Do you need a capacitor?

the88thpianoman

From the reading I've done, this almost always spurs quite the debate. I have a 5 farad capacitor that I'm trying to decide whether or not to include in my install. The stuff I'm setting up includes:

Stock alternator at 136 amps.
Big 3 upgrade with 0 gauge.
Optima yellowtop D34 at 750 CCA.
4 ch amp at 640 watts RMS (2 ohms x 4): http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/p_23945_Hifonics_ZXi804.aspx
Sub amp at 900 watts RMS (2 ohms x 1): http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/p_23922_Hifonics_BRZ12001D.aspx

This is in addition to about 800 watts of auxiliary lighting installed, however I cannot foresee any situation in which I would be pushing both the lighting and stereo at the same time. That said, I am wiring and fusing the whole system to be capable of running everything at once, and eventually I will be upgrading the alternator to match.

Now if I use the capacitor, this would be for the sub amp only. Probably what I will do is install the whole system without it and then see if I am getting any headlight dimming. But I figured some informed opinions beforehand couldn't hurt either.

MacLeod

If youve already got it, might as well install it. It wont hurt anything. Do you need it? Not at all.

the88thpianoman

So the claims that a capacitor will be very rough/demanding on the charging system aren't really true?

Also, do I need to take any caution given that I've had this for about five years and never powered it up, or are they unaffected by shelf life? I appreciate your help.

MacLeod

Yes it will present an extra load on your charging system but it shouldn't be a big problem unless you've got something like a 60 amp alternator. I'm not sure about shelf life on those things so can't help ya on that. If in doubt, just don't install it cause you don't need it.