anyway as the alternator will eventually fail.

Here is a guide that will calculate what size alternator and power wires you need http://www.datafilehost.com/download.php?file=6d26c621

You'll need Microsft Excel to use it.

See my site for more info http://spkrbox1.spaces.live.com

Answer 2

a capacitor isnt a battery. it stores a charge and sends a more level voltage signal to the output. It depends on your demmand for voltage.

If you wanted the second battery to recharge it would need to go to the alternator, but you might need a larger or upgraded one depending on the size of the battery.

Answer 3

Javin, that series from Richard Clark was written specifically about a type of very large farad capacitor with ESR ratings that made them useless, and it was never meant to apply to all capacitors. You're using it out of context if you're trying to make it support your "all caps are junk" argument. The fact is that Richard Clark was one of the very first people to start using capacitors in competition car audio systems, so I doubt that he'd agree with your arguments here.

Purchase the book of Richard Clark and David Navone's A2TB Tech Briefs if you want to know what they really think of capacitors: http://www.autosound2000.com . If you're interested in learning more about car audio, this book should be in your library.

Answer 4

I agree with sparky. Todays caps are much better made and more suitable to help out with hard hitting bass than an extra battery would.

Answer 5

get a capacitor and a deep cycle yellow top battery,get ur alternator reworked to hi output specs from a local mechanic and ur set!!!

Answer 6

Alright, extra batteries, as well as caps, put MORE strain on the alt. as they are just more things it's gotta charge. Only put in an extra battery AFTER you upgrade your alt.
When you upgrade your alt. you'll need to do the Big3 Upgrade to be able to get full current from it.
Do the Big3 before anything and you might not need a better alt.
Do the Big3 Upgrade (power -charge- wire from alt. straight to batt., ground from batt. staight to frame, and ground from frame (same place) to engine block) all in 4g or bigger wire.

Good Luck!

Oh, for you all who think caps work, I now have Proof.
Read and Learn:
http://forum.realmofexcursion.com/showthread.php?t=17970