Nichicon Super Through Capacitor At Car Audio Installation

I never thought a capacitor could be look this beautiful. This Nichicon Super Through is a great looking capacitor with the black and gold color. It is far bigger in size compare to the others capacitor with the same rating. The Nichicon itself is well known capacitor for power supply application.

In this post, I will share how I improve my car head unit power supply by will using this capacitor.

Capacitor is one of the critical components in the electronic unit. Especially when using the capacitor in the power supply circuit for audio, it will smoothing the ripple at the voltage output. The result is better noise reduction, more pleasant sound quality, and lower background noise.

The quality of the capacitor is very important. Like what I have right now is this high quality Nichicon Super Through capacitor value 4.700uF rated voltage at 16 volt maximum.

I will using this capacitor in this Pioneer DEH-P8850MP head unit. I using this head unit for quite long time and satisfy with the sound quality. Hopefully upgrading the internal capacitor with this Nichicon Super Though will improve the sound better.

I have 2 option when installing the capacitor into the head unit. First I just put it on the cable harness that goes to the head unit. The positive polarity goes to the positive of the capacitor and the negative polarity goes to the negative capacitor as well. I have post this method on my new car here

The second option is installing this capacitor inside the head unit for more tidy look, but with the drawback to the space inside the head unit after this capacitor installation is cannot accommodate the CD mechanism anymore.

The Pioneer DEH-P8850MP that I will use for this upgrade can be operate with or without this CD mechanism. Since I am now always using the iPod for playback the music in car, so removing the CD mechanism will not impact to the others function of the head unit itself.

I start this upgrade by opening the top cover and removing the CD mechanism. The small Rubycon capacitor near the socket harness is the capacitor that will be replace.

To make this upgrade simple, I cut the existing capacitor leads in the middle, then give about half centimeter of the leads for installing the new one. The old capacitor is remove completely.

Now, I prepare the new capacitor to be install inside. Since the lead are too short, I should extend it with a very good quality cable.

I secure the pin with heat shrink tube for isolation.

I installing the new capacitor on the previous leads cutted.

I mention the polarity should be correct when install the capacitor, otherwise this new capacitor will immediately explode once the voltage coming in.

In this capacitor position, there will be no room left for the CD mechanism.

I put back this head unit into my car and start listening the same music that I am familiar with. The difference after this upgrade is noticeable better although it is not much.

With the engine run, I can hear the bass are now more pronounce and louder. The music presentation is more open. This might be a placebo effect, but the most important things is I having fun by doing this upgrade.

Disclaimer: Any statement and photos in this article are not allowed to copy or publish without written permission from the writer. Any injury or loss from following tips in this article is not under writer responsibility.