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Senior Member
Scikotics
SL Member
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 2,170
From: South SoCal, California
Senior Member
Balliztik
SL Member
Scion Evolution
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,436
From: Battle Ground, WA
A large rechargeable battery that allows your system to be ran when vehicle is off without draining your car battery. Also gives clean filtered power without alternator noise or other vehicle electronic interference with current.
Senior Member
Scikotics
SL Member
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 9,731
From: Minneapolis, MN
A cap doesnt do a whole lot for lengthening battery life. They are a rapid charge and discharge device.
First, the general of what a capacitor is. Basically, two conductors separated by a dielectric. They do act as a battery, only they tend to discharge quickly. Now, the part that will make more sense to you regarding the system. A cap will act like a high pass filter. So as frequency goes up, the "resistance" (actually reactance.... but you dont need that info as well to confuse things :D ) of the cap goes down effectively. The larger the cap, the lower the frequency range it can pass with low resistance.
So.... what this means is that a cap from your power wire to ground will act as a high pass filter to ground. So noise, or ripple, on the line will be passed to ground while DC will be not be shorted to ground, since a cap does not pass dc. When you have a lot of quick hitting base in a high powered system, the "Droops" in the line are effectively filtered, keeping the voltage steadier. Most of the time, ensuring you arent over driving the charging system and using the proper wiring and good connections throughout will eliminate the need for a cap.
They really are only effective for the transient spikes like mnetioned above, and will not compensate for a charging system that is severly overloaded or poor grounding.
Hope that helps to an extent
First, the general of what a capacitor is. Basically, two conductors separated by a dielectric. They do act as a battery, only they tend to discharge quickly. Now, the part that will make more sense to you regarding the system. A cap will act like a high pass filter. So as frequency goes up, the "resistance" (actually reactance.... but you dont need that info as well to confuse things :D ) of the cap goes down effectively. The larger the cap, the lower the frequency range it can pass with low resistance.
So.... what this means is that a cap from your power wire to ground will act as a high pass filter to ground. So noise, or ripple, on the line will be passed to ground while DC will be not be shorted to ground, since a cap does not pass dc. When you have a lot of quick hitting base in a high powered system, the "Droops" in the line are effectively filtered, keeping the voltage steadier. Most of the time, ensuring you arent over driving the charging system and using the proper wiring and good connections throughout will eliminate the need for a cap.
They really are only effective for the transient spikes like mnetioned above, and will not compensate for a charging system that is severly overloaded or poor grounding.
Hope that helps to an extent
:D