DIY ICE cap.

[tigershark1976]

I'm thinking to DIY an ICE Cap, I have plenty of capacitor on hand, ranging from 47uF to 10,000uF. Total 65 pcs, 9 different types of capacitor, all rated at 16V and 85deg Celcius. Bought it to DIY stun gun but in the end, project failed...

The total capacity is 152,110uF, i believe it should be big enof for an ICE cap... using 20A fuse.

The finish product should be connected directly to the amp? (paralle with amp)? any things that I have to take note?

 

[howiechoo]

an audio cap need at least 1 Farad to work effectively....urs cap value are 0.15 Farad i think...so i dun think it will work, maybe invest ur cap on something else better...

btw, normal cap can never reach the speed of those audio cap in charging and discharge...also another disadvantage....

 

[tigershark1976]

huh?? I tot 152,110uF is equal to 1.5 farad?? if necessary, I'll get some 10,000uf caps... quite cheap in Singapore, only $4.50 per pcs.

 

[howiechoo]

read properly...

 

[howiechoo]

1 Farad = 1 million uF....so if u get SGD4.5 for 10,000uF, then u need to get 100pcs which is USD450....a typical audio cap only cost RM400-600 and performance are better than normal cap....

 

[tigershark1976]

hmm.... 100 pcs of of 10,000uF, guess my boot will be full of caps... hahaha...

o.k, maybe i try to get a bigger caps, maybe 50,000uF, so i only need 20 pcs. Well of cos, if the price could be less than S$50, else, better get a new 1 farad cap which is less tha $S120 here...

 

[minikar]

Get urself a proper cap

 

[tigershark1976]

Of cos, cost will be an important factor here, if spending 50% to diy compare to what shop is selling, and the performance is say 70% of a ready made product, guess its worth to try out...

btw, any bros here tried it before? and advise on the result using a stabiliser as ICE caps?

well... this is a diy forum... I believe 99.99% of the people prefer to diy.

seriously, I didnt know 1 farad is 1,000,000 uF... else wont be buying so much capacitor alrd i the 1st place... now I'm stuck with the caps and have to fully utilise it else put aside also no use...

If i add the caps till 0.5 farad, would it help a bit on my ICE? I'm going to use it for my amp that use the drive my 10" woofer... the wattage rating of the amp is only 600W (max). Adding all the way to 1,000,000 uF is too expnsive, if i use capacitor with anything 200,000uF, the charging cycle would be too long... guess I might be adding more of 6,800uF 16V caps instead cos its the cheapest in terms of per unit uF, the best price i could find is S$0.60 oer piece, so adding another 50 pcs would cost me additional S$30, additonal 340,000 uF gain, so in total, I would have 492,110uF. Very close to 0.5 farad already...

 

[howiechoo]

hope u can feel the difference....good luck...

 

[tigershark1976]

sorry bro howiechoo... i dun undestand what r u trying to say, r u trying to say that there will be no different at all by doing that??? thanks for your advice in advance.

I'm a poor chap who try to do some DIY here, and asking opinion from experience DIYer... hope bros here can give more constructive opinion on my project...

 

[tylaxng]

yo... bro... below is my comment...

1. Since u using 65pcs or more cap for VS diy, more cap will cause more leakage current when ur car engine stop, i think better put on/off switch or connect it to cigarette lighter, it can avoid car can't start when long time no use.

2. Purpose for u to build VS is ICE stable and improve, try connect it close to ur amp, disc player better than connect to car battery. Same theory with "big" or ICE cap.

3. Dont worry, 0.5F got function also, this is demand problem, 1F doesn't means better than 0.5F, if ur car ICE not so high "transient power" demand. (Don't tell me ur car got 4 amp, 10 bass spkr, 10 mid range spkr... lol)

4. Safety is important, dont forget series 1 10A fuse, LED indicator and better make one cover for ur VS.

And, below is "my" thinking of DIY...(for VS, increase hp, fuel saver and similar DIY)

No every DIY can success and got theory(or strange theory) can follow, sometimes base on DIYer "feeling", especially VS, fuel saver magnet, increase hp oil... so:

1. When u "feel" ur DIY got improvement, and ur car no any malfunction come out. We can consider is success.

2. When u "feel" ur DIY no diff before and after. We consider "mayb" got improve but can't "feel" (:shades_smile: yup la.. already spend time and money.. lol), so try extend the monitoring time... if still no "feeling", u can consider remove it or js leave it.

3. When u "feel" ur DIY let ur car performance drop down, and got malfunction come out, remove ur DIY things quickly... and find out it is wrong connection, it is same condition or environment with ur DIY source, using wrong material.... or js become another "White Mouse" .

ok... above is my some comment.. and pardon of my poor english... wish can help u and clear ur mind....

p.s:
i like this sentences " this is a diy forum... I believe 99.99% of the people prefer to diy." cheers.....

 

[tigershark1976]

Thanks for your advise bro!! some question....

u mentioned install a switch at the cigarette... which means the power is tap to the cigerette lighter? can explain more?


you r rite man! got 3 amp, a 4 channel alpine amp use to run 2 front, another sony 2 channel amp for rear, 1 more amp for my woofer... but all small amp only... the diy ICE cap is going to use at the amp use to run the woofer. connecting in palleral.


i bot a 20A fuse... would it be too big??

 

[tylaxng]

u mentioned install a switch at the cigarette... which means the power is tap to the cigerette lighter? can explain more?

Pardon me... i think u misunderstand.... u know VS, rite? normally direct connect to battery terminal (parallel), i said need on/off switch 1 is this type; connect to cigerette lighter is another type, this 1 no need, bcoz when u remove ur car key, cigerette lighter voltage supply automatic turn off.

you r rite man! got 3 amp, a 4 channel alpine amp use to run 2 front, another sony 2 channel amp for rear, 1 more amp for my woofer... but all small amp only... the diy ICE cap is going to use at the amp use to run the woofer. connecting in palleral.

ok... let us inside "simple" electronic calculation:

Q= CV ; Q is charge, C is capacitance (cap value), V is voltage

change to time form:

dq/dt = C dv/dt, since I = dq/dt; I is current and assume voltage is constant

so above formula become:

I = CV

cap value (capacitance) formula become:

C= I / V

Now apply above formula to ur "Woofer" amp,

Assume ur amp is 60W, input voltage is 12V,

P = IV (power formula)

I = P / V

so, C = (P / V) / V = P / (V x V) = 60W / (12x12) = 0.417Farad

xxxx From above calculation, if ur amp is 60W and use car voltage supply 12V, ur ICE cap (for Woofer) value should be 0.417Farad, clear?. This formula can apply to another 2 amps also. xxxx

i bot a 20A fuse... would it be too big??

ok... let us inside another "simple" electronic calculation...

Assume ur amp is 60W, and voltage is 12V again....

P = IV

I = P/V = 60W/12V = 5A

so, fuse value u need is: 1.5 of I = 7.5A

somethings u need notice:

1. Use ceramic packaging fuse, glass packaging one easy broken.
2. Try connect ur ICE cap or VS close to "Woofer" amp, better way is connect(parellel) "Woofer" amp voltage input directly.
3. "simple" means ideal calculation
4. buying high value cap (>10000uF) making ur ICE cap, ur purpose is "energy tank", noise filter function can ignore. But u can parellel 1 or 2 "0.1uF" (ceramic type) for high frequency noise filtering.
5. Don't use low value cap for ur ICE cap (<10000uF), coz need too many cap to parellel (economy view not so good), generate leakage current more than few high value cap, and save space.

 

[tigershark1976]

thanks bro!!! wah, you physic must be very good....

o.k bro, loud and clear!!! the formular u gave me enable me to buy be more confident in my DIY...

I just found a cheap lobang on website (singapore based company). 1 pc of 12,000uF 16V 85deg Cel caps selling only at S$1.55 (min 25 pcs), so to increase from 152,110 uF to 417,000uF, i need to add 22 pcs of 22,000uF caps. To round up the figure, i'll just add another 25 pcs. That will be less than $39.

hmm.... still cheaper than ICE cap... will update u for the outcome ! thanks x 100000

 

[tylaxng]

er... bro bro....

ur "Woofer" amp so coincidently is 60W? i js "assume" ur amp watt value onli....

maybe u can give me ur amp model.... i can calculate the value u need...

 

[tigershark1976]

no lah, my woofer amp is 400W max at 1 ohm... so at 4 ohm, it should be 100W RMS, according to ur calculation, i should need ard 700,000uF. My setup with additional 25 pcs of 12,000uF should be ard 0.5 farad alrd so should be quite o.k. The is a place in singapore cal sim lim tower whereby the sold plenty of electronic parts, new or used... i might go there to look for some 2nd hand caps if i really wanna add on more caps later...

 

[tylaxng]

yo.... bro...

u know sim lim tower should be ok liao .....

wish u success....

 

[phibitis]

ice cap sounds like ice cappucino

 

[tigershark1976]

yo.... bro...

u know sim lim tower should be ok liao .....

wish u success....

just got another 10 pcs of 0.5uF 16V and another 10 pcs of 0.1uF 16V caps from Sim lim for noise filtering....

the 12,000uF caps is on the way, ordered from RS.

 

[wyx]

bro, not to pour u cold water...juz to share my view...
with the amount of $ spent on so many big caps, and the risk(current leak, high current storage, inrush current, extra load to batt/alternator, etc) that u may need to consider, would it be safer/cheaper if buy one high current mosfet power amp to drive ur current hungry woofer, and a moderate amp to drive tweeters/midrange?
Of course, in the bright side, if everything went smooth, u may learn something out of it and enjoy the DIY fun.

Have fun n good luck!

...BTW, which part of Spore u stay?