Has anyone tried using this ?


please reply, I want to install one of these or a cap.

 

Have you already done the big 3?

If your lights still dim after that, look at getting a better alternator.

Mark

 

Big 3 ?

I already have NAPA's Orbital (Same as Red Top Optima)

 

The Big Three refers to a much larger diameter wiring set for the alternator, and battery to maximize the current your car is already sending. The kit is available from the Elemental Design website.

 

Do you have any pics of this big three install instructions ?

 

The pics don't seem to work any more, but click here for the instructions.

 

Caps are only a band-aid fix. The BIG 3 will help you more. Look at the top of this section at the FAQs, the Big 3 is in there.

Good luck.

 

What about this batcap ?

Anyone here use that ?

 

DO THE BIG3 FIRST

go into the C5 FAQ at the top of the page its in there on like page 3 or 4 i think i did the writeup

Big 3 is cheap and will yield bigger results

 

Do you think its a good idea to put /more/ load on a strained electrical system?

 

the batcap or capacitor is designed to reduce the load on the electrical system. it can charge up on its own terms then deliver power to the amplifiers so that the electrical system doesn't have to. the Batcap's design has a capacitor with a battery, so its better than just a cap. caps can discharge over time and eventually will flatten out without enough time to charge back up. a batcap won't do that. they are a little large, you have to find somewhere to put it. its a lead acid battery so you have to be concerned with leaking and gasseous emissions etc.

I agree with the above, do the big 3 upgrade first, then start looking at beefing up your power supply with something like a batcap.

 

Here is the Big3

Here is some pics of my Big 3 install. Couple of things worth noting is that the engine ground could/should have been run from a location closer to the battery rather than running it around the front of the engine as I did with the alternator wire. I used 18 foot of 2 gauge wire, three 1/0 terminal ring connectors and 18 foot of wire loam. Secondly, I ran the alternator wire in front of the engine as I felt clearance behind the engine was to tight. My thinking was an accident could easily cause the wires to short, so I ran them in front against the fan shroud. I can tell you that you will need some heavy duty crimper's to crimp 1/0 or 2 gauge terminal rings. I invested in a pair from Home Depot for $21



I routed the alternator wire and engine ground from the alternator bolt underneath the alternator and next to the drivers side hood strut and across the fan shroud.





I picked up chassis ground from the existing bolt on the passengers side frame just in front of the coolant overflow tank, near the hood strut. I scraped off the black paint from the frame under the bolt before installing the ring terminal. I may be revisiting this connection and actually drilling a new hole to mount the connector with a bigger bolt. We will see.... View perspective is with the hood open and looking from front of car between passenger headlight and hood.



Here is a shot of all the battery connections. I did not separate Car electronics from stereo via the top post and the side posts. I have the amplifier power and ground running from the batteries side posts. Amp power runs through a 200AMP ANL fuse and then gets distributed in the rear of the car through a 150AMP ANL to the JL 1000/1 and a 40 AMP glass fuse for the JL 300/2



Hope this might help others faced with the Big 3 upgrade on a C5.

When I did the Big3 upgrade I also installed an Ohio Generator Alternator - capable of producing 200 Amps @ idle. I still battled dimming head lights.
My cure to the problem was switching over to HID headlights.

 

This is from their website

The dimensions for the Model 300 are
H - 2.72"/ W - 2.88"/ D - 4.23", making installation a breeze in tight places. Weight – 2.5 lbs

I don't think I would have any problem hiding this it's smaller than 3 packs of cigarettes.

I going to buy cables for the big 3 first.

 

Wrong. It is designed to be sold to unsuspecting people that think that a capacitor and a battery are the answer to their poor electrical system woes.

Wrong. The charging of the battery and the capacitor are dictated by the supply voltage and current... which is all supplied by your alternator. The capacitor has a specific charging curve based on it's design. ( Qf = 1-e^-t/RC) Anytime your system calls for high current and your alternator cannot supply it, then your battery/cap will discharge into the circuit. When the transient event has passed, they will now become a load on your alternator.

They don't 'take their time' recharging either... they draw current until they are satisfied or recharged... and only your alternator can do that. Do this often enough, and now your batteries and your cap(s) are draining your system's power supply along with your amplifiers. Not good.

Better how, exactly? A batcap may have higher instantaneous current during a transient event than a regular lead-acid battery, but your amplifier design should already account for this in it's power supply circuit.

Do the big three first. If you want a better charging system, get a better alternator. If you want to 'wow' your friends with 'bling' or power system band-aids, knock yourself out. Just don't believe the hype that you are being fed.

Mark

 

I already said


I going to buy cables for the big 3 first

 

if you think that capacitors are being marketed as a cure for an underpowered electrical system you are either reading the ads wrong or reading ads from a disreputable company. caps and batcap like products are designed to enable your electrical system to handle high transient draw without forcing your alternator to handle the entire load on its own. yes, they discharge into the electrical system to handle the transient load that your electrical system can't handle, then they become a load on your electrical system after that transient load has dissipated, when your electrical system has the capacity to spare to recharge it. now if your electrical system doesn't have that capacity after the transient load, if your electrical system doesn't have the capacity to deliver the continuous load of your audio system then you have overtaxed it and the electrical system iteslf needs an upgrade. in that case the cap has been used as a band-aid and isn't being used properly. keep in mind that everyone from hobbiests to profesisonals use capacitive devices in audio systems all the time.

 

good move! they aren't terribly larger, I've seen one of those, or maybe it was the one size larger version, and I thought it would be difficult to find a good safe spot to put it. I didn't try to fit it though, my system doesn't draw enough power to require an help at the moment. I'm going to do the big 3 anyway, I haven't yet.

 

Man if I have to read capacitors are a band aid one more time I may explode. The big "3" is the first line of defense for dimming lights but 20% of the time it won't cure the problem. Been there done that.

The alternator upgrade would probably cure the problem but most high output alternators also don't charge worth a crap at "idle rpm" and sometimes cause more problems than there worth, and are very expensive. It is the best alternative though.

Now, after installing all my equipment in my CTS-V for the last year and doing the big three with a 140 amp alternator I still had dimming problems. Installed a Stinger HPM 15 fared cap and guess what.......................no more dimming. They will work for what there supposed to do in the right circumstance, it did for me

I've read good and bad things about the batcap 300 and 400 models. Did a lot of research before I bought my capacitor. Most high end installers won't use them but that doesn't mean they are bad.

I been in the car audio industry for 20 years now and have heard it all.
Basically, if you put it in and it fixes the problem, you'll be happy.

Shane

 

i didnt have time to read through all of the posts, but did anyone ask what gauge power and ground wire were used to hook up the amp? if the gauge is too thin and your current draw is too large then you'll get dimming too.

 

very good point

also the c5 charging system is pretty solid IMO, i have yet to do an install that the big3 didnt cure the dimming on a C5

also cap=bandaid :-)