i just bought a 1 farad monster cap for 150 dollars, expecting it to take ALL the dim outta my headlights, tails, gauges, etc. i ONLY HAVE one 400-watt amp for my subs. thats it. and they still dim, after i installed it. shouldnt it be not dimming at all? i dont have that much power running thru my car...
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are you sure that everything is hooked up right?? your alt may be on it's last leg .... get that tested. Do they stay dim or only when the bass hits?

 

Take it from me, i had to learn the hard way. Capacitor DO DONT STOP THE LIGHTS DIMING, especially when you have a HID kit. If you want to stop the lights from diming, when your bumping(or doing anything), get a OPTIMO battery, Trust me i have Alpine 6x9 ,and the front Alpine, head unit alpine, and a bazoka sub. Alpine Amp for inside speakers, and a separate Amp for the Bazoka also a Monster Capacitor, and all Monster wiring. To add on to it I have a TSX Projection kit, when i'm bumping my lights dont DIM, i can go full blast and still no diming. Take my word for it and get a Optimo battery, the first day i got the optimo installed, the first time i started up the car I even felt the car start up much cleaner, and smoother, and it even made my car a little faster.

 

My lights didn't dim with a stock battery, and they don't with a yellowtop. But then I do have LEDs lights in the car and HIDs.

 

hmmmm ..... where's the logic in the HID thing ....... HID's take LESS power than stocks. I agree with a larger battery, but if the alternator isn't putting out enough power, no battery will help. Notice that he is only pushing 400W. This shouldn't be enough power to cause any issues; that's why I'm thinking that the alt is going bad.

Capacitors DO stop transient draw on the electrical system and reduce spikes majorly. If your lights just stay dim, you need more juice from the alt. If your lights are fine, but dim only when the bass hits, the cap should do the trick.

 

falk, the lights only dim when the subs hit, i think im just gonna get an optima and see if that helps. sound reasonable?
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Like I said i had the same problem, it all went away when i got the Optimo, and all Monster wiring, and cap.

 

First I'd make sure that everything is hooked up right. Also, I had to replace my battery shortly after I bought my car. I replaced it with an SUV battery that had the same dimensions and a lot more CCA's. I think it is for the Pilot.

Was the cap bought used? It might be dead. Caps can die just like batteries.

 

nooo it was brand new.
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hmmmm ..... strange ...... I've run 550W with an underdriven alt and a 1F cap with no dimming. Maybe I just have more spare juuice with the V6.