Capacitor?

[Jibit]

I keep blowing the fuse for my main power to my amp. I check the wire ran it differently and check the impedence to the body and came up with an open circuit. So I put everything back together. When I put the power lead back on the battery there was a little spark. I figured it was because the capacitor had been sitting out for so long that it charged itself. Turned the radio on, nothing from the amp. Measured voltage across the capacitor, nothing (<1V). So, I'm guessing my capacitor went bad and is creating a short, any other ideas, I'm tired of blowing fuses, they're getting expensive!

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

Don't take this the wrong way, but do you have the capacitor wired correctly? Also, the capacitor will not hold a charge like a battery, so it should not be throwing sparks if it has been disconnected for any length of time. What size fuse are you using, on what gauge wire, and where is the fuse located along the wire? All or any of this could be an issue.

 

[Jibit]

No offense take, I have the capacitor wired correctly. Haven't changed it since I wired it the first time (about 3 years ago) and it worked perfect until about 6 months ago. Any way, I'm using 4 gauge with an 80 amp inline fuse about 6 inches from the battery. At first I thought the main power wire had been cut somewhere along the body but like I said, no imedance was read when I measured the wire to the body. I can only think the amp (fosgate punch 800 a.2) or the capacitor.

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

How is the system grounded? Remember that in a DC system grounding is more important that your positive line. Again, I have no idea about how much eletronic knowledge you have, so I am trying to clear the plain and simple ideas first.

 

[Jibit]

I'm an electrical engineer. I grounded the capacitor and amp in the trunk to a green terminal screw that already had a ground wire connected to it. I'm not sure what the other ground is for but I used it so I didn't have to make a path of my own.

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

It all worked before, and then what did you do? I would check amp fuses and any circuit breakers that may be included. I would also pull the capacitor out of the circuit and see if the amp works then. Get jumper cables and use them to ground the circuit directly back to the battery to see if it affects it.

 

[CaptainZilog]

What size Cap?

 

[ERIC1]

What size Cap?

sounds like the amp took a dump try wiring it and omitting the cap. if the fuse pops its the amp. i had a zeus amp that did that it drove me nuts for a week straight. if the amp sparks when the radio is off its shot most of the time. the remote wire is the source that completes the circuit when its powered up so if you sparking when you connected to an open amp its the amp. check imp across the amp.
Eric

 

[Jibit]

sounds like the amp took a dump

I hope not, damn things are expensive. BTW its a 1 Farad cap. I'll try removing it out of the equation tonight and see what happens. BTW, now my fuse is popping that goes to my radio. Its on the remote side because I replaced the fuse and before it popped again the radio came on and all my preset stations where there. So now I'm really ticked! I'll keep you guys informed on what I find out tonight.

 

[CaptainZilog]

Check the resistence of the capacitor. If it's 0, guess what? Make sure it's discharged first or your multimeter will not survive.

 

[ERIC1]

I hope not, damn things are expensive. BTW its a 1 Farad cap. I'll try removing it out of the equation tonight and see what happens. BTW, now my fuse is popping that goes to my radio. Its on the remote side because I replaced the fuse and before it popped again the radio came on and all my preset stations where there. So now I'm really ticked! I'll keep you guys informed on what I find out tonight.

well i hate to tell you but im getting more and more convinced. sorry :frown:
Eric

 

[Jibit]

Well the whole thing is getting me extremely ticked. I took the cap out of the equation and as soon as I connected the remote lead the fuse to the radio popped again. So I swapped amps out, popped the fuse to the radio again. When I replaced it, the amp worked fine but the speakers didn't turn on (I rewired the entire system so nothing passes through the factory amp). I take the headunit out to make sure its fuse isn't blown and it wasn't, put everything back in and what do you know, it all works fine now. Next thing I'm going to do is put the cap back into the equation to see what happens and also check my fosgate amp with a battery to see if was my wiring, headunit, or whatever.

 

[ERIC1]

Well the whole thing is getting me extremely ticked. I took the cap out of the equation and as soon as I connected the remote lead the fuse to the radio popped again. So I swapped amps out, popped the fuse to the radio again. When I replaced it, the amp worked fine but the speakers didn't turn on (I rewired the entire system so nothing passes through the factory amp). I take the headunit out to make sure its fuse isn't blown and it wasn't, put everything back in and what do you know, it all works fine now. Next thing I'm going to do is put the cap back into the equation to see what happens and also check my fosgate amp with a battery to see if was my wiring, headunit, or whatever.

so what was the result?