[hr] I am writing this FAQ to clear up some of the mis-conceptions on Capacitors. Hopefully this will help some of you realize what a Stiff Cap does do , and doesn’t do, and how to really get the results you are probably looking for



First a little background on how your low, mid, or high end audio system affects your electrical system.



For Civic’s here, generally your stock Alternators are rated between 70-80 amps. Your Alternator provides the power for ALL of the electrical devices in your car when the engine is running, from your stereo, to power windows, to your fuel pump and AC. When your car is off, or on ACC, its all your battery. When all of your devices exceed that amperage, is when it starts milking your battery. The Alt recharges the battery with extra power when it can, which in the case of a stock car with no big system, is generally all the time.


Now a gross estimate of AMP usage off the Alt for amped systems, is 16 AMPS for every 100 RMS Watts. So, with your stock Alt and a system under 450 watts, you are GENERALLY fine…go a bit higher and you will start to notice things like flashing lights and even misfires on your spark plugs (worse case scenario)….Read on


What a Capacitor does


A Stiffening Capacitor, or Cap, or lightning cap, or whatever you want to call it, stores power and releases it into the circuit when it is really needed (those big bass booms). Kind of like a rechargeable battery….but I hope this FAQ will help you realize that it is not that at all.



[ul]A Cap prevents drops in voltage, specifically, when the load on the circuit exceeds what the Alternator can produce. But only for brief moments, because it only holds so much and dissipates in a fraction of a second[/ul]
[ul]High current draws from large base hits slam your alternator…you need the power for those hits very quickly, and if your alternator can’t come up with it…they will cut short or not hit at all. A cap can help this because when your system needs that extra jolt of power it is already stored for use.[/ul]
[ul]And yes, in SOME applications, a cap CAN prolong battery and alternator life and keep your headlights from flashing…but read on.[/ul]


What a Cap Won’t Do


[ul][*]1. Make your system sound better…period[/ul]

[ul][*]2. A cap will NOT help your electrical system if you are pushing more than 500 watts RMS into it (based on my 70-80 amp approximation for our civics)…it will hurt it………….[/ul] Your Alternator is going to have to work EXTRA hard running at peak like that, between trying to run everything in your car that makes it go, bump your subs and components at 500 watts RMS, and still find time to recharge your cap and your battery!


And when your battery is run down, it will work even harder…and eventually die.


The summation of this FAQ is that, in fact, a Capacitor is not a fix-all solution to make your mid, to high end system run efficiently. There is only ONE “FOR SURE 100%” way to do this…and that is a High-Output Alternator


High-Output Alternators put out anywhere from 100-250 AMPS to your electrical system. Enough to weld steel. The great thing is, there are plenty of OEM bolt-on replacement high-out put alts that will fit your vehicles. 160 AMP Alternator will solve most ALL of your problems…no flashing headlights, no signal drops, no dead battery. They ARE worth the money.


A Capacitor is not the Magical Cylinder that will solve all your problems. And it’s not useless like some think.

 

Awesome write up !

 

tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me where i can get a 160 amp alternator. ive been looking everywhere. most shops i go into and websites i look at say that alternators are not made for civics with amperage above 80 amps. everyone i ask says that if you get a more powerful alt. then it will not fit the brackets that house the stock alt. what do i do? i looked into a cap, but it seems like they're way too expensive for what they do. i want to go the alternator route, but i cant seem to finda place that sells these powerful alts. ok. i lied, i saw one one time. it was 150 amps i think but it ran about 800 dollars. is that the price i can expect to pay for an alternator of that amperage??

 

http://stores.ebay.com/Alterstart

This guys stuff is the real deal. If you are running a high end stereo...this is WORTH the money.
He has 12 or 14 for differnet Honda models, and all bolt RIGHT In where the stock alt is....the most you would have to do is run a bigger guage wire to the battery, 4 guage or so...they have those too.

 

basicaly to the cap thing......

agree caps are CRAP!!!!!!
most the time alls you need to do is upgrade your grounding wires and maybe your charging wire.....
my grounds where the first thing i upgraded with my stereo... hell look at those crapy wires... thier only about 4gauge wires...... i upgraded mine to some 1/0gauge and that alone helped alot of the dimming!


eventualy ill be buying one of those ebay higher power alts.... i tried the online alt guys BUT WOW they want an arm and a leg.... i dont care how good your name is i cannt justify paying 5times as much!!!!!

 

See we Irish do know something! go on the Fighting Irish

 

k well that site is good..... but the only alt on there for my car is 135 amps and its like 200 bux. granted its considerably less than what i was told one would cost but still. is an xtra 50 amps really gunna help me that much? would it really be worth the 200?

 

if your pushen 1200watts HELL YA its worth it

non the less buy as large of a alt as you can... and if that doesnt help the problem enough... then add some more batteries to your system...

squizing in a nice deep cycle FULLSIZE battery under the hood can also help helped my voltage drop quite a bit!
took minor trimming on the battery and squizing the battery inplace cause it is tight!
but then again i dont know if this will work on all civics.. BUT i know my 99 its very posible!
and i upgraded my wires quite a bit!
mainly to clean it up and also to position the batteries name front cause the terminals are switched on my optima yellow top D34/78.
but if ya dont care about looks just slap it in backwards..... tho youll also have to upgrade the battery conections to upgrade your wires...

 

i dont think a cap could hurt your car though if your running over 500rms....im running id say about 1800 total in my whole system and i have some dim on the headlights but i dont tink enough to really worry about.I have a civic size deep cycle battery,4g big 3,and the .5 cap that ive had forever and i dont really have that much problems.Not saying that i dont need a bigger alt cause i do but i dont think having a cap would hurt it.Ive heard that al least the cap gets some of the nasty stuff outta your system (not sure exactly what but thats what ive heard).Right now im mainly using my cap as kinda a distro block till i can get the money to actually get one and make everything right and get rid of the cap....im no expert at this but thats just what i think a bit from personal exp with a pretty decent size system.....

 

Badb0ybilly:
What is your car? They have 160 amps for 88-91, 92-95 and 96-00....they also have that 135 amp for a 92-95....The 160 Amp was 199+shipping (16 bucks i think)
I'm sure he has an one that would fit at 160-170 amp...there is a number too you can call, he probably has stuff not listed too....you should check it out. It's worth it, plus your ready to upgrade your audio system too


1800 peak, or mean? If you are pushing 1800 watts RMS off your stock Alternator, you're killing it, and your battery...cap is the least of the problem there. And I would assume that the system would sound 20 times better with a bigger alt. Does it cut out at hight volumes, like miss beats and booms? A cap only stores energy for when the amp needs it every so often when the alt can give it, if you are constantly over driving your alt, your cap isn't doing anything but recharging and draining that thing 1000 times a minute for nothing