So I have a 1.2 fared cap sitting in my house that I have never actually used, I hooked it up to power but never to any amps. My question is; the very first time I hooked the cap up it came with special instructions on how to charge it the first time using a diode if I remember correctly. Well the cap has been sitting in my house for about a year now, will I have to do this initial charging process again and if so, how do I do it? I cannot remember. Any help would be awesome.

Also, will leaving a cap hooked up in a car that won’t be used for a little while completely drain the vehicle battery? I mean if I think about it, it would make sense that it would drain the vehicle battery as the charge drops in the cap. Tell me if I am wrong.

 

Use a 47 Ohm resistor between the positive lug of the cap and the B+ wire for about 2-3 minutes. Don't hold it with your hands because it will be dissapating a lot of heat. If you have access to one, use a multimeter to observe the voltage increasing across the positive and negative terminals of the cap. When it gets to 12VDC (2-3 minutes) based on the RC time constant-don't worry about the terminology, take the resistor off.. You can hold it to the wire with a pair of pliers and bolt the other end down to the lug on the cap.'



Hopefully I said this right cuz I;m twwwwwistedddd! Send me a PM if you still need help.

 

You need to charge the cap whenever you hook it up if it has been disconnected for more than a few hours. I use a 12 volt test light to charge them. Hook up the ground wire to the cap, then connect one end of the test light to the end of the 12v power wire and put the other end of the test light to the positive terminal of the cap. The bulb on the test light will turn on to the normal brightness, then will slowly dim down untill it is nearly off while the cap charges. The process should take about 3 - 4 minutes. Once the light is nearly out, remove the test light and hook the power wire up to the cap and you're good to go. Also, having a cap hooked up in the car does not drain the battery. Once the cap is charged it is simply acting as a small second battery connected in parallel to the main battery.

 

Thanks for the test light process, I would have never thought of that. Once I get this install all complete I will be sure to post pics because it will be very pretty!!! I'm just waiting on the door pods from Nazar then ill begin. Thanks again.