How to Charge a Farad Capacitor

Improve your car stereo with a capacitor.

A capacitor is often the most overlooked piece of equipment when buying a sound system for your vehicle. A capacitor is essentially a mini battery that charges and releases energy quicker than a normal battery. A farad is a measurement of how much power a capacitor can hold, and you can find capacitors up to 50 or even 100 farads for the most powerful of sound systems. Before installing your capacitor, it's important to know how to charge it. After the initial charge, the car battery will keep it charged.

Things You'll Need

• Ring terminals
• Wire crimpers
• Allen wrench
• Resistor

Instructions

1. Remove the fuse from the power wire near the car battery to avoid electrical shock.

2. Prepare the amp wires (only the positive and negative) by removing them from the amp terminals (if the amp is already installed) and adding a ring terminal to each of them. Put the loose end of the wire into the ring terminal, and then squeeze with a pair of wire crimpers to lock them in place.

3. Use an Allen wrench to remove the negative terminal, and connect the negative wire to the capacitor.

4. Loosen the positive terminal, and place the resistor between the top and bottom metal pieces. The resistor comes with the capacitor and looks like a tiny light bulb with a metal wire connected to each side of it.

5. Tighten the terminal on top of the resistor.

6. Connect the other end of the resistor to the power wire by wrapping it around the ring terminal.

7. Connect the fuse that you disconnected in Step 1.

8. Monitor the capacitor's charge by watching the resistor. The resistor starts out bright, and will dim slowly until it goes completely dark. Once the resistor goes dark, the capacitor is charged.

9. Remove the fuse from under the hood one more time.

10. Disconnect the resistor from the capacitor and the power wire.

11. Place the power wire over the positive terminal on the capacitor, and screw it in place with an Allen wrench.

12. Replace the fuse under the hood.

References

• HiFi Sound Connection: How to charge a Capacitor