Capacitor versus extra battery

[LOO_SILL]

I have a nice system in my car but just as anyother system, my amp is pull from my battery causing my lights to flicker. I was thing about installing a capacitor then a friend told me about system batteries that they have out. Should I put in an extra battery for my amp or should I go with a capacitor. Any suggestion? and please explain...Thanx.

[MGLax13]

This is posted int he worng place. It should bein the audio section. Thats why it's there.

[LOO_SILL]

sorry.....I figured Aftermarket upgrades included aftermarket sound systems as well. I will post the original in proper section...no problem..

[MGLax13]

Sorry, didn't wanna be a dick, but I figured I'd jump on it before they'd give you a link to another post talking about how people post int he wrong spot.

[kubi]

Well in my opinion you don't really need an extra battery unless you are going to be competing or running your system while the car is off. A capacitor will solve your headlight dimming problems and is probably cheaper and easier than installing an extra battery. If you wanted to put in another battery you'd have to have the battery and an isolator, plus since the battery can store even more power than a capacitor you are possibly putting even more stress on your alternator than a cap would.

[HKSV6SLE]

better watch where you post or the post police are gonna get on your case about it. seriously tho, we have argued a lot about this, read some old threads.

[Yanks0114]

skip both and upgrade the alternator.

Thats the best solution

[Grazi07]

It depends on the wattage being run. It's a lot easier to install a cap than an alternator, and although I don't know for sure, its prolly cheaper. I know you can get a 1.0 farad cap for around $100, digital readouts are around $130. Thats what I'm going with, and I'll be running a lil over 1000 watts with a headunit drawing 14.4 volts itself. I'd say cap it.

[HKSV6SLE]

i just wanted to re-post and say that unless you have a really powerful system changing your alternator might be a waste of money. I've been saying that for a while and someone always argues with me about this, so this time i went and had my mechanic test my alternator and how much amps my system draws at any one time. he ran my car at full throttle with everything running, (a/c, system and headlights) and i was still drawing only around 50-60 amps . most of the draw was becuase of my system which drew between 5-20 amps depedning on when the bass hits. it would draw 20 amps when the bass really hit hard. so anyways, i asked the mechanic why my lights flicker and he thinks that its becuase the battery is not charging good and can't hold the charge long enough. anyways conclusion is that unless you are going with a very high powered system that draws tons of power and if you listen to music that has lots of bass and you listen to it very loud all the time then getting a higher power alternator is kinda pointless. and for the record my alternator tested ran at max output to 98 amps and i have the printout to prove it. not trying to prove anyone right or wrong, but that's what i found out.

[jondailey]

Yeah...most lights flicker in cars because the system drains the battery then the altenator cant work fast enough to charge it back up that quick. Plus it all depends on what kind of battery you are running. A cap really will only help when you need that boost, otherwise once its drained it will do the same thing...try and recharge. You all should look into the batcap 800's. Its a convential 800cca battery but its real small, light weight(11lbs or so), and charges 13 times faster than a regular battery. Retail is $179.

[SolaraConvertable]

I personally think that caps don't do anything. My first system was only pumping 600 watts to 2 10"s and my lights were dimming alot so i decided to buy 2 caps, one for each amp. They didnt help much or at all. The caps can only hold a small charge, after a few bass hits they lost all their charge and have to recharge just like a regular battery.
My current system is pumping 1800 watts in total to 2 12's so i installed a second battery in the trunk and my lights barely dim. You cant hardly notice the headlights dim, the only noticable thing is the interior clock but its not even that bad.
I forgot the exact name of it but Stinger makes something that acts like an isolater for less then have the price. If i remember correctly, an isolator runs for about 180 and i paid 60 bucks for the stinger. The stinger piece allows the alternator to charge both batteries equally while running and seperates both batteries when the car is off. So you can listen to music while the car is off till the system battery dies and still be able to start the car with the main battery.
So a dry cell battery goes for about 130 plus the 60 for the Stinger piece is 190. A high output alt goes for what? $500 Sounds alot cheaper to me. Obviously after a few years of abuse, the battery and alternator will become weak, so thats when its worth to replace the alternator with a high output one, in my opinion at least.