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cap question AGAIN!-is this safe todo?
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 11:38 am
by thedeal7235
sorry guys, but i did put my cap back in, however i did use 2 4gauge powers coming off it for amp(s) power; but im only going to use one- can this damage my cap, obviously the 2nd 4 gauge coming off it will be taped and used for nothing@ this point( im just thinking of the future, and possibly a different install-any input, or help will be nice-thanks Christian
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 11:41 am
by stipud
Sorry, what?

Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 11:43 am
by thedeal7235
i ran 2 4 gauge for power(off the capacitor), but im only going to use 1-so is this safe todo? im going to tape off the one im not using really, really , really well. just not sure if the cap is putting power out and not going anywhere if this could damage it,
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 11:52 am
by Rold Gold
I wouldn't do that. Can only lead to problems.
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 11:56 am
by stipud
I still have no idea what you're talking about.
You want to run only one 4 gauge wire to the cap? That doesn't work, you need one for the + and one for the -, otherwise there's no electrical circuit and the cap will do nothing.
Or are you saying... you had two wires connected to both the + and - terminals, and now you are going to tape up the other ones. In that case, why not just remove the loose wires?
Or am I still missing something?
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:04 pm
by thedeal7235
on the 2nd part u have it write, i just don't want to have to remove the 2nd one( b/c i may use it at another point later, so itll be massively electrical taped up, carpet wrapped around it, so theres no way it can ever touch any metal-( i have the 4 gauge posi, negative, then 2 more 4 gauge posis for the amp, and the 4 gauge coming in is fused RIGHT BEFOR the cap, i basically am wondering if you have an extra positive 4 gauge wire coming off the cap , and its electrical taped up, secured as to not touch anything/or cause a fire, can it backfeed into the cap, like its letting energy out, on a second line, but is basically going nowhere( i just hate taking these out , discharging, then charging back up-espicially if i MAY USE IT FOR future-
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:06 pm
by stipud
WTF... how hard is it to remove the second wire? On any cap I have owned, there's usually a screw terminal or something so you can just take it off.
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:07 pm
by thedeal7235

heres a bad drawing of what im refering too
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:08 pm
by thedeal7235
I dont like sparky; i even drained it off this last time, and at0.25 volts, it still was a LIGHT SHOW

Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:15 pm
by stipud
Heh... the spark is the best part. I purposely charge caps up just to short them out so they shoot sparkles. Wheee!
Well, if there's no way you can get the wire off (seriously WTF), then tape it up well and you shouldn't have any issues. Nothing is going to uhh... "backfeed" or anything like that just because there's a loose taped up wire. Still, WTF.

Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:19 pm
by thedeal7235
I JUST HATE THE SPARK man, at least im honest, it wigs me out, and i couldnt believe the minor light show form only 0.25 volts!!!!! when i hooked it back up-so , basically im being a wuss, i mean a little spark when u put power in the amp's 4 gauge slot, was nada compared to the 0.25-

Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:22 pm
by thedeal7235
u know what, f**k it!, ill unscrew the posi terminal, get the screw out, then slip some electrical tape underneath, and pull the first 4 gauge up real fast( the bottom one touching the cap first is where the power comes in from the fuse-the other two top power wires are for amp(s), then slam the screw back in, and remove the tape-probably no sparky
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:28 pm
by stipud
If you do it quickly, there should be no spark, since it should be sitting at the system voltage already.
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:55 pm
by fuzzysnuggleduck
thedeal7235 wrote:I JUST HATE THE SPARK man, at least im honest, it wigs me out, and i couldnt believe the minor light show form only 0.25 volts!!!!! when i hooked it back up-so , basically im being a wuss, i mean a little spark when u put power in the amp's 4 gauge slot, was nada compared to the 0.25-

My heart starts pumping when I'm working on something and it sparks. Although I've shocked myself quite a few times on 120V AC when I was younger, I'm not interested to find out what 12V DC feels like.
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 1:51 pm
by thedeal7235
ok, well, luckily i installed the power(frombattery as the first 4 gauge making connection to cap, then the top 2 4gauge power wires are going out of the cap to amp, so yeah, i unscrewed the gold threade screw thats supplied with the ti capacitor, and quickly pulled the first 4 gauge up, then screwed it back in, being a wuss for nada, but still ofcourse there was a minor spark at amp when connecting power back up, but thats no bigy-thanx guys, but i am a wuss when it comes to sparking, i just turned 39 yesterday, and luckily have not been shocked yet-HAppy Halloween

Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 2:22 pm
by HoseHead
39? Lord liftin' Jesus, man. At that age, a good zappin' makes you feel better for days. I got the five-oh come spring...
Just wear gloves if the spark gives you the willies.
It's DC, so it will just park you on your old, boney ass in a single shot.
AC tends to hold onto you.
BTW - You should never have live wires "taped up" for any reason, especially 4ga. You thought the cap spark was spooky....
Always remove them.
HH
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 2:37 pm
by thedeal7235
gotcha--------5-------0??????? sure is weird, isnt it?
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 2:43 pm
by nico boom
Sorry... I can only smile after reading all of this.
Tom; does your patience really have NO END???

Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 3:29 pm
by Bfowler
thedeal....in the nicest possible way....that is really really a bad idea. just take the extra cable off
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 3:33 pm
by thedeal7235
i did, it was nadda to be worried about; mainly because i put the power coming in as the first 4 gauge connecting to the cap, then the other two 4gauge were closest to the top, so when i unscrewed it, i simply pulled the first 4 gauge off, then slipped the supplied threaded screw back on, no issues, i was being a wuss and lazy-
