So my definition was off, but results are still the same. a 1 farad cap for his amp is more than enough to cause a sufficient gain. right now its sucking 100% of its juice from the battery and when its bassing hard its pulling the voltage down while all the other accessories are trying to get juice too. With the cap when its needing to pull more voltage it can pull from the cap and has to pull less from the battery. This reduces the voltage drag from the battery. Since a 1 farad is more than enough for his lil amp the recharge is going to be almost instant and the battery won't even flinch.

The last system I installed was in a 99 mustang. Before the cap with a 1600 watt amp the voltage would drop from 14 volts at the alt to about 10. Put in a cheap 1 farad from walmart and the alt voltage never dropped below 13 and the read at the cap was constant between 13 idle 14.4 hitting. 14-10 drop to a 14-13 drop seems to be a significant help on the alt.

Edit:Not saying I know everything there is to know about it. but i know it will help. he's running a 130A alt and 600watt amp for his subs and he's having voltage issues. I ran a 100amp alt with a 550 watt 4 channel and a 500 watt 2 channel amp. with 6 midrange and a 15" sub running 2 1 farad caps and never had any voltage issues. even while running my elec fans which kept my truck running when i hooked them into the ign fuse. (wanted them to shut off with the engine. Didn't work)

 

Like said earlier caps are supposed to be a last result. It is more like a band-aid to a a system and does not always help.

If still having voltage drops, check the grounds and make them bigger if they are already well grounded. Make sure you scrap ppaint between the terminal and the body or frame. Even a lousy ground on your headunit can cause ALL of the voltage drop. Many say GM has a bad stock ground for the headunit and you cannot rely on theirs when installing a new headunit. What you need to do is also run another ground to the frame or body. This is generally most people's issues and they do not even know it.

After all of the grounds are taken care including the ones in the big 3 then you can move up to a dual battery setup and then following up with a more powerful alternator. This should be all you need and there will be no need for a capacitor.

However after taking all of these precautions first and you are stil worried then you can try a capacitor.

 

Or i'm a tard and this site here explains why It always helped my systems. Specifically "A capacitor WILL:
-Act as a filter for AC ripple effectcaused by the imperfect rectification of the AC current produced by an alternator, and rectified by a DC voltage regulator.
-Smooth the demand curve for current on the alternator, thus extending (theoretically at least) the alternator's lifespan, and, on a not so good note, this can also help to mask the symptoms of an insufficient alternator by smoothing these spikes that also cause the more obvious signs of a weak charging system, like dimming headlights when the bass hits.

http://www.glasswolf.net/caraudio/capacitors.html

But regardless. It's helped all dimming issues i've seen. Within reason of course. As stated in that site, if your pulling more volts than you can produce your gonna have problems no matter what. But for the amp size he's running I think a cap would work best. 600 watts shouldn't dimm your lights that bad when you have a 130a Alt.

 

Not going to argue with you on that point. all the voltage in the world means squat when it doesn't have an efficient way to travel. sort of a computer joke but its just like the saying "The internet is a series of Tubes".

 

anyone like to share pics of their setups?

 

rpav thats a nasty truck bro!

 

Badass boat too.

 

I can't find a place that carries 2 gauge wire. I tried Autozone, Oriley, Bestbuy, Local car audio shop, and a couple of industrial electrition places that i happened to be at. no one has 2 guage wire. buddy of mine says i could get it at the flea market but I'd rather not wait till sunday.

so where did you get yours?

 

If you have one in your area go to Tractor Supply. Some of their battery cables are 2ga. Even better though is their welding cable. They've got it in both 4 and 2 and sell by the foot. They also have the terminal ends if you need them.

If you don't have a tractor supply around, go looking for welding supply shops.

 

I've got welding cable but i want that red see through insulation.