i was under the impression that you should put the cap as possible(i know a lot of you don't like caps but i had good luck with them in the past).Now my friend installed my cap just before the distroblock not after it.It is still the same distance from the bass amp, but should the cap have been put after the distro block or does it really matter? Also, when my car is running my digital cap will read 12.40 volts but after 30 minutes it will read 14.33 volts, is there a problem with the voltage regulater in the altenator? any helps is appreciated and sorry this is long

I install mine as far away as to leave them on the shelf in the store. :D

But, the theory is that you should have the shotest distance possible betweem the cap and the amp. The shorter the better.

i know, i know a lot of you don;t use them, but like i said i had good luck with using them, also i wanted a digital voltmeter as well so i killed two birds with one stone.I just wanted to know if its o.k that its before the distro block.Also, anyone knokw why my voltage reads 12.40 with the car on and after 20 minutes of driving its shows 14.33? any help is appreciated

my guess would be that after your battery has started your car, it's a little low, then it charges after driving. After the battery charges there is no load on your alt... maybe get your battery load tested, and make sure it's not dying.
Also, I'd say get the cap as close to the sub amp as possible.

yea u want it after the distroblock that way its only runnin ur "bass" amp. mine has a 2"wire runnin from it to the amp
if you put it before the block, ur runnin the block off of it so its runnin whatever else ur block is.

[ August 09, 2004, 03:22 PM: Message edited by: mycyl ]

Regardless if it is before or after the distroblock it will be connected to both amps.

T_Money, your cap should Always be as close to your amp as possible. (I.E if you could shove the caps terminals inside the amp it would be best) If you place the cap before the distro block you have for the most part nullified the use of the cap.

A cap can be usefull in the proper application. The unfortunate thing about caps is they are one of the most misunderstood pieces in Audio, which is why over 90% of caps I see on the street today or at shows are not properly installed to achieve any benifit.

Also do not fuse the cap. hope that helps [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

and don't buy a cap with a volt meter since it ups the ESR enough to make the cap nothing more than a sueless bling item with a volt meter

ESR must be 0.003 ohms or less to be of any use

my 3 1 farad caps are all properly mounted in a rubbermaid container in the shed ........ [img]smile.gif[/img]

idealy it is said that a cap should be mounted within 18 inches of the amplifier. although no matter where you put it a cap with still be tied in to your while electrical system. (it will help you start your truck even). But try to stay away from them. get a stinger yellow top or something and throw it back there where you wanna put the cap. I have 4 caps and they really don't do ****. I've about to get 2 stinger yello-tob batteries to replace them-hope that will be sufficient.

i do have the cap(it does have a digital read out but it is 20 volt/and 24 volt surge) mounted as close to the bass amp as possible, however its before the distro block.Now because only the bass amps draws current on heavy bass notes i was told its o.k to be before the distro block since the voltage doesn't really drop from my mids and highs amp.Also anyone know why my voltage shows 12.40 when the car is on then 20 minutes after will show 14.36.i use a yellow top as well.It didn't do that before and the battery light in my car doesn't go on(to indicate a bad altenator) so i'm not sure if the altenators voltage regulator is bad.thanks for all the help and anymore help especially on the voltage drop is appreciated

I would recomend getting a dmm [digital multi-meter]and test your batt. voltage before and after starting to see what you got. It should read bout 12 v before and 14 v or better after starting. If less than 12v load test batt. If less than 14v running get alt. bench tested . My $.02 worth.

t money, when you say your car is "on"is that running or just ign. on? aprox. 12v is good with ign. on not running the engine. A hot(engine @ operating temp)alt. providing it can supply enough amperage for the load,(lights,heater,audio and junk)is designed to supply 14.4 volts. more when the alt is cold(up to 15v). also alts.aren`t designed to provide much current(amperage)or voltage @ idle. if theres alot of stuff working while stuck in traffic, batt voltage will drop.as for the cap, unless its installed inside the amp after the fuse its pretty much useless. the fuse will defeat the esr.kink in the pipe if you get my drift. sorry for the long reply. i`m new here

You guys were listening to this right............. listening very closely. From an audio perspective, most of the off-the-shelf capacitors are totally useless for improving your audio "quality". BUT.......... but if you want to blow your money on them........... hey, it's your money. [img]graemlins/dunno.gif[/img] Personally, a capacitors best friend is Ebay.

Rubbermaid? Man I'm using tuperware!!!

Take that!!

wow none of you guys really like caps i guess.I have been around car audio since the mid 80's and after doing much research have found a lot of people saying caps are useless, however when i installed one in my last car i noticed a difference in bass(its not my mind playing tricks neither).Also why do alot of show cars with thousands of dollars in equipment use them? i actually wanted it more for the digital read out.Is it doing any harm at all or just not doing anything positive? thanks for all the help although this topic has been talked about in detail a lot. sorry for the repetition

I always like to use a cap in my own system.

so good i'm not the only one

Show cars are just that... for show. they are there to show off the product or to look darn good. Are caps useless... no they are not. Will they solve any real problems... maybe (as already stated in this and about a dozen or two other threads).
Caps look good and frankly that is why many have them... Dukk uses them due to their real electrical value. Buy one if you wish to but do not expect miracles.
I took mine out, but I havent sold it and may play around and see if it can improve things (and if so what).

i agree
in my experience with all the caps i've seen it hasn't improved bass quality, stopped dimming of lights on hard hits or even any too good looking caps
haha