M35 Battery Capacitor

[tony200]

Just checking things around under the bonnet and noticed a capacitor pack sitting half assed down next to the battery - connected to the battery only.

Does anyone know what this is for as it doesnt look factory.

[KiwiRS4T]

My guess (and that's all it is) is that it was for firing up some high powered lights.

[zoomzoom]

Capacitors connected in parallel (you probably have a series-parallel setup with multiple caps) will help to smooth any voltage fluctuations when there is a high transient load on the battery.

When connected right at the battery, they can be used to help start the motor, especially in the cold. But those capacitors dont look big enough for that purpose. Can you read any values off them? You would need at least tens, preferably hundreds of farads (thats farads) to achieve that end.

[tony200]

There are 6 on these the same size.

No other wiring coming into or out of it.

One wire to positive terminal on battery, the other to the negative.

[zoomzoom]

I dont think its going to be doing much. They aren't super capacitors. but since they are 63v rated you could combine 6 in parallel to give a total of 60 millifarads. Thats a lot for low current electronics which may have transient loads, but still nothing compared to the current that is drawn from a car battery