Anyone know where to get "charging bulbs" for caps

[04Elantra]

I have contacted Stinger and my local audio shops and no one can provide my with the charging bulb to charge up my cap before I power up my amps/system for the first time.
I lost the bulb that came with my cap and now I am not sure what to do. One place said just connect it and watch out for some sparks/heat/shorts (blown fuses) since it isnt the proper way to do it, but its the way that they do it (I WILL NEVER BRING MY CAR THERE!!)

Any ideas?

[ABQelantra]

you could try using a resistor that is basicly what the charging bulb is im not sure how many ohms it should be but you could start with a large value resistor to be safe(like 1000 ohms)... radio shack has em in packs of 5 for 0.99

[jpjr]

I use a cheap little test probe. The ones that look like a screwdriver, have a black wire with a clip you attach to ground, and a light in the handle lights up when the metal tip hits power. Instead of ground, attach the clip to the cap and touch the probe to your power. The light in the probe handle will provide the resistance needed.

[04Elantra]

I hope you are right JPJR (although I might try ABQs idea)..otherwise if I survive the shock of the install I will come after you!

:bang:

J/K

[ABQelantra]

lol good luck mang

[jpjr]

To make it easy, I remove my main audio fuse at the battery and install the caps. Before putting the main fuse back in, I hook up the test probe to the fuse holder, one connection on the battery side of the fuse holder, the other on the amp side. My caps have built in voltmeters, so when it reads over 12 volts, I put the fuse back in and disconected the test probe. Havent blown a fuse or shocked myself yet. But either way, resistor or test probe will work.

For the whole page click here (http://www.bcae1.com/)

TECH TIP:

Charging large capacitors:
When connecting a large capacitor (1/2 farad or larger) to the 12 volt source, you may want to charge it slowly before making the final connection to the power wire. Most capacitors come with a resistor to charge the cap slowly. If you're working on your system, and disconnect the capacitor, the cap may get discharged (something might accidentally touch across the terminals or it may partially self discharge over time). If you can't find the original resistor to recharge the cap, you can recharge it with a standard test light (you know, the one with a light bulb, not one of those fancy pants test lights with LED indicators). There's a somewhat helpful demo near the bottom of the page.

If you don't have a test light and want to use a resistor to charge or discharge your capacitor, use a ceramic encapsulated high power resistor like the one below (I'd recommend using a resistor rated for 10 watts or more and about 20 ohms). If you use a small resistor (i.e. a 1/4 or 1/2 watt) of too low value (less than 100 ohms), it may get hot enough to seriously burn your fingers.


Ruler values are in inches.

REASON:
The reason you may want to charge a cap slowly is to reduce the arcing involved with fast charging. This arcing won't hurt the cap but it might damage the chrome or gold finish on the connectors.


The above info should help find the correct size resistor. The site is full of useful car audio info

[ABQelantra]

good find

[04Elantra]

thanks guys appreciate it...my first experience with caps