What happens if you dont....

[PontiacGA]

...charge a cap before using it? Does it self explode or something? :lol: Or just to charge it slowly so it doesnt take the shock of being charged instantly, making it last longer? :cletus:

[MantaGreen97]

No it won't explode (well provided you don't hook it up backwards that is). What it will do is draw upwards of like 100A or more, instantly, as you complete the circuit.

So it's almost like starting your car by manually touching the wires to the starter, lol. Perhaps even worse (more current) depending on the size of the cap. You're gonna get a good spark, thats for sure and you may even melt some metal or some of the power wire. You could even get a nasty shock :eek: The spark could also cause personal injury or set something alight, lol.

It may also blow your mainline fuse, causing you to have to buy a new one and replace it, LOL. It could also place undue stress on your car's battery and/or alternator.

I.e. what the charging process or "tools" do, is charge it slowly, just as you said.

Attaching the cap without charging it is a bad idea for a lot of reasons (the main ones of which I posted above). Not all of these things will happen for sure, but it is possible that one or more of these things could happen.

You're much better off properly charging the cap before installation. ;)

[Bjornboy81]

even on a small cap you'll draw waaaaay more than 100amps...the instant the circuit it closed (touch the wire) it acts as a dead short, and then the current will decrease as it charges.

doing it once probably wont' hurt it, but it will blow fuses and hurt your battery.

[sunrunner_pei]

Hmmm, I learned something new today. :)

[matts]

well they say you learn something new everyday........so i guess you can just head back to bed and call it a day. oooo, at 845 in the morning too, what an early day

[Bjornboy81]

we have a joke around work that if you learn something new that day, you can go home...the bosses don't like that joke :lol:

[iceman]

1 farad cap and 80amp circuit breaker.. never popped anything when flipping the breaker. old car, 40amp fuse, never popped that either if connecting the cap w/ no charge. does it spark? yes. is it bad? eh. should you use the charging thing? if you have it. that's about it

[Bjornboy81]

Originally posted by iceman
1 farad cap and 80amp circuit breaker.. never popped anything when flipping the breaker. old car, 40amp fuse, never popped that either if connecting the cap w/ no charge. does it spark? yes. is it bad? eh. should you use the charging thing? if you have it. that's about it circuit breakers and slow blow fuses probably wont trip/blow...they are designed to handle extremely high short duration currents...but it's still bad for the battery. :)

[PontiacGA]

Got everything on and the trunk is finished (for now). For those who say caps dont work, you're wrong. :lol: Either the cap gave me a little more bass or maybe the fact I boxed in the trunk more, but one of the two gave me more bass. :bigok:

[Bjornboy81]

what do you mean "boxed in the trunk more"? Caps probably won't give you noticeably more bass, unless you are really starving for juice.

[PontiacGA]

Well, I just had the sub box in the trunk with the 2 amps on angled 'boxes' in each corner. I built around the sub box, filling in around it, then coming back on either side with the cap in one side. Right in front of the subs is about 35" wide and 17" deep to the back of the car, with the only opening to the cabin of the car being the inch or so between the rear deck and the top of the form I built around the sub box. That probably sounds confusing. :lol:I'll get pictures sometime. All I know is theres more bass.

[Bjornboy81]

so you just reduced the volume of the trunk...that would probably increase bass :)

[PontiacGA]

Originally posted by Bjornboy81
so you just reduced the volume of the trunk...that would probably increase bass :)

Ok. I like the idea that the cap helped, too. :lol: ;)

[Lash]

Originally posted by PontiacGA
Ok. I like the idea that the cap helped, too. :lol: ;)

meh


*imagine me rambling some statement on how I feel about caps*

:)

[Bjornboy81]

Originally posted by Lash
meh


*imagine me rambling some statement on how I feel about caps*

:) :lol: I bet I could quote you line by line too :D

[ancona46]

i hooked my 3 farad cap up once without charging it and yea it blew a 80 amp fuse and had a big spark

[Matt95GT]

Originally posted by iceman
1 farad cap and 80amp circuit breaker.. never popped anything when flipping the breaker. old car, 40amp fuse, never popped that either if connecting the cap w/ no charge. does it spark? yes. is it bad? eh. should you use the charging thing? if you have it. that's about it

Yea, I never had any issues either. Worst case scenario, you have to replace a fuse. I don't see how it's any worse for the battery than hard starts in cold weather.

[PontiacGA]

Whats weird is my cap came with a light bulb that I assume is like a resistor, that you use to charge it. Problem was, where to hold it so your fingers dont burn. :lol: Just stuck one end of it into the wire and then used that to hold and touch the other side to the cap.

[Matt95GT]

^That's prolly the best way to do it properly, minus the awkwardness of touching it to the terminals. Right, works like a resisitor with the bonus that the light will dim out when the cap is completely charged.

I know someone who once used a medium-size electric motor in a similar manner to charge a large bank (like 2 dozen attached with long pipes) of high-voltage capacitors (120V). Touched to the ends of the pipes, a coffee can would get 8 holes shot through it instantly. That thing was nuts.

[Bjornboy81]

now this is a capacitor bank! This is the filter of a rectifier we made for Whirlpool...this is on the smaller side of we we've done.

[Matt95GT]

^Yup... similar setup to what they were using to blow up random metal things. :lol:

[PontiacGA]

Crappy cell phone picture, but you might be able to get the idea what it looks like. :lol: Looks much better in person.

[Bjornboy81]

looks good! :)

One thing...I hate those metal grills...take them off or get different ones...they kind of take away from the clean setup.

[PontiacGA]

Originally posted by Bjornboy81
looks good! :)

One thing...I hate those metal grills...take them off or get different ones...they kind of take away from the clean setup.

Going to. I think the speakers actually hit them anyway. I had them on there when I actually used the trunk, so the speakers wouldnt get damaged.

Thanks. :)