Capacitor Wiring

[Z]

So i am going to have 4 ga. wiring running my system. that means i have 4ga going to the (+) to the cap, and then to the amp. but does my ground coming off the cap need to be 4ga too?

[pdhaudio83]

the bigger the ground, the better. you don't HAVE to make it 4, but its not a bad idea. 8 is too small, and 2 is too large.

[pdhaudio83]

Remember, if possible keep the ground wire under a foot or two in length

[Z]

what is the ground for the cap actually used for?

isnt the charge/dicharge taken car of through the (+)?

the only reason i see for a ground is for the display....but then again, im not an electrical engineer so i dunno.

[GOTBOOST]

Just my 2 cents,
if you are going to use such a large power wire then you will want to come
close to that size for the ground. choking the ground size is almost worse than
running a smaller power wire. smaller power wire = hotter amp and wires,
too small of ground wire = guaranteed amp cut out.

[pdhaudio83]

just like grounding your amp... its needs to be grounded for the electricity to flow.

just rememeber...power Wire cable from battery to cap, then a wire to amp which is mounted on same side (+) of cap. Ground the cap to the same location to which you ground your amp.

[Z]

i'll put on a 4ga ground. but if anybody knows how the ground on the cap is utilized, let me know!

thanks guy.

[Fourthmeal]

Consider NOT using a cap, since actually most systems do not need it at all.

The "Big 3" wiring would be the top of my list instead.

[Z]

i've actually decided not to get a cap, and instead run a dual battery setup w/ an isolator.

as nice as a cap is, 2 farad caps are pretty expensive when compared to a battery.

[SATimko]

Capacitors do nothing in a DC case.

I know, an amp causes current draw and so on and so forth...but it's a waste of money to run a big cap.

[Fourthmeal]

If you run your wires properly, and terminate them properly, the only thing a Cap does is create clutter IMO.


The most important thing is to make very sure you have a solid ground with minimal voltage drop. This is the #1 problem I run into when I am redoing other people's mistakes. The ground is also the hardest to get perfect. My goal with grounding is to sandwhich the ground terminal in between a solid bracket of the car, my favorite being the ones around the rear seat area. I borrow one of the bolts that attaches the bracket to the car, and use a wire wheel to remove all the paint off it. Then I grind the paint off the bracket and mounting surface to make solid contact. Lastly, I ream out my terminal if needed to fit the bolt, and sandwich the terminal in between, then reinstall the bolt and torque to factory specs. This approach guarantees that the ground isn't coming out prematurely, and I also didn't have to drill a hole in the car!