i purchased a capacitor for my audio system and when i hook it up the leds on it are alweays on and it is always using power so what i was thinking about doing was hooking up a sylinoid to it so when i turn the amp and sterio on the cap turns on also. is this a common problem with caps? what other options do i have?

 

Its not gonna hurt anything those l.e.d.s use barley any power. Its sorta like a battery, you dont disconnect that when u park your car do you?

 

no lol once i seen the leds stayed on i took it out of the system fearing it would drain my battery

 

before I took out my cap it used to stay on for 3-5 minutes after the van was turned off. It should turn off on its own, you may just need to time it. or maybe it needs to be charged. when I first put it in before I charged it the display was on, but then remembered to take out the fuse and it was still lit. I waited a while and then put in the resistor and charged it. worked fine, just had a delay on voltage display. like I said mine was only about 5 minutes so yours I would assume is the same so long as its charged and put in properly

 

not a cap fan, but dude had 1 and wanted it in so.....i did it lol
most do what was said...on for a few mins after stereo powered down

 

My cap does this as well. It will stay on until it senses there is no draw on the electrical. I can even open my trunk and it will be off until the light in the trunk comes on as it will wait until it senses current draw somewhere before turning on. Just turn off everything in the car and watch it for a minute or two until it turns off. Make sure you don't open any doors during this time though. LOL

 

im just realising this but i knodised on of you mentioned a resistor? i had a resistor come with the capacitor and never knew what it was for and the instructions didnt mention anytihng about it what exaclty is the resistor for and how would i wire it in? and how is the proper way to charge it using a resistor? i assumed i would just run positive to positive and negative to the ground and all would be fine from there :S some help would really be apreaceated

 

nvm the previous post guys i just googled it and i think i got it all figured out but once charged i dont have to leave the resistor on the cap do i? i apoligise for sounding kind of dumb i dont have much experience with capacitors

 

You don't need the resistor, but its included so you can slowly charge up the capacitor. By charging it slower (VS with no resistor) you get no/less sparks. You wouldn't want to wire it in because you only charge it if its been disconnected and drained.

 

Yeah I just reinstalled mine a little while ago and never discharged it before pulling it out. Son of a bitch that is a BIG spark when you connect the power wire again. Once it is charged toss the resistor in the tool box. The first and only cap I hooked up came with horrible instructions. 3 e-mails and finally 2 phone calls to the manufacturer to get it right. Even then it was 50% guesswork. LOL