Author Topic: amp wiring gauge questions.  (Read 3566 times)

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Offline rollaboy

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amp wiring gauge questions.
« on: Sep 5, 2004, 03:43AM »
hey guys.

i have 8gauge cable connecting my amp (4ch 800w) to my battery in the engine bay, fuse is next to the battery.

im wanting to put in another amp (the same kind) in now, and im wondering, should i buy another 8gauge cable and run it down the car with another fuse, or should i buy 4gauge cable and run that down to a distribution block in the boot???

which is the cheepest option do u think? 4gauge cable is too farkin expensive!!! but is it worth it?
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Offline Kranzy

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #1 on: Sep 5, 2004, 08:05AM »
Im my car at the moment im running 4 gauge wire to the boot. Its only running a mono-block amp at the moment so i dont need to worry about splitting the cable but when i do i just by a 4 gauge to 8 gauge connecting block and that will split the signal no problems. Depending on the amps your running you might even get away with splitting the 8 guage...but yeah if it was me id probably run the 4 gauge and then split it.

Question: If your putting in another amp are you going to have to run rca leads and all that again?...if so my option would be go out and buy a 4gauge wiring kit. Mine set me back about 70bucks and i got everything i needed.
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Browny_r31

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #2 on: Sep 5, 2004, 05:09PM »
when puttign in tow amps u dont need to run rca to the head. u simply feed it by getting a connector plug that goes from your first amp to the second gets all the signals u need.


its best to run two separate lines with their own fuses cause then if a fuse goes u know exactly which amp made the fuse jump. If u go single line and the fuse blows then u got no idea which amp make the fuse blow.

Offline Kranzy

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #3 on: Sep 5, 2004, 06:56PM »
when puttign in tow amps u dont need to run rca to the head. u simply feed it by getting a connector plug that goes from your first amp to the second gets all the signals u need.

Only if you want the same signal. If his run an amp for woofers at the moment and wants to run fronts or rears or both hes gonna need to run more rca's.
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Offline BEEFY_1600

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #4 on: Sep 5, 2004, 10:00PM »
Browny you got no idea  ??? Id hate to see or listen to one of your installs

How many rcas you run depends on how many pre outs you have on your headunit. And also how many amps and if your running 4 or 2 speakers and subs or not.

And with your power cable id run 4awg power cable with a fuse distribution block then use your 8awg that you originally had  from your distribution block to your amps and have separate ground to each amp and making sure that the earth wire is as short as possible.

 Don't forget to also have a fuse inline with in 30cm of your battery on your 4awg ;D

Offline ZEXTCY

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #5 on: Sep 5, 2004, 10:17PM »
i'm with beefy on this one
definately run 4awg in your car and use the 8awg from a fuse distribution block
if one of your amps short it will blow the fuse in the distribution block or amp itself so you will definately know which one is playin up

Last thing you want to do is overload the wires comin from the battery as this will result in melt down and most possibly render your car undriveable after all over

Definately make sure you have a fuse within 18 inches from the battery as beefy stated also
If there is a short between the battery and the boot this fuse will pop and stop an electrical fire from happening which will result in catastrophy on your behalf

As for RCA's if you don't want to run another set of RCA's to boot you could buy something like the Coustic XM-3 which has front and rear inputs that can be adjusted to what frequencies you would like to go to each speaker and also has a subwoofer output
If you only have 1 RCA lead running at moment that would be fine to as the XM-3 can bridge the one input to run the 3 outputs but you would not be able to fade the front and rear stages
« Last Edit: Sep 5, 2004, 10:51PM by ZEXTCY »
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Offline weasel

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #6 on: Sep 5, 2004, 10:30PM »
Don't forget to also have a fuse inline with in 30cm of your battery on your 4awg ;D

Definately make sure you have a fuse within 18 inches from the battery as beefy stated also
If there is a short between the battery and the boot this fuse will pop and stop an electrical fire from happening which will result in catastrophy on your behalf

A circuit breaker is the other option cause this way if it 'blows' you only have to flick a switch instead of buying a new fuse, it's saved me a few bucks and a few trips to dicky smiths for fuses

and also i agree with beef and zextcy on the rca thing i mean how do you fade between front back left right and subs in your car browny? do you pop your boot and adjust your amps??

i myself only have two sets of rca from my H/U and have my speakers running off one set and my subs off the other so i can fade between speakers and sub and left to right but i can't do front to back which i think is the least important of the three
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Browny_r31

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #7 on: Sep 7, 2004, 06:22PM »
Quote
Browny you got no idea  Huh Id hate to see or listen to one of your installs

How many rcas you run depends on how many pre outs you have on your headunit

actually if u heard my system i think ud go hmm alright not too bad. I have the dual rca output on the back of my headunit so uf cause im gonan have dual rca outputs.

actually if u run twin lines from the battery to each amp it is much better. Trust me it is... the old man is an electrician so my car is wired hard. Also beefy not sure but i though it was 20cms for a 4awg line. But now that u said 30 im not ure which one is right

Offline BEEFY_1600

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #8 on: Sep 7, 2004, 08:21PM »
Well if It's so good to run separate lines to each amp how come $40,000 SQ systems run single 0AWG into a fused distribution block ? Then spit it in to each amp? I think they might know more about car audio then your dad the electrician. What kind of electrical work does he do ?

Offline rollaboy

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #9 on: Sep 7, 2004, 11:38PM »
wow, getting a bit hot in the thread!  :o

im actually splitting the single RCA's (1 white, 1 red) into 4 channels already for the first amp, and im gona have to split those into 8 channels if i want to do this second installation!!!

i know this is getting to far fetched, and im probably gona have to redesign my entire stereo if i want this second amp to be put it.
i dunno, i have to think about this whole stereo again.


thanks mutchly for all ur replies, but i would still like to hear which is the better option on teh wiring, teh 4gauge or the 8gauge?
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Offline KNG P1N

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #10 on: Sep 8, 2004, 09:54AM »
Quote
actually if u run twin lines from the battery to each amp it is much better.
i just asked a mate who is an auto sparky, thats a load of crap......its pointless
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Offline Tim-E

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #11 on: Sep 8, 2004, 01:07PM »
i was faced with exactly the same issue when i added a second amp to my system. I bought 2 metres of 4 gauge which goes just into the cabin and is then split using a distro block into two 8 gauge (i wanted it to be split close to my 4 channel under the passenger seat, as the other amp thats in the boot is a POS that is just running the rear speakers crossed over very high).

And go to Jaycar, 4 gauge power wire is only $6 or $7 per metre  :)
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Offline vector

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #12 on: Sep 8, 2004, 09:52PM »
if you wrap 8 guage stuff around another lenght of 8 stuff then solder it at the end you should be right but why wouldnt you just go a single 4 for a couple more dollars? youll get the same result from whatever way you do it
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ENDLSS

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #13 on: Sep 14, 2004, 02:11AM »
1/ get new headunit with 2 rca outs, NOW!  ;D
2/ run 4g to a fused distribution block. inline fuse within 30cm of the battery.
3 all gound wires should be grounded at the same point. u can use a non-fused distribution block backwards to achieve this the neatest possible way ( 2-1 instead of1-2 and one wire to the ground point)
4/ pick a very good ground point, i usualy undo a seat bolt and put it there.

mattius i do not know you but seriously WTF? learn some professional instalation techniques before quating to other people, especially about stuff that may burn down there car  ???

and vector? thats is a very dodgy 4g cable u have there.

cheers and g-luck

P.S the jaycar power wire is very inexpensive cable that does the goods, much like the rest of their stuff. but u still get ewhat you pay for. i use stinger cableing and accessories exclusivly just because i want to. in a small setup or with no huge amps and multiple speakers there isn't a need to spend 400 to wire your car for audio. but maek sure you rca leads are good quality and that they are run down the opposite side of you car to the power cables,
cheers mitch

Offline weasel

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #14 on: Sep 14, 2004, 08:01PM »
mattius i do not know you but seriously WTF? learn some professional instalation techniques before quating to other people, especially about stuff that may burn down there car ???

and vector? thats is a very dodgy 4g cable u have there.

umm mate what advice did mattius give that would burn down someones car?  he's only got one post in this thread and he points out the fact that its a waste of time to run twin power leads to your boot

and if vector has two 8awg wrapped around each other (which i don't think he does) it's his choice and it does the job

also jaycar stuff is exactly the same as the shit they sell at car audio places and jb hifi, jaycar just don't mark up there pricese as much
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Browny_r31

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #15 on: Sep 14, 2004, 08:37PM »
i think he is referring to the waste of time runnign two cables remark. It isnt a waste of time running twin cables. If u blow a fuse then u will be thanking u have run two cables (if u run two amps). Two lines two sets of fuses.... much much safer. id tell your auto electrician guy to go back to tafe and learn abit more.

ENDLSS

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #16 on: Sep 14, 2004, 09:21PM »
i apolagise to mattius, that remark was aimed at browny i beleive. and for the jaycar equipment please read the end of that paragraph.
i beleive everyone is here to help this guy, each with varying skill levels. and if i am not 100% sure on something i will either reply saying this or not reply at all.
thankyou

BROWNY, do you know what a distribution block is? it has seperate fuses for each cable! thus the same idea, less labour and less costs! think about, its also much neiter in appearance and easy for instalation.

cheers, mitch

Offline weasel

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #17 on: Sep 14, 2004, 11:32PM »
i believe browny's train of thought is stemming from a trouble shooting POV i.e. if something happens to go wrong it'll be easier to determine what went wrong if you have the amps wired individually then all in one

but if you have a fused distribution block in the boot it'll do exactly the same job if one amp shorts out (or pulls too many amps) the corresponding fuse will blow

if the main fuse blows then you've got a big problem, cause your two (or more) fuses in your boot should be rated lower than your main fuse up front, say have two 60amp fuses in the rear and a 100amp up front so that the main power cable can handle full power and after the distribution block you only need enough power to run each amp

also endlss i was actually agreeing with you that jaycar are good ;)
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Offline BEEFY_1600

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #18 on: Sep 14, 2004, 11:42PM »
Browny may need this sort of set up due to his dodgy installs that keep blowing fuses? ::) ;D

A good install you shouldnt have to worrie about fuses. ;D

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #19 on: Sep 14, 2004, 11:54PM »
weasel is right.

beefy just cause the install is good doesnt mean something cant go wrong with it. I have heard of power surges doing when an alternator goes giving around 18watts.... enough to do significant damage. Im sure he was thanking he had almighty fusing.


endlss: i didnt see u say anything about a distribution block until i looked a second time sorry.
« Last Edit: Sep 14, 2004, 11:56PM by BROWNY »

ENDLSS

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #20 on: Sep 14, 2004, 11:58PM »
oh ok, sorry weasel. i actually dont have a high regard for jb HiFi, guess that must just be me.  :-[     sorry champ.
put it this way. everyone said distribution block, but one person. one person who got shown maybe 5-6 times? do what you will, but id go majority over anything else.
cheers

Offline weasel

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #21 on: Sep 15, 2004, 12:07AM »
A good install you shouldnt have to worrie about fuses. ;D

haha this is true the only fuses i have on my setup are the ones that came on my amps :P

i actually have a 100amp circuit breaker as my main 'fuse' in the engine bay and i am so glad i do as the last few weeks i have triggered the breaker about 10 times :P just from running my stereo too hard :) (my battery is on it's way out and i'm draining that and pulling power straight from the alternator and it just can't keep up) so because i have the circuit breaker i don't have to buy any fuses anymore :) :) :)
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Browny_r31

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Re: amp wiring gauge questions.
« Reply #22 on: Sep 15, 2004, 01:14PM »
thats not a bad idea weasel. a circuit breaker instead of a fuse. That means when it trips u just have to switch it back on again. Nice idea......might do that with my next car then