westsidecorsa
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Registered: 4th Sep 02
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I am thinking of getting a power cap but just wondered if it is worth it, i am running a jensen 600W amp and two 400w JBL competition subs, when i turn up the system my heaqdlights and all the other lights in the car dim. Is the aim of a power cap to stop this sort of thing, and how do u wire one up?
Thanx in advance
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TOMAS
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Registered: 7th Aug 02
Location: Nottinghamshire
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A powercap is the last thing you want to fit. THE best soloution is to firstly upgrade the altenator to one with a higher output, biggest ive seen for a Corsa B is 70A out of a diesel.
Then upgrade 'the big three' wires under the bonnet, these are the one's that go to the altenator/earth and battery.
Then upgrade the battery, to one with a higher cold cranking amps rating, also larger capacity will help things. Some people use two batteries, one mounted in the boot which is dedicated to to powering JUST the audio side of things. The bonus of this is that if you fit a relay between the two batteries then you can park up with the engine off, and crank the stereo all night and you still have the front battery fresh and ready for you to drive off etc even when the audio battery in the boot is flat. Ive done this step... fitted an Optima "yellow top" battery in my boot but i havent upgraded the altenator. My system seems to cope VERY well indeed, i currently have three LARGE amps installed with two more at home waiting to go in.
The last step is to fit a powercap which helps smooth Voltage out, this is just the finishing touch really to a perfect electrical system.
To be honest i'd recomend the new altenator, you'll be able to pick a second hand one up for around £60ish and this should make the BIGGEST difference so long as youre battery is in good health. Good luck mate... 
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westsidecorsa
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Registered: 4th Sep 02
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thanks a lot, that has cleared things up for me. Your system sounds the bomb! do u have any pics of it?
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TOMAS
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Registered: 7th Aug 02
Location: Nottinghamshire
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Nah dont have any pictures, my ICE is my pride and Joy... Not had a proper 'permanent' build done in the boot yet as im still not completely happy with my install and still a lot more stuff to go in... Rear speakers (when i make my mind up where they are going) and also a pair of 8" mid-bass drivers running up-front somewhere where they'll fit! Also the decision wether to run a dolby 5.1 decoder with the multi-media side of things. £3.5k spent and A LOT more work needed...  
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westsidecorsa
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Registered: 4th Sep 02
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quality, i would love to hear that! if u get any pics get em posted as i would love to see this work of art!
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FLETCH...
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Registered: 17th Apr 02
Location: West Mids
User status: Offline
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what u talking about thomas
a power cap is a good idea it dont allow the bass to drop and also my lights dont dim........
here mine...... its a rockford fosgate £180
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TOMAS
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Registered: 7th Aug 02
Location: Nottinghamshire
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A powercap will do jack if the power isnt their in the first place!! Play a 20-30sec test tone on full and watch youre voltage drop mate. Just a rip-off band-aid, they might help with the lights dimming but once the power from the cap is sucked out it wont do anything! Just go and play some test tones through youre sony jobs and you'll see exactly what i mean. I dont talk SHITE so watch what youre implying.
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TOMAS
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Registered: 7th Aug 02
Location: Nottinghamshire
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Another point... i just noticed the reading on youre CAP and it says 12v. Im assuming that this is at rest. Well my Optima yellow top puts out 12.8V AT REST and WONT drop below 12v with a peak amp pull of 260A! Try that with youre electrical system if you can get enough amps to pull 260 A
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FLETCH...
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Registered: 17th Apr 02
Location: West Mids
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fir play tomas my appologies accepted?
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TOMAS
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Registered: 7th Aug 02
Location: Nottinghamshire
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FLETCH...
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Registered: 17th Apr 02
Location: West Mids
User status: Offline
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JayC
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Registered: 17th Jan 03
Location: Whitefield, Greater Manchester
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I have only upgraded my battery and have a 1 farad powercap and i'm running a AudioBahn 4channel amp for my speakers and a MTX class D mono block running my DB Audio bandpass box. When i put bass cd's on my voltage neva drops below 12.5 volts even on a 20-30 sec bass test tone. Oh yeah i have 4 gauge power and ground cables. Will b upgrading my alt soon so we'll see if that makes any difference.
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TOMAS
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Registered: 7th Aug 02
Location: Nottinghamshire
User status: Offline
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The alt should make a big difference. Was that 12.5 volts with the engine off (at rest) because mines at rest. Although the Optima yellow top is rated at 12v its actually way more like 13v AT REST! The best £200 ive spent in my system i think.
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