nhodge93

Hi guys, need some help here. I have a 4 channel 700w Alpine Amp run to my speakers and I want to add a Amp for my subs and also want to install a capacitor to stop the headlights from flickering.

The Amp I am buying is a Alpine 500W Amp and the Capacitor is one faret, I'm not real sure of the brand of the capacitor. The guy at Myer Emco told me to run one faret per 1,000 watts.

Can I just run a distribution block and tap into my power wire to install the other amp for my subs and how do I install the capacitor? Do I just tap into the power wire for that also? Your help would be greatly appreciated with this, I'm not real experienced when it comes to stereos but I'm trying to save some money because installation prices are killer!!!! Thanks in advance.

-Nick-

jimmy 2 Times

iTrader: (18)

run power wire from your battery to the cap, ground it with the same guage wire as the battery. from the cap run the power wire to the fused distrubution block. run a wire to the amps, and ground the amps.

good luck

98formulaMAH

iTrader: (11)

Thats it

2FAST4U

And charge the cap slow with the part it came with (resistor/bulb) but some caps have that built in!

And yes wire it the way Jimmy 2 Times said. But not all caps are wired that way but from what it sounds like you will be fine!

2MuchRiceMakesMeSick

Optimally you want the distance of the + wire to be as close as possible to the amps +

Ground loops can get messy when running large caps so make SURE you put the - side of the cap to ground (bare metal, not the battery) I cant stress a good ground on caps enough.

jimmy 2 Times

iTrader: (18)

good point, i forgot to tell him to grind down the paint where you ground your cap, and again where you ground your amp.

Trent

iTrader: (3)

You can also run your amp grounds from the cap as well. I'm not sure if that was already said or not.

Mine is done that way. Power from battery to cap, then power to amps from cap. Ground from chassis ground (bare metal) then from cap to ground on amps.

One really good way to eliminate engine noise and headlight flickering is to take a yellow and a black wire. Both 16-18 awg. Tap into your headunit with the yellow on yellow and black on black. Run the yellow to the power on your largest amp and the ground the same. It's an install trick I learned over the years that works VERY well. I have ZERO engine noise and ZERO flickering.

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

you must have a weak amplifier. amplifiers draw current. alternators provide current. if you have a stock alternator and a 1500 watt amplifier, your alternator will not supply 100+ amps to your amplifier, and therefore, your charging system will suffer (i.e. your lights will flicker). tapping into a simple power/ground wire definitely won't prevent this.

2MuchRiceMakesMeSick

Please do not do this. Grounding is the second most important thing next to supplying enough amps/volts and keeping them cool. Provide a good ground with a good size wire for EACH of your amp and caps. Dont cut corners. Spend the extra 10 bucks for another 4 guage for your 1 farad cap and give it its own ground. Combining common grounds can create ground loops which will smoke your amp in a matter of seconds.






I agree.

Trent

iTrader: (3)

Woah woah woah I was misunderstood!!!!! I was saying use the red and black from the deck in ADDITION to the 4 awg you should be using anyway. The real purpose of using those two wires is to rid yourself of engine noise, but they help with flickering a LITTLE bit. I had a faint amount of engine noise before I redid it that way and it went away.

So in summary, 4 awg from battery to cap, 4awg from chassis to cap, 8awg from cap power to amp power and 8 awg from cap ground to amp ground AND the red and black from the deck spliced and run to the large amp.

I've got nearly 1500 watts in my car and have installed MANY systems. I would NEVER in a million years use the power and ground from the deck for the power and ground of the amp.

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

you weren't misunderstood. what you are doing and what you are saying to do will make absolutely no difference with flickering.

2MuchRiceMakesMeSick

You werent misunderstood.

Ill say it again....do not combine the amp and the cap grounds.

The amp should go to bare metal on its own wire.
The cap should go to bare metal on its own wire.

Nate_Taufer

iTrader: (1)

ditto...i used to install full time, now just for buds, but each component in the system should have it's own ground. If you have engine noise it's because signal wire and power wire are run too close together at some point in your system. Running the secondary power wire probably just gave you enough power from a non signal induced wire to keep you from hearing it.

Nate

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

90% of the time a bad ground causes engine noise, not running wires too close together. that's a pretty big misconception that people have. if you even buy the worst rca's known to man you can still probably run them next to your power wire and get very little engine noise. alternately, a single bad ground in the system will cause a whine you'd never believe possible.

back to the general jist of this thread - a capacitor doesn't always do anything at all. a high output alternator is the cure. i have a friend with a 2000 watt system and a 15 farad capacitor and his lights still dim constantly. seldomly they work, sometimes they help, and often times they do nothing. but they look cool...

2MuchRiceMakesMeSick

90% of the time ground noise is caused by running your prestage too close to +12v. The second most common is alternator prefailure.

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

gonna have to disagree. 90% of the alternator whines i've found have been bad grounds. alternator prefailure sounds like really bad luck, not a common reason for alternator whine, also.

2001FireBird

You've all said that running the capcitor should be directly connected to the batt then into the distribution block, correct? The way I have it hooked, was a 4awg from the batt to the block then out to the cap. Is this in any way going to cause a problem?

Richiec77

iTrader: (3)

Nope. It's still going to see +12Vdc.

Here's a good link I found.

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/scrip...Z2U9MQ**&p_li=

Going towards the bottom it has a few related links.

Wildman

ALL but 1 of the installs (10+ years) that I have seen that have had engine noise in it has been bad grounds.
The 1 that was not was a bad RCA jack.

DO NOT USE COMMON GROUNDS... AND use at least the same size ground wire you use for the power, and make them as short as possible, 6" or less is optimal for a ground.

Last, using a CAP only to fix headlights dimming is only a band aid. You should have a higher rated alternator too.
Just my $.03

2MuchRiceMakesMeSick

No run it to ground...bare metal.







Thank you. This is EXACTLY what I have been saying. Its good to see other professional installers.