i have it from my last car...its a 2400w amp...ive already installed a 200amp alternator...question is i also have a 5 farad capacitor...ive heard some ppl say use them and some say dont...do i need it?
thanks
Very quick electrical tidbit. Volts * amp = power.
So a 200 amp alternator at 12 volts can only put out 2400 watts.
The car itself prop needs 90 amps to run (fans, PCM, fuel pump, ignition, lights) that leaves 110 amps for "other stuff". 110*12=1320 watts of reserve power.
Once your 2400 watt amp uses up the available 1300 watts of alternator power, any additional power has to come from the battery.
Any battery discharging at a 100 amp rate is not going to last long before discharging. Once the battery is dead, there is no power to excite the alternator field coil. No battery=no output from the alternator.
A 200 amp alternator is not big enough to run a 2400 watt sound system full out
and handle the car's electrical loads at the same time. In fact, the alternator is not big enough to power just the amp (at max power).
So if you are actually planning on running your 2400 watt amp full out, you need a cap and a 2nd battery. I do not think that a bigger alternator is possible.
Note, an amp is not 100 percent efficient. It takes more power in to get "x" amount of audio power out. Therefore, a 2400 watt amp will need more than 2400 watts of power. Again, this is at max volume level.