Do I need a capacitor for my amp?

snowdog

snowdog

snowdog

Soldato
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I'm not experiencing any problem with audio yet, but I currently have a 4x125W amp in the boot, I only have a 12'' sub hooked in it atm but I will soon be buying new rear speakers and plugging them in the amp too ( they're currently on my headunit). I have a voltmeter in my car and every time my indicators are on the voltage drops by about half a volt, on heavy bassy songs my interior lights and even my headlights dim a bit and the voltage drops by a whole Volt ( sometimes even more) on every ''boom'' in the song.

Does this cause harm to either my amp, or my car electrics or the car battery, would I be better off buying a capacitor to reduce the voltage jumping? Again, I do not notice the amp being louder/silenter yet, but I will be increasing its workload soon and especially my interior lights are noticably dimming on the music. This also used to happen in the Volvo but to a lesser extent (and of course, also only using 2 of the 4 channels)... The battery is (still anyhow) fine, it's a 52 Ah Ford battery about 1-2 years old.
 
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You may want a capacitor if after you install your rear speakers you find alternator whine, as the capacitor will provide "clean" electricity. Other than that i think you'll be fine :)
 
Cupra said:
tbh no, unless you see dimming inline with the bass your fine, ususaly 800w plus needs a cap
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I do, but 800W+? Still not got anywhere near that :). Okay thx I'll save my cash then and not worry.

WhiteCobra said:
You may want a capacitor if after you install your rear speakers you find alternator whine, as the capacitor will provide "clean" electricity. Other than that i think you'll be fine :)
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Thanks :).
 
From my research capacitors are crap, and the better option if you think more power needed is a bigger battery or a second battery (although both are probably more hassle then you want).

I personally run a 1100 rms amp, and a 150 rms amp in my car and i havent found a need for an extra battery or anything. Even if on extremly loud (way louder then i ever listen), the lights only dim a little!
 
I'd say your battery is a little under powered for your car, also your alternator could be at fault, back in the day when I was into antisocial behaviour an upgraded alternator was the weapon of choice.
 
I don't think the battery is that bad, car starts perfect even when left for a couple of weeks ( like when I had a borked oil sump a while ago), also still works fine after 30 mins of music at medium volume with the engine off... The manual also recommends a 52Ah battery iirc. Of course I could buy a new one but higher capacity batteries are stupidly expensive imho.

Don't get me wrong I can drive for ages with my music loud and there's no problem, I can also reasonably long play music with the engine off, my battery hasn't ever been drained/dead yet, I just notice my interior lights dimming more significantly than in my previous car and I see my voltmeter jumping around... I was just curious whether this is harmful to any components like the alternator, battery, or the amp ( or anything else for that matter).
 
In short no. A capacitor is a parasitic drain. You are far better off upgrading the big three, then your battery and alternator at the same time. For reference, I was running 2 x 1200w rms and a 4x 100 rms package from a 140amp alternator and standard battery many moons ago.
 
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