How to charge up and hook up a 2.0 farad cap?

Question

How to charge up and hook up a 2.0 farad cap?

Answer 1

It has to be charged just before you supply power to it.

It's best to install it as close to the amp as possible. You may need to get addition power and ground wire the same size you have now. Otherwise, cut the ground and power wire leaving enough room to mount it. The overall length of the ground wire should as short as possible (18" or less if possible, not critical).

Remove the fuse at the battery. If you don't have one, you need one that is rated the same as the total fuses that are on the amp. It must be no more than 18" from the battery.

Connect the ground from the chassis to the cap then to the amp.

Connect the the power wire (from fuse by the battery) to the cap then to the amp.

To charge the cap, get a 12v light bulb with leads. Temporarily connect the power wire from the battery to one side of the bulb (at the fuse) and connect the other side of the bulb to the wire going to the cap. The bulb will light and over a period of time (10-20 seconds) it will get dimmer. When the bulb goes out, the cap is charged. Basically, your going to put the light bulb where the fuse was.

Now you can re-install the fuse.

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IMPORTANT: Make/print a sign/note that states:

"WARNING: This vehicle employs a large electrolytic capacitor for the electrical/audio system. The capacitor holds a charge EVEN when disconnected. When changing the battery, remove this fuse. Take caution and charge the capacitor prior to replacing this fuse. SEVERE INJURY OR DAMAGE MAY RESULT IN FAILURE TO COMPLY!"

Have a big red arrow pointing to the fuse and one of those yellow triangles with the exclamation point in the center. Laminate this sign and place it near the fuse by the battery.

Answer 2

Generally the come with a small electronic component called a resistor. The easiest way to do this is to get a car battery charger. Hook the negative clamp onto the negative side of the capacitor, and then attach the resistor to the positive side. Clamp the positive side of the charge to the other end of the resistor, and then wait. It should charge in several hours. Just make sure you have the resistor, or it's likely that you'll damage the capacitor.

Once it is charged, you can hook up the negative terminal to your ground. The positive terminal will need to be hooked up to your power line (positive) as well as to the positive terminal of your amplifier.

You should be good to go from there