AD-1 Amplifier Dyno answers question "do caps work"

[TonyD'Amore]

Tony Candela of CE Auto Electric Supply, Juan Rodriguez and I decided to do some testing with the AD-1 Amplifier Dyno to see what effects adding a capacitor to your system does. We did over 60 Dyno pulls with a Rockford T2500-1bdcp, without a capacitor, with a 1 Farad electrolytic capacitor (a real 1 F), and a 100 Farad carbon supercap.

Test vehicle is a 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 5.7 Hemi, 180 amp alternator, single group 49 AGM battery, all wiring 1/0 AWG copper.

We tested each possible combination 3 times just to make sure our numbers were consistent, which they were. Video part 1 is continuous power testing, video 2 is dynamic burst power testing. Enjoy!!!

Video part 1= Continuous power testing (uncertified dyno test mode). We do 4, 2 and 1 ohm dyno runs with no cap, 1 F cap, and 100 F cap.

All tests in this video were made using the Uncertified Dyno Mode which is a continuous sine wave. We test a Rockford T2500-1bdcp in car, with no added capacitors, then with a 1 Farad aluminum electrolytic capacitor added, and then with a 100 Farad carbon supercapacitor added.

RESULTS:
No Capacitor:
1499 Watts RMS @ 13.07V into 4 ohms
2059 Watts RMS @ 11.84V into 2 ohms
2366 Watts RMS @ 10.83V into 1 ohm

With 1 Farad Capacitor:
1489 Watts RMS @ 13.10V into 4 ohms
2024 Watts RMS @ 11.90V into 2 ohms
2358 Watts RMS @ 10.87V into 1 ohm

With 100 Farad carbon supercapacitor:
1531 Watts RMS @ 13.13V into 4 ohms
2208 Watts RMS @ 12.25V into 2 ohms
2606 Watts RMS @ 11.30V into 1 ohm

Engine RPM held between 2200-2500 for all tests.

1F capacitor didn't add any power on the continuous RMS test, actually lost a few watts probably due to the increased number of wire connections.

100F capacitor added more than 10% more power on the continuous RMS test

Make sure to watch part 2, dynamic power testing (burst power). Hint: The results are different!

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Video part 2= Dynamic burst testing (Dynamic Power Dyno Mode). We do 4, 2 and 1 ohm dyno runs with no cap, 1 F cap, and 100F cap.

All tests in this video were made using the Dynamic Power (Burst) Dyno mode which is representative of musical peaks. We test a Rockford T2500-1bdcp in car, with no added capacitors, then with a 1 Farad aluminum electrolytic capacitor added, and then with a 100 Farad carbon supercapacitor added.

RESULTS:
No Capacitor:
1543 Watts RMS @ 13.80V into 4 ohms
2550 Watts RMS @ 13.32V into 2 ohms
3154 Watts RMS @ 12.76V into 1 ohm

With 1 Farad Capacitor:
1613 Watts RMS @ 13.98V into 4 ohms
2666 Watts RMS @ 13.60V into 2 ohms
3426 Watts RMS @ 13.35V into 1 ohm

With 100 Farad carbon supercapacitor:
1620 Watts RMS @ 13.95V into 4 ohms
2616 Watts RMS @ 13.65V into 2 ohms
3260 Watts RMS @ 12.91V into 1 ohm

Engine RPM held between 2200-2500 for all tests.

1F capacitor didn't add any power on the continuous RMS test, but it OWNED the Dynamic Burst testing!!

100F capacitor added more than 10% more power on the continuous RMS test, but less than 5% on the dynamic burst test.

Edited April 20, 2013 by TonyD'Amore

[tdsa23]

Interesting any testing with a battery?

Edited April 20, 2013 by tdsa23

[matt14]

How much battery power did you have in the car?

[Bump4life]

this ^^

[TonyD'Amore]

Interesting any testing with a battery?

No testing with an additional battery, but if you look at the numbers it would only help in the situations were the voltage fell below 12.6V, since another battery is just a load to the alternator over 12.6V. We have an additional group 49 AGM battery all charged up and ready for testing. May do some dyno runs on Monday.

[TonyD'Amore]

How much battery power did you have in the car?

Single group 49 absorbed glass mat

[Bump4life]

Interesting any testing with a battery?

No testing with an additional battery, but if you look at the numbers it would only help in the situations were the voltage fell below 12.6V, since another battery is just a load to the alternator over 12.6V. We have an additional group 49 AGM battery all charged up and ready for testing. May do some dyno runs on Monday.

i love these tests. very well done. and very nice piece of equipment

[tdsa23]

Interesting any testing with a battery?

No testing with an additional battery, but if you look at the numbers it would only help in the situations were the voltage fell below 12.6V, since another battery is just a load to the alternator over 12.6V. We have an additional group 49 AGM battery all charged up and ready for testing. May do some dyno runs on Monday.

Would like to see that.

[matt14]

Would like to see what the results with your primary battery and a large AGM battery like a XS 3100 ran without a capacitor. This would be a similar set up like a lot of us members would run and see what the numbers would be. Also, stock alt?

[Jessica]

hmmm, where to get a 100 farad capacitor... lol

I like the testing you did. Still sticking with batteries since the only caps i can find anywhere near that range are from companies like scoshe and "Brand-X"