I was looking at a capaciter, and it said its operating voltage is 20 to 24. How does this work in a twelve volt system?

 

That rating is a maximum rating. If it had a datasheet the values given would be accurate for 20-25V below that they will be similiar.

 

So it will still work on a 12v system?

 

Yes, Normally I use atleast 50v parts for automotive use. If you put more than 20-25volts across that cap it will pop.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by toolowsol &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yes, Normally I use atleast 50v parts for automotive use. If you put more than 20-25volts across that cap it will pop.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have to ask.......why? Where are you going to get over 25V in a car? You will pay more for a 50V cap vs a 20V cap. The cap will also be about twice as big.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nsxxtreme &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I have to ask.......why? Where are you going to get over 25V in a car? You will pay more for a 50V cap vs a 20V cap. The cap will also be about twice as big.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I was going to ask the same question

 

hell, you want to make sure you don't blow it? Use some of those caps from old TV's... those ones rated at like rediculous voltages. I think the only way you'd see a spike that high is if lightning hit your car lol

 

ur car runs at 12 v, so i dont think that you would need anything over 25v, and if it pops ur got somethin wrong with ur car. capacitor would be the least of my worries

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mikedd_87 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ur car runs at 12 v, so i dont think that you would need anything over 25v, and if it pops ur got somethin wrong with ur car. capacitor would be the least of my worries</TD></TR></TABLE>

If your using 1 battery your fine with the cap of 25v max. Thing is if your using more then 1 battery then you might wanna look into something with more power

 

more then one battery shouldn't matter...you car is a 12v peice of equipment. The most voltage you should get is around 14.5....if you have a battery that shows 24+ volts, it probably shouldn't be in your car.

 

Sry i should of stated more then a few. I did a system that had 4 batteries to power up all the amps and I had a few 25 max ones and they gave out and fried the wire could of been the wiring but I got bigger caps and it was fine. Btw the way it was 2 awg cable then we went to a 0 awg so it was a powerful system!

 

the probably had nothing to do with voltage. Amperage sounds like the problem with that. If your trying to pull 14volts at 120 amps through a 10 gauge wire, it's gonna melt and things are gonna break. No matter how many batteries you have in car, the voltage should never go to 25 volts. If it did, EVERYTHING in your car would fry.

 

25V doesn't belong in a car. The electronics would have to be completely redesigned to work at 25V. The caps that are on the input internally to your amplifier are rated at less then 25V. So you would smoke them way before you smoked anything externally.

Buying a cap that has a higher rating then 16V does nothing for you.

 

That makes sense. Thanks for the help guys.