Audio Capacitor charging resistor

TECHBERT

Junior Member
Jun 22, 2018
12
0
11
I bought a car audio 1 farad capacitor and need to know what type of resistor to charge it with and where I can buy them or where I can buy the capacitor charging kit. I have Nakamichi capacitors with digital voltage meter.
I am in the UK, please recommend a shop on or offline.
Thanks, Robert.
UPDATE:-
I have figured out what resistor it is, it is Brown, Black, Red, Gold CERAMIC 1/4 watt or upto 1 watt max 1k ohm +/-5%. https://www.digikey.co.uk/en/resour...version-calculator-resistor-color-code-4-band. To safely charge and discharge a large capacitor check out the video here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqruQSyti1Q
For resistors check out RS components in the UK or equivalent USA co.
Thanks for the responses including the joker :)
 
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RLGL

Platinum Member
Jan 8, 2013
2,104
314
126
You can get a flux capacitor charging kit from Amazon.




This is trolling. This is not OT


esquared
Anandtech Forum Director
 
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DaTT

Garage Moderator
Moderator
Feb 13, 2003
13,295
118
106
Back when I was into Car Audio (1995-2000ish) I also used Capacitors. I had a 1.2 Farad and I did not have a resistor inline with the positive terminal, Plugged directly into the power source. Have things changed?
 

NutBucket

Lifer
Aug 30, 2000
27,072
580
126
That was my thought too. Usually a resistor is used to safely discharge a cap when the system is powered off. And again, I can't recall ever seeing that in car audio.
 

mindless1

Diamond Member
Aug 11, 2001
8,427
1,595
126
It might help if you provided some reference to what you're talking about. In certain electronic circuits a resistance is one method of limiting inrush current to a large capacitor bank, especially if the surge current would otherwise be traveling though an active component (or just the fuse itself) and cause it to fail, but you would never have one in series on an audio stiffening cap to the extent that it limits current from the battery before you undermine the purpose of the capacitor which is to supplement battery current.

Maybe I am thinking in the wrong way about this. There are some that advise that you should charge a high farad capacitor bank before hooking it directly to your battery (to its normal power feed). It may even be necessary with low gauge wiring and a high capacitance to keep the fuse from blowing, a little like I mentioned above, but in this case the resistor is only temporary during hookup.

If that is what you want to do, just grab some resistor from any electronics supplier, around 1K to 5K ohms and at least a couple watts. You'll want to use a multimeter to measure when it gets to near the 12.6V your battery should be at fully charged (engine off), and once the capacitor bank reaches 12.6V, you disconnect the capacitor and hook it directly up to the fused battery cable without the resistor.

You don't need some special hookup "kit" to do this, just secure the wires together in series with the resistor on the positive power cable going to the capacitor, but keep in mind that the resistor may get hot so holding it in bare hands is probably not a good idea. You don't even need to do this at the capacitor, can just put the resistor between the battery positive terminal and amp cable to do it if you want to finish the wiring to the capacitor and amp first.

Examples (I don't know who in the UK has best low order minimums or cheapest postage, you can also probably get bulk of them cheaper due to postage savings on ebay if you don't mind waiting):

https://uk.farnell.com/c/passive-co...le-resistors?resistance=1kohm&power-rating=2w

Any general electronics hobby shop would probably carry something suitable too.
 
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DaTT

Garage Moderator
Moderator
Feb 13, 2003
13,295
118
106
It might help if you provided some reference to what you're talking about. In certain electronic circuits a resistance is one method of limiting inrush current to a large capacitor bank, especially if the surge current would otherwise be traveling though an active component (or just the fuse itself) and cause it to fail, but you would never have one in series on an audio stiffening cap to the extent that it limits current from the battery before you undermine the purpose of the capacitor which is to supplement battery current.

Maybe I am thinking in the wrong way about this. There are some that advise that you should charge a high farad capacitor bank before hooking it directly to your battery (to its normal power feed). It may even be necessary with low gauge wiring and a high capacitance to keep the fuse from blowing, a little like I mentioned above, but in this case the resistor is only temporary during hookup.

If that is what you want to do, just grab some resistor from any electronics supplier, around 1K to 5K ohms and at least a couple watts. You'll want to use a multimeter to measure when it gets to near the 12.6V your battery should be at fully charged (engine off), and once the capacitor bank reaches 12.6V, you disconnect the capacitor and hook it directly up to the fused battery cable without the resistor.

You don't need some special hookup "kit" to do this, just secure the wires together in series with the resistor on the positive power cable going to the capacitor, but keep in mind that the resistor may get hot so holding it in bare hands is probably not a good idea. You don't even need to do this at the capacitor, can just put the resistor between the battery positive terminal and amp cable to do it if you want to finish the wiring to the capacitor and amp first.

Examples (I don't know who in the UK has best low order minimums or cheapest postage, you can also probably get bulk of them cheaper due to postage savings on ebay if you don't mind waiting):

https://uk.farnell.com/c/passive-co...le-resistors?resistance=1kohm&power-rating=2w

Any general electronics hobby shop would probably carry something suitable too.


Now that you mention it, I do believe there was a special charging, or first time hook up procedure that was recommended. I never followed it though. Again, if memory serves correct.
 

TECHBERT

Junior Member
Jun 22, 2018
12
0
11
Back when I was into Car Audio (1995-2000ish) I also used Capacitors. I had a 1.2 Farad and I did not have a resistor inline with the positive terminal, Plugged directly into the power source. Have things changed?
These days they are recommending slowly charging the capacitor because they say it can damage it charging it too fast. I bought some 1/4 watt 1k ohm to be on the safe side +/-5%. They should arrive next week.. The recommendation for discharging when not in operation for long periods is to put a resistor on after discharging with the bulb, a small xenon bulb I think. I figured out what resistor it is.
 
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TECHBERT

Junior Member
Jun 22, 2018
12
0
11
It might help if you provided some reference to what you're talking about. In certain electronic circuits a resistance is one method of limiting inrush current to a large capacitor bank, especially if the surge current would otherwise be traveling though an active component (or just the fuse itself) and cause it to fail, but you would never have one in series on an audio stiffening cap to the extent that it limits current from the battery before you undermine the purpose of the capacitor which is to supplement battery current.

Maybe I am thinking in the wrong way about this. There are some that advise that you should charge a high farad capacitor bank before hooking it directly to your battery (to its normal power feed). It may even be necessary with low gauge wiring and a high capacitance to keep the fuse from blowing, a little like I mentioned above, but in this case the resistor is only temporary during hookup.

If that is what you want to do, just grab some resistor from any electronics supplier, around 1K to 5K ohms and at least a couple watts. You'll want to use a multimeter to measure when it gets to near the 12.6V your battery should be at fully charged (engine off), and once the capacitor bank reaches 12.6V, you disconnect the capacitor and hook it directly up to the fused battery cable without the resistor.

You don't need some special hookup "kit" to do this, just secure the wires together in series with the resistor on the positive power cable going to the capacitor, but keep in mind that the resistor may get hot so holding it in bare hands is probably not a good idea. You don't even need to do this at the capacitor, can just put the resistor between the battery positive terminal and amp cable to do it if you want to finish the wiring to the capacitor and amp first.

Examples (I don't know who in the UK has best low order minimums or cheapest postage, you can also probably get bulk of them cheaper due to postage savings on ebay if you don't mind waiting):

https://uk.farnell.com/c/passive-co...le-resistors?resistance=1kohm&power-rating=2w

Any general electronics hobby shop would probably carry something suitable too.
I posted some links and more information, problem is solved now. I updated with the answer. Thanks for trying.
 

mindless1

Diamond Member
Aug 11, 2001
8,427
1,595
126
Thanks for completing the topic but it is false that it is "up to 1W max". Quite the opposite, getting a larger wattage resistor does not change the parameters of doing this in any negative way, it just keeps it from getting as hot and has thicker, more durable leads so it's more rugged, all for a few cents cost difference.
 

TECHBERT

Junior Member
Jun 22, 2018
12
0
11
Thanks for completing the topic but it is false that it is "up to 1W max". Quite the opposite, getting a larger wattage resistor does not change the parameters of doing this in any negative way, it just keeps it from getting as hot and has thicker, more durable leads so it's more rugged, all for a few cents cost difference.
That is not what I mean, I will edit. It means anything from 1 quarter watt to 1 watt. Thanks for mentioning that.