BlindAmbition
Full Access Member
I've just finished up making a supercap starting bank for my truck. It's charging now, I'll post results in a couple hours on how it works.
Here is a thread with some info - https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1475925-diy-experiment-ultra-capacitor-bank.html
I ordered some 3000 farad capacitors from Electronics Goldmine to do this.
https://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/products.asp?dept=1028
Hard part was connecting them in series since I did not opt to buy new units with bolt on terminals because they are almost $90/ea after shipping and taxes. I used some silver epoxy to do the deed since I cannot weld aluminum.
The basic idea is the supercap can discharge massive amounts of current in an extremely short period of time, such as starting a diesel. It prevents shock loading the battery which helps extend battery life.
I will wire mine in parallel to a frame mounted battery. I'll have a second battery for all my accessories, glow plugs, and an amp if I ever add one to the truck.
This thread is for info mainly, just something I've wanted to mess around with. I'm sure there are better ways to do what I'm doing.
Since our trucks need glow plugs I could not figure out a way to isolate the caps for just starting.
Also, I'll have Lincoln Mark VIII fan that has an inrush current of 70A or so. I've read of electrical systems having issues with such a hard draw; a supercap negates all effects of that.
Here is a thread with some info - https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1475925-diy-experiment-ultra-capacitor-bank.html
I ordered some 3000 farad capacitors from Electronics Goldmine to do this.
https://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/products.asp?dept=1028
Hard part was connecting them in series since I did not opt to buy new units with bolt on terminals because they are almost $90/ea after shipping and taxes. I used some silver epoxy to do the deed since I cannot weld aluminum.
The basic idea is the supercap can discharge massive amounts of current in an extremely short period of time, such as starting a diesel. It prevents shock loading the battery which helps extend battery life.
I will wire mine in parallel to a frame mounted battery. I'll have a second battery for all my accessories, glow plugs, and an amp if I ever add one to the truck.
This thread is for info mainly, just something I've wanted to mess around with. I'm sure there are better ways to do what I'm doing.
Since our trucks need glow plugs I could not figure out a way to isolate the caps for just starting.
Also, I'll have Lincoln Mark VIII fan that has an inrush current of 70A or so. I've read of electrical systems having issues with such a hard draw; a supercap negates all effects of that.