How many Farads should my capacitor be support a 1500 watt car amplifier?
A capacitor is only good so far as the audio system isn’t trying to pull too much from the electrical system. A cap doesn’t provide more power, it’s designed to ‘stiffen’ the voltage to the amp, nothing else. If the current isn’t there, a cap won’t help. The alternator must have at least 20% more amperage power than the entire vehicle and sound system combined for a cap to be of benefit which is ironically the same requirements for an amp to be efficient. If your total system power is 1200 watts RMS or more, you will need to: 1. Upgrade the alternator to a high output alternator 2. Upgrade to a yellow top battery 3. Upgrade the “Big 3” – that is to replace (or add to) the power wire between the battery and alternator, the ground from the battery to the chassis and the ground strap from the engine/tranny to the chassis with at least 2 AWG wire. Failure to do this will result in the early death of the alternator as it will eventually fail. Here is a guide that will calculate what size al
