# Dimming lights still with large capacitor!!!



## matrixelite (Sep 18, 2011)

Ok so i have 2 10w7's powered by a JL 1000/1 amp not even turned halfway up. Its connected to a 20 farad power acoustic hybrid capacitor and for some reason my lights still dim when its turned up. Any ideas why?


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## Angrywhopper (Jan 20, 2010)

opcorn:


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## UNBROKEN (Sep 25, 2009)

Sigh...how about a little info on the vehicle? 
How big is the alternator? Any other wiring upgrades done besides the paperweight you think is helping?
How many other amps are in the vehicle? 
What is the total of all the amps fuses?

If you want help...provide some information to work with. 
If you have a ton of **** in an econobox with an 80 amp alternator and that one amp alone uses a 100 amp fuse....well....think about it....


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## IBcivic (Jan 6, 2009)

Return you cap for a refund and use the money to get yourself a good quality agm battery.
Make sure that your wiring is properly sized for your application. No use running 1/0 to your trunk, if the battery's ground connection is only 6ga....KAPEESH??


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## matrixelite (Sep 18, 2011)

Ok sorry heres some more info. Its a 02 navigator pretty sure the alternator is 115 or 130 amps battery ground is 4 gauge also brand new battery. 4 gauge power and ground wires connected to distribution blocks the JL 1000/1 amp has 4 gauge power and ground cables and is the only amp connected to the capacitor. I also have an alpine pdx 400.1 running the front and rear components hooked up with 8 gauge wire. 250 amp fuse under hood and 1: 100, 1: 50 amp fuses in the rear for the amps. Other parts of the system using up juice is head-unit AVIC Z3 with Ipod and SAT radio add-ons, 10.1 inch flip-down screen in rear with separate DVD player in rear console (separate from Z3 DVD). Also 2 12v fans cooling the amps in the amp rack. Only other electrical type upgrades are indiglo gauges and HID conversion oh and most bulbs replaced with LED bulbs. Thanks for the help too. its much appreciated.


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## XtremeRevolution (Dec 3, 2010)

I would run a 2 gauge for that amp. Its only 50% efficient so you pull 2000w to deliver 1000.

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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

pretty simple math. if you have 115-130 alt and you are pulling 150 amp JUST for amplifiers, you are over powering it. add another 70 amps for the vehicle to operate and you can quickly see the problem.

BTW, 1 farad would do nothing to fix this proprlem, let alone 20 farads.

caps dont MAKE energy, they store it, if you have a weak charging sytems, then you are not MAKING enough energy.


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## Bluliner (May 16, 2011)

You actually bought this thing?










...

That's nothing more than a fancy voltage meter. Those sell on-line for less than some quality 1 farad capacitors...so you got what you paid for. 

What's probably happening is that your 20f cap isn't anywhere near 20f. In addition, it takes too long to charge and discharge which renders it useless. Actually, it's probably worse than useless as it probably presents a load on the charging system making your light dimming issue even worse. 

Bad stuff if you ask me. 

The dead give away in your OP is "amp not even turned halfway up". There really isn't a 1/2 way up or down with amps; it's either matched to the input voltage or it isn't. Go to Jello's website and follow the steps to properly set the gain on your amplifier. Pay absolutely no attention to how much you "turn it up" and only worry about the voltage. Only after you can verify the amp gain is set up correctly should you worry about lights dimming and whatnot. 

No sense in throwing money & perhaps a lot of time at a problem if things were not set up correctly. 

(I'd also set the subsonic around 30hz...that'll help too)


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## dragonrage (Feb 14, 2007)

Caps will charge, and then the amp will discharge them within a second or two, and then if the alternator can't keep up, you will just have your amp and the capacitor BOTH demanding the alternator supply them power and that's only going to make things worse.

Capacitors can help in borderline cases sometimes, but for the most part, they are not helpful if not downright bad.


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## duckymcse (Mar 15, 2009)

Are you using a sound processor?
Before, when I use my Bitone.1, I got terrible headlight dimming everytime whenever there are heavy bass.
I tried upgraded to AGM battery, do BIG 3 upgrade, redo all my grounds, CAPS and none of them help my dimming problem at all.
Ever since I got rid of the Bitone.1 and now using just the headunit(P99RS), I don't have anymore highlight dimming.
Not sure why that is the case, but now I am happy 
It's nice to drive at night and crank it up without that damm headlight dimming. 



matrixelite said:


> Ok so i have 2 10w7's powered by a JL 1000/1 amp not even turned halfway up. Its connected to a 20 farad power acoustic hybrid capacitor and for some reason my lights still dim when its turned up. Any ideas why?


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## matrixelite (Sep 18, 2011)

so swapping in a 220 amp alternator should do it? Also the amp is tuned properly for the speakers what i meant by not turned up was its not pulling nearly as much juice as it could be if i had bigger speakers but i don't want to blow the speakers by over powering them. So basically what you are all saying is capacitors are useless or as mentioned very expensive voltage meter. also what did you mean when you said run a 2 gauge because its only 50% efficient do you mean the amp or the wire?


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## Bluliner (May 16, 2011)

matrixelite said:


> Also the amp is tuned properly for the speakers what i meant by not turned up was its not pulling nearly as much juice as it could be if i had bigger speakers but i don't want to blow the speakers by over powering them.


So you're saying you're amp doesn't have the gain set properly? That's what I took from that...

Get that figured out first.

(visit JL's website)


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## nick650 (Feb 7, 2011)

I learned this: battery AGM> any cap out there.


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## Bluliner (May 16, 2011)

nick650 said:


> I learned this: battery AGM> any cap out there.


12.6v < 14.4

That's what you have to worry about. Who gives a **** what battery you have when you're always running at the higher voltage from the alternator? Problems arise when you dip down to the lower plateau (battery) as the lights will dim. They'll dim with 1 ****ty battery and they'll dim with $1000 worth of batteries.


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## TrickyRicky (Apr 5, 2009)

Upgrade alternator and add a battery. If you keep running your system like your currently is, you will only damage your alternator in the long run.


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## IBcivic (Jan 6, 2009)

Bluliner said:


> 12.6v < 14.4
> 
> That's what you have to worry about. Who gives a **** what battery you have when you're always running at the higher voltage from the alternator? Problems arise when you dip down to the lower plateau (battery) as the lights will dim. They'll dim with 1 ****ty battery and they'll dim with $1000 worth of batteries.


ROFLMFAO....seriously?


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## nick650 (Feb 7, 2011)

Bluliner said:


> 12.6v < 14.4
> 
> That's what you have to worry about. Who gives a **** what battery you have when you're always running at the higher voltage from the alternator? Problems arise when you dip down to the lower plateau (battery) as the lights will dim. They'll dim with 1 ****ty battery and they'll dim with $1000 worth of batteries.



Oh boy...........

As other sad, get rid of the cap, replace it with better power wire and a AGM style battery and make sure to do the big 3. The electrical system is paramount for a car.


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## Bluliner (May 16, 2011)

amitaF said:


> ROFLMFAO....seriously?


No, I'm lying. 

14.4v is actually less than 12.6v. If you want to make a quick buck send me $100 to my PayPal account and I'll gift back $20. You'll be $80 ahead and can consider that my apology for my loose grasp of numerical values.


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

amitaF said:


> ROFLMFAO....seriously?


ya seriously. if you pull 150 amps off a 115amp alternator you will max it out and will pull the rest off the battery at 12v doesnt matter if you have 10 batterys. if you have an insufficient alt, you will be running at 12v most of the time.


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

matrixelite said:


> so swapping in a 220 amp alternator should do it? Also the amp is tuned properly for the speakers what i meant by not turned up was its not pulling nearly as much juice as it could be if i had bigger speakers but i don't want to blow the speakers by over powering them. So basically what you are all saying is capacitors are useless or as mentioned very expensive voltage meter. also what did you mean when you said run a 2 gauge because its only 50% efficient do you mean the amp or the wire?


yes a larger alt will solve your problem.


also, it does matter what size speakers your have if you give 200watts to a 6.5 or 15, they will both consume 200 watts. if you have your gains set correctly, it will put out max wattage.

he meant the amp. most class a/b are only 50% effienct, class d are about 70%


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## XtremeRevolution (Dec 3, 2010)

minbari said:


> yes a larger alt will solve your problem.
> 
> 
> also, it does matter what size speakers your have if you give 200watts to a 6.5 or 15, they will both consume 200 watts. if you have your gains set correctly, it will put out max wattage.
> ...


Not sure how the JL 1000/1 compares to the 1000.1, but the 1000.1 is a 50% efficient amp. Many AB amps are as low as 30% efficiency. It really depends on the impedance and the specific amp in question. I generally assume its going to be 50% efficient at best just to be on the safe side.


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## IBcivic (Jan 6, 2009)

too many B-B savants :inout:


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## madmaxz (Feb 11, 2009)

get a bigger alternator and a diehard platinum battery


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## matrixelite (Sep 18, 2011)

Well the battery under the hood is new. When the lights started dimming I had planned on adding a second battery in the rear so i went and bought everything to do that including an optima battery but i did the research after i bought it all (dumb mistake). Anyways from what I read a second battery wont do anything for the lights seems like the only things it would do is put more strain on the alternator and make it so i can listen to the radio longer with the car off


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

exactly right. a battery simply stores energy. if you are seeing dimming lights and/or dead batteries, then a HO alt is in your future.


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## nick650 (Feb 7, 2011)

what above sad. BUT! You also need a AGM battery for those peaks you get in your music. It is like a GIANT cap .


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