what does an amp do electrically?
 

I'm an amateur here and have no idea what I'm doing. I need a large current pulse for something unrelated. Can someone explain what an amp does on an electrical level? I mean can I hook it up to a 12V car battery and it will somehow give me a large current out of it? is this the basic idea? I see the measurements are in RMS? why if its DC?

Thanks.

All I know is DC volts go in and AC volts come out. :)

not exactly......

the signal from the HU is AC.... this is amplified (duh) and sent to the speakers.


So... in short... what an amplifier does is MAEK dA DeeBeeZZzZ!!!

for a more technical explanation check this link ---> Amplifier

:smilie_da

I know that.:cheeky4:

I posted that because the OP said:

"I see the measurements are in RMS? why if its DC?"

I'm way too tired to be making sense anyway, sleep ftw.

oh geez.. back to very basics.

an audio amp is basically a voltage amplifier but with high current capabilities
It will take the +/- couple of volts from your HU and multiply it by the amout of gain the amp has, and also allow much more current to be delivered to your speakers.

The 12 volts DC from your battery is first converted to a much higher voltage supply of Plus and Minus to supply the amp...
the amp is basically a valve that is controlled by the lower voltage and power signal from your HU.
Thats all I can really say without giving you lessons in Ohms Law etc. There are plenty of web sites for that and other basic. Do your homework...we are not here to do it for you.

try www.the12volt.com
or www.bcae1.com

What is this non-car audio project you're working on?

Ha! you actually read his post completely and keyed in on his *large Pulse*

that is a whole different ball game...

So KenW.. what are you working on? I am an ellectrical engineer... perhaps I can point you in the right direction.

What is an HU?

Where does the extra energy the amp uses to increase current/voltage come from? It all can't come from the battery or everyones battery would end up dead.

I'm trying to magnetize metal bars and whatnot. so I need a large current pulse going through a heavier gauge coil. I tried to take individual 3.3F/2.7V caps and work them together but I can't get much more then 7 amps. So I got mad and found that CAP8000. 80F @ 16V with a series resistance of .0015 should give me what you think? 100A for 1 second?

You think its ok to short a car audio cap like that CAP8000? Or is that a mistake...

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