1200 watts...capacitor?

[mykg4orce]

ok im helping a friend install an amp in his chevy cavalier and i was concerned as to if the battery would be able to run the 1200 Watt amp on its own? Now as far as i understand the capacitor is a "safety" device, used when u need that extra bit of juice..?? So do we need to invest in a capacitor or will we be ok without one?

Thanks...any thoughts would be helpful http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

[ChopstickHero]

Again, 1200W on his amp is peak power. It'll probably never hit that... actually, i'll be surprised if it hits higher than half of that at RMS. Anyways, please state the RMS of the amp. The "general" rule is that for every 500W RMS, then you should get 0.5 farad. So if you have over 1000W power RMS, you should get at least a 1.0 Farad cap or higher.

The cap basically stores energy all of the time. When the bass hits, it releases that energy to the amp and quickly recharges itself. You will notice your bass hits harder since you don't have any lack of power from the battery. This is done so that there is less strain on your battery and the alternator. If your headlights are dimming right now, this may solve your problems, but if that still occurs, then get a stronger battery or alternator.

[mykg4orce]

excellent..i think the RMS on the amp is like 600-700 watts..

ok i think i'll recommend him buying the cap, thx man http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[mackronym]

If he doesn't get a CAP, his lights will dim since his alternator probably can't supply more than 55 amps. Actually I don't know the rating on your friends alternator, but if he's running a 1200watt amp on a 55amp alternator, I can assure you that it wont last long.