Car Audio ?'s- Capacitor

[PismoLocal]

If your running a capacitor with your system please tell me your opinions on them. Is it worth it and what exactly does yours do. I know the basic principle behind them- that they are supposed to supply continuous power to your amp by storing energy from the battery - I'm not really worried about sound performance but I would like to be able to listen to my music with the truck turned off .

Im currently running 2 tens at 500 watts rms per sub. Is buying a 2 farad capacitor going to enable me to listen to music for 30 minutes to an hour with the motor off and be able to start my truck back up???

[bwamos]

No..
The capacitor will not reduce the drain of the radio on your battery. It will probably increase it ever so slightly, even. Heat = energy loss.

What the Capacitor does, is stores up a little extra energy for when you hit those loud, hard, notes that draws more energy than you're battery can supply instantaneously.

It's kind of like a nitrous bottle in a sense. Goves an extra boost when needed, but isn't going to increase your gas mileage.

If you want your car battery to last longer.. I'd look into battery stacking.

[PismoLocal]

Ya I want to be able to listen to music with the car off. My buddies and I always go to a motorcross track on the weekends and we usually get stuck bringing our girlfriends. They always open up the doors to one of our trucks and bump music with the motor on. I was just hoping there was something I could do so my truck doesnt have to sit around in direct sunlight idleing in 90 degree weather for an hour at a time.

[F-16Guy]

You might think about spending some money on a quality battery like an Optima, or you might add another battery dedicated to the stereo by using a battery isolator. An isolator will allow the alternator to charge the extra battery when the car is running, but it will not drain the main car battery while the stereo is playing.

[<DRS>GPF]

Originally posted by bwamos
No..
The capacitor will not reduce the drain of the radio on your battery. It will probably increase it ever so slightly, even. Heat = energy loss.

What the Capacitor does, is stores up a little extra energy for when you hit those loud, hard, notes that draws more energy than you're battery can supply instantaneously.

It's kind of like a nitrous bottle in a sense. Goves an extra boost when needed, but isn't going to increase your gas mileage.

If you want your car battery to last longer.. I'd look into battery stacking.

thats a pretty good analogy..

"good answer... X gets the square.."