posted
Ok, I decided to charge up my cap today. Instead of charging it in the place I was going to mount it, I was just going to charge it, then mount it.
What I did, was use 2 "jumper" wires. The type with the little clamps on each end.(about 16 gauge if I had to take a guess). Well, I hooked these up directly to the battery. Then hooked up the negative to the neg. post on the cap. Then hooked the pos. from the battery to one end of the resistor that came with the cap. The wraped the other end of the resistor around the pos. terminal on the cap.
The instructions say to use a volt meter to monitor the process. Then says it should be allowed to charge for 30 sec. And goes on to say that once the cap reads the same voltage(with the volt meter) as the battery, then it is fully charged. Well, I don't have a volt meter. So I just hooked it up as explained above, and let it sit for a while. I did find a test light(think that what they're called). And after about 1 minute, I checked the cap. And the light didn't light up. To make sure the light wasn't blown, I hooked up the negative of the test light to the negative on the cap (still hooked up to the battery) and the positive to one side of the resistor(closest to battery). And the light lit up.
So I let it sit for about 5-7 minutes. Then checked it again. NOTHING. So I said what the hell, and just hooked the battery straight up to the cap. And the digital readout lit up. It read 12.0 exactly.
Here's what I thought was wierd. The way I understood it, was that the cap was supposed to HOLD the charge, even after being disconnected from the power source. Well, when I pulled the "jumper" wires off, the digital readout started going down, and eventually faded away.
Did I do something wrong, or are they supposed to "discharge"? And what's up with that resistor?
In case it matters, while I had it hooked up directly to the battery, I started the car. And the readout read 13.8-13.9.
posted
You could have a blown resistor. I would just tap the positive lead to the cap a couple of times, probably 3 or 4 times, or until the sparks stop flying.
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Posts: 3120 | From: nowhere | Registered: May 1999
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posted
Hopefully this isn't too technical. After a long time (depends, but probably under 30 sec.) of being connected to a constant voltage, the cap behaves like an open circuit to the current (fully charged). This is what you were seeing with your test light. Don't worry too much about "charging" your cap before you mount it. Upon inital turn-on of your system, turn the volume all the way to 0 (lowest setting) for about 20 seconds and slowly work your way back. This should allow your cap to charge.
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posted
Dukk: the problem is, after I disconnect the power, it drains pretty quick. Within 2 minutes.(actually closer to one) And I was under the understanding that the cap would hold the charge for a lot longer.
Would the digital readout cause it to drain so fast? Surely it(readout) couldn't use that much power.
I've had it installed for about a week now, and haven't really noticed anything different. I haven't checked the lights dimming yet. Whenever I think about it, I'm just getting home from work, and it's 12:30am. So the neighbors wouldn't appreciate me cranking it then. I'll check tomorrow.
posted
An LED readout could bring the cap down in 1 minute. Especially considering it will stop displaying before the cap is fully discharged (but still drain it the rest of the way.)
posted
Ah, you left out that vital little bit of info! Yes displays and LEDs and all the other junk definitely will discharge it. This isn't really a problem when hooked up to a battery.
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