Is a capacitor needed?

nickg3130

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Well, i decided to upgrade my system a little bit and bought 2 12" L3 solo baric kicker subs. I had a p-5002 rockford fosgate powering both of my old subs and i didn't think it would be enough power for both of the kickers. I bridged one of the amps to one of the l3s temporarily and it sounds great so i am going to add the identical amp/sub combo which i already have in my possession. My question is do i need a capacitor for my set up? Its going to be 2 rockford fosgate p500-2 amps and one alpine 4-channel speaker amp in total. Not sure the exact rms on the entire system but id say near 1000. ANy help would be appreciated.
 

jdc753

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Short answer, No...

You are looking at 1000w for the sub amps, and then say another 400 or less for the 4-channel. I don't see that draining your system. In my truck my sub amplifier is wired up to feed 1500w to the sub, and the 4-channel is rated for 400, but probably putting out around 300, but I have yet to ever have a dimming issue with stock electrical.


A capacitor is a bandaid at best to a bigger problem, or is just a really tiny battery in the electrical system, that now the system will have to recharge when the capacitor is drained. The best way to do it, if you notice a dimming or electrical drain issues is to first upgrade your charging and ground wires, commonly referred to as "The Big 3" basically upsizing the wire from the alternator to a 1/0 and also the grounding wires from the motor and the battery to 1/0, and in our trucks the wires that connect the batteries since we have a dual battery configuration.

Then if the wire upgrade doesn't alleviate things your next best step is either a larger alternator, or adding a third full battery like an optima yellow top.



Basically the electrical system is like the fuel system in our truck, the larger the wire/fuel line the more volume can be supplied with less pressure drop (voltage drop) and a capacitor added into the system will be close to the equivalent of a fuel bowl or the secondary filter housing versus the fuel tank, it is just a small amount of volume that if drained will take a little bit to replenish.


Hope this helps.
 

nickg3130

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Short answer, No...

You are looking at 1000w for the sub amps, and then say another 400 or less for the 4-channel. I don't see that draining your system. In my truck my sub amplifier is wired up to feed 1500w to the sub, and the 4-channel is rated for 400, but probably putting out around 300, but I have yet to ever have a dimming issue with stock electrical.


A capacitor is a bandaid at best to a bigger problem, or is just a really tiny battery in the electrical system, that now the system will have to recharge when the capacitor is drained. The best way to do it, if you notice a dimming or electrical drain issues is to first upgrade your charging and ground wires, commonly referred to as "The Big 3" basically upsizing the wire from the alternator to a 1/0 and also the grounding wires from the motor and the battery to 1/0, and in our trucks the wires that connect the batteries since we have a dual battery configuration.

Then if the wire upgrade doesn't alleviate things your next best step is either a larger alternator, or adding a third full battery like an optima yellow top.



Basically the electrical system is like the fuel system in our truck, the larger the wire/fuel line the more volume can be supplied with less pressure drop (voltage drop) and a capacitor added into the system will be close to the equivalent of a fuel bowl or the secondary filter housing versus the fuel tank, it is just a small amount of volume that if drained will take a little bit to replenish.


Hope this helps.

Great explanation. That helps me out a ton.

Now dont they make some sort of power distributor block so i can run 1 hot wire to the battery and mount the block by the amps so i dont need to run 3 wires to the battery?
 

Gearhead

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Do you have room for an aux battery in the rear with a solonoid-type isolator? if so that would be the best bet. You you do that and then just run a number 4 wire up to the front.
 
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