I'm really satisfied with this tutorial. Worth my time. I gave it a like and I'm on my way to Unlike other videos that just wasted my time with nothing but garbage.Thanks, helped a lot.
I have seen some other installation videos and they just put the cap to the ground and had the amp with a separate ground, but I think in your video you had the ground for the amp going to the cap and then the cap to ground. Would having two ground wires make a difference, or in your case, having one ground?
I'm watching this to re-remember how I did my install 19 years ago. In my years of experience and many thefts over the years, One thing for sure, more grounds help if one is getting oxidized, or sadly one of mine came loose due to theft, more like attempted theft. Hopefully the thief got shocked. I was wondering why amps fuses were melted. Another time a cap wire came loose, I got a heart stopping shock, (don't let the wire TOUCH METAL) side of the road type check. Even though I have rewired mine and tons of other systems, caps always scare me. I These things are fantastic. In the least, caps put less electrical strain on the vehicle. Mine has lived in salty environments it's whole life. 2.5 k watt system. My alternator is still hanging.
U sound like Chris Fix twin. This is the best cap install video ive seen! Not having a resistor is my.weak link to install my cap. Not no more with your video and light bulb suggestion!
great vid..side note... i noticed a humming in my camaro when the bass hits... i grounded the CAP and AMP separately.. no humming. (side note that just in my experience)
Good video but you do NOT run the 2 ground wires together. The power wire, yes-it’s fine. The ground should ALWAYS be ran separate to it’s own grounding point.
Thanks man. I just got this same one. I have the RF360 and a kinetic hc blu 600 . I have db 4x1 but stock head unit and alternator. I have eatc so it makes it complicated. Any suggestions. ?
** The reason the light bulb glows at first is the difference between the electrical potential in its connection. As the difference becomes less, the light bulb goes out. At this point, there is no difference between the voltage in the car battery and the capacitor. ** The wire coming from the car battery only needs to be a thick enough gauge to consistently keep the large capacitor charged. A battery with a good amount of cranking amps or a large capacitor, parked close to your amp in back, would accomplish the same purpose; they are both acting as a buffer by supplying additional current when needed. They are there to preventing differences between the electrical potential of the car's power system and the amp. This is caused by intensely high electrical current draw pulses from the amp that are too large for the car's power system to handle alone. ** Not using chassis ground as your connection through out the power system also limits current flow. Chassis ground is like using a negative cable as big as your arm. Why would you not take advantage of a gift that saves you money and supplies access to the best connection possible.
Good tutorial... however what about a remote? Will the cap remain on when the car is switched off? I've had that issue and it drains my batteries after 2 days.
always add a ground just for your cap never ground your cap with your amp to prevent engine noise . caps dont prevent lights from dimming or help with voltage they are to clean up power from the alt if you have engine noise thats where a cap comes in . if you were to use a cap to prevent voltage drop you would need 100 farad for every 1000 watts they just dont hold enough power to really help combine one with a small 2nd battery and you have a cure for you dimming issues . ask any car audio installer caps are for cleaning the power coming from your alt that can jump up and down causing engine noise and they make your build look fucking cool
Richard Ahlers cap is for providing quick power for bass amps as the car charging system is too slow and are supposed to be wired with as short wires as possible to the amp its backing up. Running separate power wires to the cap is wrong, you only run ground separate to avoid ground loops.
@@wdiddy1 I will disagree I have been doing this for 25 yrs yes they market caps and as solution to voltage issues but it's not true they were a gimmick to make money but the more you research the more you find what they are capable of really doing . Get a o scope and a voltmeter and put a switch in line with the cap turn it on and off and watch ur volts and your oscope voltage might stay at a certain v a sec longer but watch the o scope and see how your power into or out of your amp cleans up and dirtys up with or without the cap and if you don't want to set up the experiment search it on you tube there are a few vids that show what caps really do maybe a giant cap or these new super caps that can start a car will help with voltage but the normal caps you see in car audio do nothing for voltage they are advertised that way but NOPE
@@Bennyfinklestienfurtrapper I am a master electrician by trade but have been installing car audio systems since 2001 and i will tell both of you this..... Richard Ahlers YOU ARE ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY CORRECT!!!! Golden Child... I'm sorry bro but you are incorrect on this one. Yes you do run the shortest length on the positive, but you definitely do not run the same ground. Always ground at a second point. But more importantly, my main point on this is that these little 1F-10F caps are only good for cleaning up dirty power thus eliminating engine noise. You actually only need a 500uF cap to clean the power but they will NOT help in any way shape or form with the voltage on your car audio system. If you want to fix voltage issues or dimming headlights in your car you need to add a 2nd battery and upgrade your alternator to a high amperage output alternator because if you only add a second battery you will kill your alternator much faster as it will now be charging both batteries all the time. Just giving my 2 cents.
Idk why but in 3 car stereos ive owned and personally used when it was nighttime and my lights would dim to almost off as each bass note hit. I immediately got a cap, sometimes as small as 500 micro farads and instantly my headlights were back to normal with little to no dimming once installed and this i did 3 times with 3 successful stories making my headlights stop dimming. I also happen to know if u have a nine volt battery and you take a simple disposable camera flash apart remove the capacitor and with that you have urself a shockingly high voltage stun gun so whatever that all sums up as to you guys as voltage increase...? I always thought caps store energy and release it so quickly that it actually increases the voltage but not the amps...? Im not an electrician just experiences ive had. And i can say they were definite.
Works the same if you pull your fuse hook the power up and insert diode to complete job same way pull diode or ( light bulb)-"yes i know they can be used if need be" The Manufacture of your Cap sends a Diode (Not A Bulb) for a reason!!!! Ohms resistance needs to be specific or you run risk of improperly Charge/Discharging of Capacitors and from my dealing with certain Audio they will with out a doubt "Void Warranty" on most Big Brands and alot of the lower models too. I even heard of Top Brands asking to send the original in with it so they can test for over loaded Resistor or Just Bad from New etc,etc!!!! And for you guys that do not know if you "unhook"your "Cap For Any Reason"Make sure to "Decharge the Thing" Can be very unstable ticking bomb literally!!! I sure someone on here shows safely Discharging pretty same basic steps you used to charge it just reversing the charging process. You wouldn't want a Grinder running in the back and a propane tank rolling around would you!!!! (This Message Not Intended For All Smartasses Of RUclips) and is a registered trademark of Dont Be A Dumbass Infomercial LLC...🤔🙄
@@johnmcgoughjr6954 I woke up the next morning, my subs didn’t work. drove to the gas station up the street to fill up, starts the car, the subs came on. 2 12s on a boss audio amp. 5 years later, working on my first dual 15” sub setup. Going for around 3k-4k watts on reliable power and wiring.
Caps like that one are a joke, you're better off with batteries & upgraded alternator. Tsunami is meh. But great tutorial for people wanting to waste their money on cheap (caps) distribution blocks.
Carlos Cardenas Amp and cap should be grounded separately. Ground should be as short as possible. Google “audio capacitor install” and go to images. The majority show the two grounded separately.
If you have a cap in your system you do not understand basic electronics and you wasted your money on snake oil. Money better spent is quality wire, RCA's, connectors, proper install techniques. If you have a mid-range power system or above then spend your money on the Big Three Upgrade. If you have a monster system then you'll be needing dual batteries and alternators. No type of dc low power (voltage) car audio system requires the use of an external in-line capacitor. Electronics 101.
Jesus love you because caps. Is just for power, if you install big amplifiers you're going to need high amperage . That's where your battery or additional battery comes in. Now the caps. Isn't a total waste, it will help with a power boost!
First of all put that back in the package and buy a better quality capacitor. When it comes to the electronics and current I only trust name brands. If it's too good to be true if the price is an expensive than it might not be good circuitry
great vid..side note... i noticed a humming in my camaro when the bass hits... i grounded the CAP and AMP separately.. no humming. (side note that just in my experience)
I'm really satisfied with this tutorial. Worth my time. I gave it a like and I'm on my way to Unlike other videos that just wasted my time with nothing but garbage.Thanks, helped a lot.
I totally agree ......
I have seen some other installation videos and they just put the cap to the ground and had the amp with a separate ground, but I think in your video you had the ground for the amp going to the cap and then the cap to ground. Would having two ground wires make a difference, or in your case, having one ground?
I'm watching this to re-remember how I did my install 19 years ago. In my years of experience and many thefts over the years, One thing for sure, more grounds help if one is getting oxidized, or sadly one of mine came loose due to theft, more like attempted theft. Hopefully the thief got shocked. I was wondering why amps fuses were melted. Another time a cap wire came loose, I got a heart stopping shock, (don't let the wire TOUCH METAL) side of the road type check. Even though I have rewired mine and tons of other systems, caps always scare me. I These things are fantastic. In the least, caps put less electrical strain on the vehicle. Mine has lived in salty environments it's whole life. 2.5 k watt system. My alternator is still hanging.
U sound like Chris Fix twin. This is the best cap install video ive seen! Not having a resistor is my.weak link to install my cap. Not no more with your video and light bulb suggestion!
Thank you. You explained a lot even if you don't believe you did.. 👍🏾 I'm learning! 💪🏾😎
great vid..side note... i noticed a humming in my camaro when the bass hits... i grounded the CAP and AMP separately.. no humming. (side note that just in my experience)
went from completely confused looking at my stinger to understanding how it works good video my boy
Dude thank you ........I watched many videos and with yours I am now ready to do my own once again thanks...👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Thanks for posting this. I think I can add my cap now that I'm a little more informed.
Good thing I watch your video about the light bulb, that's one thing I didn't know, now I do thank you
So you don’t need the distribution block after you hookup the capacitor ( event you have 1 crossover 1 4ch amp 1 mono amp) ?
No. The capacitor is better than a distribution block plus the capacitor gives you reserved power.
Very good video, man. Clearly explained and detailed.
Hey Rich
really like your mazda series I think you've got some potential
keep up good work
Good video but you do NOT run the 2 ground wires together. The power wire, yes-it’s fine. The ground should ALWAYS be ran separate to it’s own grounding point.
On the instructions manual says to put the same ground wire...
@@nelsoncerqueira29292 manual is wrong
@@silverdropstang lol ima take your word bud
@@erikoroscoe1051 you should🤙👍
He's right. Everything needs its own ground.
Thanks man. I just got this same one. I have the RF360 and a kinetic hc blu 600 . I have db 4x1 but stock head unit and alternator. I have eatc so it makes it complicated. Any suggestions. ?
Did you end up using the Velcro? If you did how did it hold up was thinking about mounting it the same way.
So i have to plug in " - " from battery to capacitor too?Or the cable with " - " from capacitor it's actually the "ground cable"?
Still use ground
Don't use ground from the battery
Bruh.. your whole car is - .. that means everywhere is a ground
when a car sits overnight does the capacitor drain the battery some because the LED stays on right?
redbaron2448 I was just thinking that exact same thing too, hey OP or anyone u gotta answer???
CAMPiNG iS aLL SKiLL! Y U MaD BRO??? Yes it does drain the battery over time , don't get this one
redbaron2448 I just installed and the led lights won't shut off. What do i have to do?
redbaron2448 go to your auto parts store and pick up a switch then u can turn it on and off should only cost u 3$
redbaron2448 If the cap doesn’t have a remote wire, then probably yes. But most caps should have a remote wire that turn it on and off with the amp.
Do you have to have the remote wire hooked up and powered on
question would you ground b4 live?
Light bulb charge explanation=good!!
Where the hell to hook up wires and grounds=crap
What size is your amplifier your connecting the cap to??
** The reason the light bulb glows at first is the difference between the electrical potential in its connection. As the difference becomes less, the light bulb goes out. At this point, there is no difference between the voltage in the car battery and the capacitor.
** The wire coming from the car battery only needs to be a thick enough gauge to consistently keep the large capacitor charged. A battery with a good amount of cranking amps or a large capacitor, parked close to your amp in back, would accomplish the same purpose; they are both acting as a buffer by supplying additional current when needed. They are there to preventing differences between the electrical potential of the car's power system and the amp. This is caused by intensely high electrical current draw pulses from the amp that are too large for the car's power system to handle alone.
** Not using chassis ground as your connection through out the power system also limits current flow. Chassis ground is like using a negative cable as big as your arm. Why would you not take advantage of a gift that saves you money and supplies access to the best connection possible.
I have been trying to find the cap you used in the video, but I have been unsuccessful. Any ideas on where to get one like that?
hmmm it was a clearance one could be hard to find. there are some wicked ones on sale all the time at sonic electronics and install the exact same
Thanks, but i will end up getting one on ebay, MUCH cheaper
just make sure it's a trusted brand so the cap is safe and does what it says it willdo
Good tutorial... however what about a remote? Will the cap remain on when the car is switched off? I've had that issue and it drains my batteries after 2 days.
where do you buy the light bulb? or the resistant?
Any of the smaller automotive light bulbs will work.
always add a ground just for your cap never ground your cap with your amp to prevent engine noise . caps dont prevent lights from dimming or help with voltage they are to clean up power from the alt if you have engine noise thats where a cap comes in . if you were to use a cap to prevent voltage drop you would need 100 farad for every 1000 watts they just dont hold enough power to really help combine one with a small 2nd battery and you have a cure for you dimming issues . ask any car audio installer caps are for cleaning the power coming from your alt that can jump up and down causing engine noise and they make your build look fucking cool
Richard Ahlers cap is for providing quick power for bass amps as the car charging system is too slow and are supposed to be wired with as short wires as possible to the amp its backing up. Running separate power wires to the cap is wrong, you only run ground separate to avoid ground loops.
@@wdiddy1 I will disagree I have been doing this for 25 yrs yes they market caps and as solution to voltage issues but it's not true they were a gimmick to make money but the more you research the more you find what they are capable of really doing . Get a o scope and a voltmeter and put a switch in line with the cap turn it on and off and watch ur volts and your oscope voltage might stay at a certain v a sec longer but watch the o scope and see how your power into or out of your amp cleans up and dirtys up with or without the cap and if you don't want to set up the experiment search it on you tube there are a few vids that show what caps really do maybe a giant cap or these new super caps that can start a car will help with voltage but the normal caps you see in car audio do nothing for voltage they are advertised that way but NOPE
@@Bennyfinklestienfurtrapper I am a master electrician by trade but have been installing car audio systems since 2001 and i will tell both of you this..... Richard Ahlers YOU ARE ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY CORRECT!!!! Golden Child... I'm sorry bro but you are incorrect on this one. Yes you do run the shortest length on the positive, but you definitely do not run the same ground. Always ground at a second point. But more importantly, my main point on this is that these little 1F-10F caps are only good for cleaning up dirty power thus eliminating engine noise. You actually only need a 500uF cap to clean the power but they will NOT help in any way shape or form with the voltage on your car audio system. If you want to fix voltage issues or dimming headlights in your car you need to add a 2nd battery and upgrade your alternator to a high amperage output alternator because if you only add a second battery you will kill your alternator much faster as it will now be charging both batteries all the time. Just giving my 2 cents.
Idk why but in 3 car stereos ive owned and personally used when it was nighttime and my lights would dim to almost off as each bass note hit. I immediately got a cap, sometimes as small as 500 micro farads and instantly my headlights were back to normal with little to no dimming once installed and this i did 3 times with 3 successful stories making my headlights stop dimming. I also happen to know if u have a nine volt battery and you take a simple disposable camera flash apart remove the capacitor and with that you have urself a shockingly high voltage stun gun so whatever that all sums up as to you guys as voltage increase...? I always thought caps store energy and release it so quickly that it actually increases the voltage but not the amps...? Im not an electrician just experiences ive had. And i can say they were definite.
@@jameshgriff same, I know about 15 people who have done the same thing
My capacitor doesn’t have 4 so can I still use this technique
Ghostlyrich I just installed this and the led lights won't shut off. What do i do?
Works the same if you pull your fuse hook the power up and insert diode to complete job same way pull diode or ( light bulb)-"yes i know they can be used if need be" The Manufacture of your Cap sends a Diode (Not A Bulb) for a reason!!!! Ohms resistance needs to be specific or you run risk of improperly Charge/Discharging of Capacitors and from my dealing with certain Audio they will with out a doubt "Void Warranty" on most Big Brands and alot of the lower models too. I even heard of Top Brands asking to send the original in with it so they can test for over loaded Resistor or Just Bad from New etc,etc!!!! And for you guys that do not know if you "unhook"your "Cap For Any Reason"Make sure to "Decharge the Thing" Can be very unstable ticking bomb literally!!! I sure someone on here shows safely Discharging pretty same basic steps you used to charge it just reversing the charging process. You wouldn't want a Grinder running in the back and a propane tank rolling around would you!!!! (This Message Not Intended For All Smartasses Of RUclips) and is a registered trademark of Dont Be A Dumbass Infomercial LLC...🤔🙄
You don't ground amp to cap
It will Blow the Fuse, if you have one before your amp, if you do not precharge.
Zoinks!.. I thought you said installing a catheter.. 😮
I know, right. (FYI, removal is worse).. 😬
Can you do this with the light tester
I installed my capacitor without doing the resistor charge. Did I ruin anything?
Not at all if you can start your car afterwards then you’re perfectly fine the resistor is just to make sure you don’t quick discharge your battery
@@ghostlyrich oh ok. Yea everything is fine. Lights still dim but it did improve.
Looks like my battery is gonna be dead tomorrow morning
😂seeing this 5 years later
@@johnmcgoughjr6954 I woke up the next morning, my subs didn’t work. drove to the gas station up the street to fill up, starts the car, the subs came on. 2 12s on a boss audio amp.
5 years later, working on my first dual 15” sub setup. Going for around 3k-4k watts on reliable power and wiring.
Good vid, thanks
can i use a battery charger to charge it?
Caps like that one are a joke, you're better off with batteries & upgraded alternator. Tsunami is meh. But great tutorial for people wanting to waste their money on cheap (caps) distribution blocks.
What kind of light bulb is that?
so the amp dorant need to be ground any more since its coming the the caps ground ?
the cap and amp will share the ground so it's all good
+ghostlyrich thanks fam helped a lot :) doing it as we speak haha
Carlos Cardenas I have always been told by several car audio guys that you ALWAYS ground the cap and the amp at separate locations... just saying
Ground your amp to a different location other than the cap.
Carlos Cardenas Amp and cap should be grounded separately. Ground should be as short as possible. Google “audio capacitor install” and go to images. The majority show the two grounded separately.
I haven’t got a transistor can I still charge it if I start the car
Can always use a light bulb but should be fine it's only harmful if you battery's old or low
ghostlyrich thanks
Couldn't you just use a test light to charge it
NW Herbalist yes you can
If you have a cap in your system you do not understand basic electronics and you wasted your money on snake oil. Money better spent is quality wire, RCA's, connectors, proper install techniques. If you have a mid-range power system or above then spend your money on the Big Three Upgrade. If you have a monster system then you'll be needing dual batteries and alternators. No type of dc low power (voltage) car audio system requires the use of an external in-line capacitor. Electronics 101.
The basics of electronics includes caps. Unless you are NARTE or PACE certified, you probably dont know much other than what you’ve read online.
You do know that stereo's and amps are built with capacitors right. I think you need to study electronics and actually learn the basics.
why theres only one fuse that you been using???
u could have undone the fuse from the other side so the wire was insulated using the fuse holder. common sense?
you can turn your car on, then hook up power....no need for charging like that.
funny how everyone is getting the caps but when I read comments in other video they say it's rubish lol am confused
Jesus love you because caps. Is just for power, if you install big amplifiers you're going to need high amperage . That's where your battery or additional battery comes in. Now the caps. Isn't a total waste, it will help with a power boost!
Caps like that cheap one are a joke.
Da V cheap caps like that one are a waste.
Too much talking about things that dont matter,PLEASE just get to the point of hooking up the cap.Thank You..
No fuse?? They say use a fuse!…
Fuse is at battery not at cap
jajajajaj no working
Dude learn some basic electronics. The lighbulb resistor stuff you said is all wrong lol.
First of all put that back in the package and buy a better quality capacitor. When it comes to the electronics and current I only trust name brands. If it's too good to be true if the price is an expensive than it might not be good circuitry
It's not a "no name" brand they actually use to make really good wire and electronic hardware. This cap is still doing its job to this day.
great vid..side note... i noticed a humming in my camaro when the bass hits... i grounded the CAP and AMP separately.. no humming. (side note that just in my experience)
@MrAL_P u are right your cap and amp needs to be grounded separately it will take out any engine noise caught in line