Re: [DML] grounding equipment to battery?

["mgutkowski@xxxx" <webmaster@xxxx>]

[Moderator Note: This message has only a tiny bit of DeLorean information. PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND ABOUT THE GENERAL ELECTRONICS OF CAPACITORS as this is better suited to a different BBS. - Moderator Mike Substelny]


Hi Kayo, sorry, but you're pretty wrong here:

Original Message:
-----------------
"All the stiffening capacitor will do to your 
alternator, is soak up all the current that the alternator generates. It 
makes the alternator labor by having it putting out all the time when there
is no need for it to do so."

>> First of all a "stiffening" capacitor is not a term I've ever heard in 3
years of my electroncis degree. I think it's a made-up term (and the audio
industry is full of them, just don't get me started on directional speaker
cables). A capacitor is basically a pair of plates held a fraction apart
and insulated from one another. One is Ground, the other is positive. A
charge is built up between the two (and from a discharged state, a large
cap can draw a heowge current, but for a fraction of a second only). What
then happens is that any voltage spikes will try to pull the positive
plate's charge away from the potential of the battery, this takes quite a
bit of current, which most noise sources can't supply, so the spike which
may be, say, 10v for 1/100th of a second, translates to an imperceptable
"hump" in the charge on the positive plate of the capacitor. 

The capacitor serves as a store of current for short periods too. Ever
noticed how throbby bass can make the headlights dim with the beat of the
music? Put a large capacitor on the amp and it will help smooth the load to
the battery and alternator: a good thing all round.

You do have to get the value of the cap correct and the faster and higher
the "ripple current" they can take, the better. I would assume that a
smoothing capacitor bought from an audio outlet would be a good start, but
I hate Hi Fi shops - they're almost as good at ripping customers off as an
average car dealership.... 

To the original poster: If it's convenient to ground the amp on the
chassis, try it. If you can hear noise on the output, you can try a
smoothing capacitor, or connect to the battery directly. I doubt you'll
have any problems.

Best Wishes

Martin 
#1458
#4426

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