New Gear

[saltystix]

Welp... Looks like my system will work ok... I'm tryin a different ground set up for the MTX amp that connects to the speakers... but here's the thing, before I make a lil setup, I kinda want to ask a few question...

Is a capacitor good to have or is it just like one of those extra things? I talked to my friend and he doesnt like them at all, he said to just get a new alternator... but i cant really afford something thats like 200 bux compared to like 80. Anyhow, I know there is plenty of threads here about caps, but I wanna know for my particular setup... I have a 800w pushing 200-400w right now, might use the full 800 sometime and a amp running about 280w http://www.cardomain.com/item/MTX564

Now I'm looking at price and functions... I need something under 100 bux and something that I can use on 2 amps Would these be ok? http://www.cardomain.com/item/LITLS1003
http://www.cardomain.com/item/ROCCPC1003

Or if you know something cheaper or better... or a better site to buy from... All info is helping me... THX GUYS!!!!! :)

[mwatson69_2k]

I would reccomend the RF over the lightening audio.... all you will need is a 1 Farad Cap... 1 Farad is rated for up to 1000 Watts... I believe... Definitely dont go with cheap brands... I am running into that problem right now.. I bought a cheap Pyramid 1.5 Farad Cap for about $40 off ebay and it came dead(it wouldnt hold a charge) but luckily it came with 1 yr manufacturer warranty so I just have to send it back to them.. and we'll see how that turns out.. I definitely wish I would have went with a better brand...But Caps get expensive and I wanted to get one of the digital Caps so that = $$. so.....

[matts]

you can get you a good stinger 1 farad cap with a digital voltage gauge for about $120 or so.......and i've had my stinger cap for about 4 or 5 years now. it's still going just as strong as the day i bought it.

a cap is just like a battery. it gets a trickle charge from the battery/altenator and stores it until the amp requires a big surge of power. when that happens instead of the amp sucking all it needs from the car's charging system at one time it takes it out of the cap. and then the whole process starts over again.

so will it hurt to have one? no. are they necessary? no will a higher output altenator do a better job? that's debatable to some, but i say yes.

[saltystix]

whats the diff between a reg cap and a dig cap? I know the volt reading... but does that really do anything for a person like me who knows nothing about that kinda stuff?

[mwatson69_2k]

no its does nothing mechanical to the system.. Basically the Dig just has a digital screen telling you how many volts are charged in the Cap... if it doesnt matter to you then I could save some money and get a regular cap.. I just thought it was cool so I went with the Dig cap

[saltystix]

I was checking around at caps and didnt find my answer in their info, but can you tie two amps that use 4 awg to one cap? Because that is what I'm going to do and I dont want to get something, I can't fully use.

So the dig. is just to see ur charge... I guess that helps for you to know if its holding its charge or not.

[tommymcc]

Originally posted by mwatson69_2k
I would reccomend the RF over the lightening audio.... all you will need is a 1 Farad Cap... 1 Farad is rated for up to 1000 Watts... I believe... Definitely dont go with cheap brands... I am running into that problem right now.. I bought a cheap Pyramid 1.5 Farad Cap for about $40 off ebay and it came dead(it wouldnt hold a charge) but luckily it came with 1 yr manufacturer warranty so I just have to send it back to them.. and we'll see how that turns out.. I definitely wish I would have went with a better brand...But Caps get expensive and I wanted to get one of the digital Caps so that = $$. so.....

you do know that rockford owns lighting audio so they can label the LA stuff with RF logos? they also own MB quart for the components and coax's, and q logic for the boxes

[tommymcc]

the LA battery

[tommymcc]

the rockford battery, the same thing, different sticker and a $10 difference, and the rf battery has a warranty the LA doesn't have

[matts]

yeah, you can use 2 amps off of one cap. just put the cap before the distribution block for the amps......you can even get a distribution block that fits on top of the cap.

[mwatson69_2k]

yeah I know they bought them out but I wasnt sure how long ago they bought them... Didnt know if there are still L A stuff out there that hasnt converted to RF yet... And yes you can run 2 amps off from 1 cap. In fact that is what I am going to be doing... 4 gauge wire running from deck to the cap then to a distribution block and some fuses and then I just split mine from distribution block with 8 guage wire to the 2 amps...

was gonna run 4 guage the whole way but ran out of 4 gauge and had alot of 8 guage left so went that wau instead..

yeah I just thought the digital cap would look better ....

[tommymcc]

actually LA is still being made, lots of dealers use LA stuff for installations and don't sell RF, so they'd lose money if they cancelled it