Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
Self-discharge is only a problem near the rated voltage. Back the voltage off just 0.2v per cap and there's practically no discharge.
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Er, I'm pretty sure self-discharge is proportional to voltage, so you still have substantial leakage current at 2.4V. The car's parasitic drain is still higher though.
One useful application for capacitors is cars with longer wiring runs to the battery. The extra resistance of that wiring can reduce starter power even if the battery has plenty of capacity. You can wire a capacitor bank in parallel to the alternator output (which should be very close to the starter and has a nice fat terminal you can tap into) to avoid routing all the current through long wire runs.