How to: charging, discharging and installing capacitors

I go over all the ins and out of car audio capacitors...How to on: charge, discharge and installing capacitors with a few extra tips.

[@freddyacosta2358]

I have a 2 farad planet audio with that screw you mentioned. It’s for the LCD display, it goes to the remote on the amplifier. It easily handles an Alpine Type R 500 RMS hooked to an Alpine Mono 500 RMS Amplifier. My Sub is a 4ohm wired for a 2 ohm load. The LCD reads 14.5 Volts, it only drops down to 14.4, 14.3 (rarely) with lower bass notes and is back to 14.5 in less than a second, pretty awesome capacitor!

[@jackw3235]

Thank you for this educational video

[@justintran8351]

You forgot to mention, that older type capacitors can kill you if you stick one finger on each terminal at the same time. Not all capacitors are created equal. Using insulated gloves and tools to properly tighten connections and to discharge. Hopefully a noobie isn’t going to learn to touch the terminals with their bare fingers.

[@bryannailedit2908]

Dr

[@QuandaleDingle-un6lq]

I was going to use my bare hands 🫡 thanks

[@spire4101]

Aren't you supposed to use that resistor to charge the capacitor by putting it in series on the positive side?

[@BrandonBoyd85]

Thank you, I'm like, how did he charge it

[@kristelpopovic3473]

Thanks for the video

[@MrDoomzy]

I’m more confused than ever now lmao

[@february7]

Good video. Sorry it took me five years to compliment it however, I though charging that capacitor was apart of the video. Oh well. Nice presentation and, thanks for the freebie! I know my meter can’t read those amperage numbers...

[@nehinelson2542]

So what if they DO have that 3rd terminal? Is there something else I need to buy in order to make it work right? Because my headlights still dim like crazy 😫

[@bigkat217]

You should show how to charge a cap.

[@massivebass9623]

Lessco Electronics what power supply are you using?

[@Cotronixco]

You can't use ohm's law to calculate inrush current or discharge rates. For these determinations, since the solutions are not fixed but variable, there are separate formulas that include not only voltage, resistance, and amps; but farads and time as well.

[@dukegregory5458]

i guess im asking randomly but does anyone know of a trick to log back into an Instagram account..? I somehow forgot my password. I appreciate any assistance you can give me

[@greyesteban7381]

@Duke Gregory Instablaster :)

[@platinumstudiosentertainment]

Can you connect a high-powered amateur radio directly to the capacitor? Directly to where you connected the battery positive and negative.?

[@optimusprimer4392]

I always just take my test light hook everything up before I put the fuse in I use a simple test light in between the fuse holder before I insert the fuse I keep it there for several minutes never had a fuse Arc out when I installed it

[@UltraCon79]

What is the "goo" and how should we handle it?

[@JoshuaWilley]

I like the voltmeter sitting on side like you were gonna teach us something. Video full of useless info. Didnt learn a thing

[@jaywalkin8205]

So I can just hook up my cap and call it good ? I dont have to SLOWLY charge it ?

[@february7]

Yeah I thought that was going to be included in the video too. The producer had already charged that capacitor evidently...

[@FuriouslyFurious]

@@february7 he explains it in the video. He hooked it up to the battery and it charged immediately. Capacitors charge rapidly. Not sure if that's good or if they should charge slowly, but he's been doing this for years, so he seems like a trustworthy source.

[@alicialopez3128]

Is voltage tester the same as a resistor

[@ovniusa15]

wow i was just thinking of getting a capacitor

[@TheLicktysplitz]

Al they're totally worth it.

[@LTSRIDE24]

@@TheLicktysplitz depends..

[@pepe7048]

Hey, I had a question for you. Do you know how to charge a rockville rfc30 farad Hi buy it brand new I try to figure out how to charge first time

[@overlandersnorthwest]

I installed mine without pre charging. I sure hope I didnt damage it. Should I disconnect from power and try to recharge it? It's been a couple weeks of use. It looked normal with voltage reading the battery but is it working properly

[@Lesscoelectronics]

dont worry, youll be ok Im sure

[@JordanDeLarge]

This could have been 6 minutes shorter and a resistor should be used. Keep poking around the terminals with your fingers though, it feels great

[@rsz90182]

He called it 12v of current. WRONG!!!!!!!!

[@dantronics1682]

@@rsz90182 which bit is wrong?

[@Jayblaxk]

I bought a 3 farad capacitor and everyone the guys at the audio store are connecting it it blows the fuses. It blew 4 60 amps and one 80 amp it total. At first they thought it was the amp so sent it back to where I bought it, got a new amplifier and some thing happened. At first capacitor lit up and they initially charged it but it did not show any figures but the light bulb they used to charge it was luminated but capacitor did not go off as a sign it was charging and working properly. Worst thing smoke started coming out the terminals of the capacitor before they disconnected it. Is my capacitor faulty or wrongly connected? I am confused. If it is faulty can it be fixed??

[@Lesscoelectronics]

get another one, you dont need that drama in your life..

[@timmshaw35]

Changing my sub out do I need to power down the compacitor

[@LTSRIDE24]

Why would you?

[@takkikayo]

if i got a 1500 watts amps, what is the value or how many farads should be my capacitor?

[@alswearengen826]

takkikayo 2000

[@factologist1080]

1 farad per 1000 watts.

[@mikez2915]

I just picked one up from a friend and nothing came with it to charge it..what other methods could I use to charge it

[@piebag]

Mike Z hey I’m having the same issue did you find out how to do it??

[@johnnymartinez2917]

Apparently they sell charging devices at places like autozone o-rielly’s

[@generalelectric8403]

What if I already had one installed in my truck and I removed it to put in my car now, do I still have to charge it or will it not

[@mycelium1456]

Wondering same trying find resister bout move from one car to another u ever do it?

[@Bighotwheelhunter]

How long can I leave it connected on my car that I don't drive

[@Lesscoelectronics]

indefinitely as long as its a strong sealed cell

[@DASamX5453]

After you discharge one, what is the proper way for getting rid of it? I can't find anything about that...whether you have to take it somewhere and recycle it or what...I just got a new replacement so I after get rid of my other one...

[@paulleech6412]

I have this receptacle in my kitchen where I throw empty Mountain Dew bottles, paper towels, empty food wrappers (chips, lunchmeat, bread bags, etc.). I would put it in there. Throw it out wherever you would throw away an old flux capacitor replica you bought online years ago and never worked. You can toss it in the trash. It's not hazardous to the environment unlike a regular battery which will eventually decay.

[@hermanspence1641]

I'm going to hold on to my original bad cap for reference, because the 12-40 is no longer made.

[@orlandoflores4282]

Would a capacitor be necessary if I'm running a 500watt sub amp and a 50watt x 4ch amp?

[@Lesscoelectronics]

IMO, Yes. a 5 farad at least

[@Jasiel.95]

Lol not at all.

[@user-hu9gf5ky7p]

You will not need one as that is not going to make your head light go diming

[@tomb9566]

@@user-hu9gf5ky7p maybe your boss 3k, with it's 30amp fuse, might not need one, but a alpine 500watt with two forty amp fuses, definitely needs one. He said he had a 50watt 4 channel, and if it's like my mtx TC 400.4 has 60 amps of fuses. So let's do the math, if he has a 100amp alternator and just for his audio he's using 140amps, trust me, he has cars pulling over at night from the light dimming. And he never said at what ohms he was running, imagine a one ohm load with a 140amp of currents being drawn. FOH 🤪

[@Therey1898]

So i need to add another fuse to the cable running from the battery to capacitor since it already has 1 ?

[@itsjustry]

No you don't.

[@Therey1898]

@@itsjustry ok thanks

[@porschedrifter]

Wrong. Never charge a cap this way. Use a test light or resistor to get it up to 12v before you fully connect it to the battery.

[@capacious1288]

You ground it before you charge it right? Then just bridge the power supply to the capacitor with the resistor?

[@brianschrop1368]

Bro...really...u need to charge it slowly initially. They all or almost all come with a resistor and u need to connect the resistor in series. Keep it simple and put resistor in the positive side. So hook up the ground, hot power to resistor,resistor to cap. The voltage will slowly come up to source voltage. 12v to 14.5v, depending if car is running. Once it's reached system voltage that's it. I leave it on for another minute or so😢, now remove resistor and hook up positive. If resistor is lost or w.e.,😮 use a 12v car light bulb or anything with resistance really.

[@BigSlimThic]

I'm sorry dude if you title your video "how to charge" then people are going to have a big problem with you flapping your gums the whole time. Thanks for the informative video.

[@vinceglynn1137]

I agree this video is garbage sorry I'm not sorry

[@scottorsbon608]

He didn't even show how to charge it. He connected it to the car and it was already charged lol

[@thethoughtmaster]

You put that battery on before charging it with a light or resistor. If that is how you always charge it then why do people tell us to charge slowly. Why is it that no one shows us the proper way on youtube. You want us to ruin our caps so we buy more or have to come to you to pay you to install it. Scammer. Show us a proper tutorial.

[@MrDoomzy]

And why do you need to discharge it? I just wanna hook it up in my car and to my amp and subs and just let it be...

[@Drriftyy]

You would only discharge it if u dont plan on using it for a while

[@864Quavo]

@@Drriftyy What do i use to discharge it? I want to uninstall my whole current system. But i don't know how to properly uninstall the cap

[@Drriftyy]

@@864Quavo look up "test light" you can get one from harbor freight super cheap, I got one for 4 dollars, then you hold the needle part of the light on the capacitors positive terminal, then attach the other side to the negative terminal, the light should come on, wait till the light completely shuts off, then ur cap should be discharged. Theres also some videos on youtube showing how to do it.

[@864Quavo]

@@Drriftyy So i disconnect my power wire from battery then discharge the cap? correct?

[@Drriftyy]

@@864Quavo yes

[@terynchilds574]

Did he say 13.6 VOLTS DC CURRENT? 😆

[@dantronics1682]

well it is 13.6 volts and it is dc current since its coming from a battery

[@MrXxanthonysxx]

Wouldn’t it be nice if people got to the point

[@scottorsbon608]

What is this? You didn't show how to charge it! You just told everyone to connect it to the power system empty? I wonder how many people have screwed up equipment since 2016 because of this video

[@biophillie]

Bad info alert..

[@rimo6064]

too much bla bla. wtf

[@BigSlimThic]

Dude this video is terrible take it down. You don't hook a resistor up from here to here. With a video you need to show us. You can't just tell us hook it up over there... This is a video you have to show us

[@memyselfandi3925]

I learned nothing. Terrible

[@everley4420]

Dudes right Deff need a resistor This dude does not own a system