/ News & Press / Video / PROTECT YOUR TWEETERS! Capacitors and WHY you need them
PROTECT YOUR TWEETERS! Capacitors and WHY you need them
WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en
00:00:00.030 when we install a set of component 00:00:02.41900:00:02.429 speakers into a custom car audio system 00:00:04.61000:00:04.620 it could be advantageous to run those 00:00:07.03900:00:07.049 speakers active so what does active mean 00:00:10.33900:00:10.349 that means we connect the speaker 00:00:12.29000:00:12.300 straight to the amplifier and use the 00:00:14.24000:00:14.250 crossovers on board the amplifier or in 00:00:16.79000:00:16.800 a digital signal processor to limit the 00:00:19.46000:00:19.470 frequencies going to the speakers now 00:00:22.09900:00:22.109 there is something that we need to be 00:00:23.17900:00:23.189 really cautious about so that we don't 00:00:24.95000:00:24.960 make a mistake 00:00:26.21000:00:26.220 the tweeters in our component set of 00:00:28.70000:00:28.710 speakers are sensitive if we ever make a 00:00:31.73000:00:31.740 mistake in setting the crossover values 00:00:33.92000:00:33.930 for the tweeters to low or if there's 00:00:36.35000:00:36.360 turn on pops or other system noise we 00:00:39.02000:00:39.030 can destroy our tweeters very quickly so 00:00:41.99000:00:42.000 how do we protect the tweeters and save 00:00:44.27000:00:44.280 ourselves the headache of having to 00:00:46.70000:00:46.710 replace them we can use these guys a 00:00:48.97900:00:48.989 capacitor but these come in all 00:00:50.93000:00:50.940 different sorts of ratings how do we 00:00:52.49000:00:52.500 size them how do we wire them in that my 00:00:55.22000:00:55.230 friends is coming up so how does this 00:00:57.04900:00:57.059 actually work what's the point of using 00:00:58.61000:00:58.620 the capacitor the capacitor increases 00:01:01.18900:01:01.199 resistance of a circuit at lower 00:01:03.65000:01:03.660 frequencies so at lower frequencies it's 00:01:06.35000:01:06.360 going to limit the output of the tweeter 00:01:08.60000:01:08.610 and protect that tweeter now there are 00:01:11.00000:01:11.010 different sized capacitors rated in 00:01:13.10000:01:13.110 micro farad's see that little you lookin 00:01:15.71000:01:15.720 symbol there that stands for micro so 00:01:18.20000:01:18.210 this is a 12 micro farad capacitor and 00:01:20.92900:01:20.939 this one here is 15 micro farad's 00:01:23.48000:01:23.490 there's all sorts of different sizes we 00:01:26.06000:01:26.070 need to determine what value of micro 00:01:28.31000:01:28.320 farad capacitor we need to use to 00:01:30.92000:01:30.930 determine this we're going to use this 00:01:32.39000:01:32.400 formula here C is the value of the 00:01:35.56900:01:35.579 capacitor F is going to be our crossover 00:01:37.85000:01:37.860 frequency and our H is our actual 00:01:40.06900:01:40.079 speaker impedance let's first start with 00:01:42.31900:01:42.329 finding F the frequency that we actually 00:01:44.63000:01:44.640 want to cut by using the capacitor we 00:01:47.48000:01:47.490 want F to be greater than the resonant 00:01:49.78900:01:49.799 frequency of the tweeter but we want F 00:01:52.06900:01:52.079 to be smaller than the actual crossover 00:01:54.74000:01:54.750 that we plan on using on our DSP or 00:01:57.13900:01:57.149 amplifier for a full video about 00:01:59.63000:01:59.640 determining the actual crossover value 00:02:01.81900:02:01.829 check out the link up in the corner of 00:02:03.20000:02:03.210 the screen so as an example let's say 00:02:05.06000:02:05.070 that we want our actual crossover value 00:02:07.13000:02:07.140 to be around 4500 Hertz and we don't 00:02:11.39000:02:11.400 know F yet let's figure out what the red 00:02:13.43000:02:13.440 and it frequency is for the resonant 00:02:15.23000:02:15.240 frequency we can check out the 00:02:16.31000:02:16.320 manufacturers manual and we can see 00:02:18.62000:02:18.630 right here 1,500 Hertz so we need a 00:02:21.41000:02:21.420 value for F that is between these two 00:02:24.26000:02:24.270 values and a good rule of thumb is to 00:02:26.39000:02:26.400 double the resonant frequency in this 00:02:28.97000:02:28.980 case it's going to be three thousand 00:02:30.86000:02:30.870 Hertz for F what's important to 00:02:32.66000:02:32.670 understand about these protection 00:02:34.22000:02:34.230 capacitors is if my actual crossover 00:02:37.25000:02:37.260 value on the DSP is something like forty 00:02:39.53000:02:39.540 five hundred Hertz the roll-off is going 00:02:41.96000:02:41.970 to look something like this so this 00:02:43.67000:02:43.680 capacitor is not even impacting the 00:02:45.65000:02:45.660 output of that speaker until you get all 00:02:48.14000:02:48.150 the way down here you're not even going 00:02:50.33000:02:50.340 to hear it in comparison to everything 00:02:52.28000:02:52.290 else I just want to point that out so 00:02:54.26000:02:54.270 you guys understand this is completely a 00:02:55.94000:02:55.950 fail-safe it is not something that we're 00:02:58.52000:02:58.530 actually using to control the actual 00:03:00.65000:03:00.660 listening crossover point so we've got 00:03:02.93000:03:02.940 our value here we can add it to our 00:03:04.52000:03:04.530 formula F is equal to 3000 now we need 00:03:07.61000:03:07.620 to find our H to find our H we can 00:03:10.07000:03:10.080 literally just measure the resistance 00:03:11.99000:03:12.000 across the voice coil of the speaker but 00:03:14.45000:03:14.460 good speaker manufacturers will not only 00:03:16.37000:03:16.380 list a nominal impedance they'll also 00:03:18.38000:03:18.390 list the actual DC resistance right here 00:03:21.11000:03:21.120 so in this case we're going to use three 00:03:22.79000:03:22.800 point five ohms so there we go our H 00:03:25.04000:03:25.050 equals three point five I plugged 00:03:26.69000:03:26.700 everything in I've got zero point one 00:03:28.37000:03:28.380 five nine divided by three thousand 00:03:30.50000:03:30.510 times three point five and that gives me 00:03:32.87000:03:32.880 this really small value point zero zero 00:03:35.36000:03:35.370 zero zero one five one four this value 00:03:38.27000:03:38.280 is really small and this is where some 00:03:39.74000:03:39.750 people get confused don't forget that 00:03:41.42000:03:41.430 the units for C capacitance are micro 00:03:44.36000:03:44.370 farad's so that means we move the 00:03:46.22000:03:46.230 decimal place six places one two three 00:03:48.89000:03:48.900 four five six it's going to be fifteen 00:03:50.75000:03:50.760 point one for micro farad's now you 00:03:52.94000:03:52.950 won't be able to find a fifteen point 00:03:54.50000:03:54.510 one for micro farad capacitor so we're 00:03:56.84000:03:56.850 just going to round down slightly and 00:03:59.60000:03:59.610 we're going to use fifteen micro farad's 00:04:02.15000:04:02.160 this guy right here 00:04:04.49000:04:04.500 as a side note there are charts like 00:04:06.35000:04:06.360 this online that you guys can look up 00:04:08.30000:04:08.310 but I recommend not relying on these 00:04:10.97000:04:10.980 charts just do the math because it's 00:04:12.71000:04:12.720 really not that complex but we can use 00:04:15.17000:04:15.180 the charts to just double check our 00:04:16.58000:04:16.590 answer if we go right here between 2000 00:04:19.03900:04:19.049 and 4000 so it's going to be between 00:04:20.87000:04:20.880 these two values for a 4 ohm nominal 00:04:23.77900:04:23.789 speaker that makes sense we had 15 which 00:04:26.15000:04:26.160 is between 00:04:27.23000:04:27.240 nine point nine four and nineteen point 00:04:29.02900:04:29.039 eight so now I can show you guys how we 00:04:30.92000:04:30.930 properly wire this capacitor into the 00:04:33.32000:04:33.330 circuit with the tweeter but real quick 00:04:35.15000:04:35.160 before we do that I want to thank 00:04:36.49900:04:36.509 monthly channel sponsor audio control 00:04:38.71900:04:38.729 Valentine's Day was just the other day 00:04:40.79000:04:40.800 and I don't know about you guys but one 00:04:42.29000:04:42.300 of my favorite things to do is give the 00:04:44.15000:04:44.160 gift of bass to my significant other a 00:04:46.61000:04:46.620 great way to simply add a subwoofer 00:04:48.52900:04:48.539 system to a vehicle is the audio control 00:04:50.90000:04:50.910 a cm - one point 300 this micro 00:04:54.49900:04:54.509 amplifier is compact but has 300 watts 00:04:57.71000:04:57.720 RMS of power better yet this amp has a 00:05:01.07000:05:01.080 line output converter built in this so 00:05:03.74000:05:03.750 you can simply tap into the stock car 00:05:05.71900:05:05.729 audio system speaker wires to get signal 00:05:08.02900:05:08.039 and the amp also has audio controls a 00:05:10.30900:05:10.319 Cubase bass restoration functionality 00:05:12.92000:05:12.930 next time you need to do a simple bass 00:05:14.83900:05:14.849 add-on definitely check out this 00:05:16.18900:05:16.199 amplifier more details linked down in 00:05:18.55900:05:18.569 the video description so now that I have 00:05:20.39000:05:20.400 my capacitor value I want to take the 00:05:22.46000:05:22.470 factory tweeter and I'm going to retain 00:05:24.55900:05:24.569 the tweeter harness the factory tweeter 00:05:27.11000:05:27.120 wiring is more than substantial for the 00:05:29.42000:05:29.430 low amount of power that's going to be 00:05:31.18900:05:31.199 going to my aftermarket tweeters so I'm 00:05:33.05000:05:33.060 just going to retain this harness for 00:05:35.08900:05:35.099 use in ease of connection after I remove 00:05:38.08900:05:38.099 all of that tape that was applied at the 00:05:39.77000:05:39.780 factory I have a little something like 00:05:41.24000:05:41.250 this and I've of course clipped the 00:05:42.89000:05:42.900 tweeter away my math from earlier 00:05:44.71900:05:44.729 determined I need a 15 micro farad 00:05:46.76000:05:46.770 capacitor so I have this guy right here 00:05:49.04000:05:49.050 it's electrolytic and it's non polarized 00:05:51.56000:05:51.570 or also known as bipolar this one is 00:05:54.40900:05:54.419 rated at a hundred volts which is 00:05:55.90900:05:55.919 effective to about 200 watts of power 00:05:59.05900:05:59.069 so more than substantial and I want to 00:06:01.30900:06:01.319 reiterate the point here for people that 00:06:03.23000:06:03.240 will say oh you should use a 00:06:04.49000:06:04.500 polypropylene capacitor that would make 00:06:07.37000:06:07.380 sense if this was actually the crossover 00:06:10.15900:06:10.169 capacitor but it's not this is just a 00:06:12.32000:06:12.330 failsafe capacitor in the event that my 00:06:15.17000:06:15.180 actual crossover fails now you'll notice 00:06:17.99000:06:18.000 I clip the leads on the capacitor a 00:06:19.85000:06:19.860 little bit shorter just for better wire 00:06:21.43900:06:21.449 management and I'm now stripping the 00:06:23.02900:06:23.039 wires in preparation for soldering 00:06:24.98000:06:24.990 everything together so here I am 00:06:26.77900:06:26.789 soldering the capacitor to the positive 00:06:28.87900:06:28.889 speaker wire and always make sure that 00:06:30.98000:06:30.990 you apply a strip of heat shrink to the 00:06:33.46900:06:33.479 wire before you do this joining process 00:06:35.75000:06:35.760 I can't even tell you guys how many 00:06:37.31000:06:37.320 times I've forgotten that 00:06:38.57000:06:38.580 so I'm shrinking this down now use 00:06:40.43900:06:40.449 heat gun and earlier what I actually did 00:06:42.68900:06:42.699 is I clipped the positive wire on the 00:06:45.45000:06:45.460 speaker leads to the tweeter to be much 00:06:47.30900:06:47.319 more short that way it would match up 00:06:49.70900:06:49.719 with where the negative wire is you can 00:06:52.07900:06:52.089 see that here once everything is 00:06:53.57900:06:53.589 soldered and heat shrink together 00:06:55.32000:06:55.330 everything is nice and the same length 00:06:57.80900:06:57.819 for an added bit of protection I'm going 00:06:59.93900:06:59.949 to take this large piece of heat shrink 00:07:01.52900:07:01.539 here and add it over the entire assembly 00:07:04.76900:07:04.779 and don't forget that I have links to 00:07:06.45000:07:06.460 all of the different items that I'm 00:07:07.82900:07:07.839 using and down in the video description 00:07:09.62900:07:09.639 to finalize this wire harness protect 00:07:12.26900:07:12.279 the wiring and make it so that the wires 00:07:14.12900:07:14.139 don't vibrate against any metal surfaces 00:07:16.70900:07:16.719 I'm using this soft tape from JK tapes I 00:07:20.10000:07:20.110 always like to take a little bit of the 00:07:21.60000:07:21.610 tape and fold it over on itself and 00:07:23.64000:07:23.650 leave a little tab that way if I ever do 00:07:25.70900:07:25.719 need to unwrap this tape it's much 00:07:27.48000:07:27.490 easier to do so with the harness 00:07:29.67000:07:29.680 completed and the tweeter now protected 00:07:31.70900:07:31.719 with this capacitor I can install the 00:07:33.57000:07:33.580 full assembly back into the vehicle and 00:07:36.05900:07:36.069 install the tweeter and here they are as 00:07:38.33900:07:38.349 a quick side note if you'd like to see 00:07:39.65900:07:39.669 the full fabrication process for these 00:07:41.63900:07:41.649 tweeters in the sale panel you can check 00:07:43.35000:07:43.360 out the other video on my channel so 00:07:45.36000:07:45.370 here on this channel we learn how to 00:07:46.86000:07:46.870 master car audio and design build and 00:07:49.07900:07:49.089 install our dream car audio systems if 00:07:51.51000:07:51.520 you guys enjoyed this video you might 00:07:52.98000:07:52.990 enjoy some of my others check them out 00:07:54.98900:07:54.999 here on screen a special thanks to audio 00:07:57.20900:07:57.219 control for being a sponsor along with 00:07:58.80000:07:58.810 Bernard John Bryan Ally Jeremy Doug 00:08:00.89900:08:00.909 Steve Emmanuel and Jerry and the rest of 00:08:02.73000:08:02.740 the patreon Membership team a big thanks 00:08:04.35000:08:04.360 to all those guys for making these 00:08:06.17900:08:06.189 videos possible thank you guys for 00:08:08.51900:08:08.529 watching
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