110A Total..Do I need to upgrade to 1/0 Guage Wires?

[lionel2 10+ year member]

I have 2 amps..a mono fuse rating 60A and a 4 channel 50A...total of 110A..i have 4 guage wires do i need to upgrade to 1/0 guage wires??

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[dkguitarist 5,000+ posts]

no.

but it will be preferred that you do, in case you wanna upgrade in the future, and save yourself the hassle of removing wire, then re-running wire. just do it once and get it over with.

but 4 gauge will be fine.

 

[spudracer326 10+ year member]

no 4gauge if i remember is ok to 130A....someone correct me if im wrong...

(was said is in a thread yesterday, just dont remember exactly...could be 140??)

 

[dkguitarist 5,000+ posts]

no 4gauge if i remember is ok to 130A....someone correct me if im wrong...

(was said is in a thread yesterday, just dont remember exactly...could be 140??)

i was always told it was 150A.

then i hear 120A.

so now i'm not even sure...//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

 

[lionel2 10+ year member]

yeah me too..i thought it was 150A for 4 guage then someone said 120A i dunno...i thought it was 150A 4 guage 250 for 1/0 guage and like 60 or 80 for 8 Guage

 

[djmadfx 10+ year member]

I've read (on this forum) 150a for 4 guage and 300a for 1/0. You should definitely be fine with 110a on 4 guage.

 

[headless 10+ year member]

The current ratings are based on length of wire; you'll see different numbers because different places assume different lengths of wire. Some people say the rating for 10 foot of wire, others say 15, others say 25ft...etc.

4ga can handle alot of current without melting for example, but you'll find some voltage loss under heavy loads (above 120a ) starts to be evident @ around 15foot of cable run. I wouldn't worry about it when your MAX is 110a...you won't hit that except in bursts anyway and 4ga can handle bursts way higher than even 120a. As said above, however, if you intend to upgrade in the future i'd go with larger wire from the get-go to save you having to re-run and pay for new wire.

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

The current ratings are based on length of wire; you'll see different numbers because different places assume different lengths of wire. Some people say the rating for 10 foot of wire, others say 15, others say 25ft...etc.4ga can handle alot of current without melting for example, but you'll find some voltage loss under heavy loads (above 120a ) starts to be evident @ around 15foot of cable run.

Yup - at 15' 4 ga drops 1/2v at 131A, so at 20' you don't want to run over 100A, at 10' you can safely run up to 190A.

 

[dkguitarist 5,000+ posts]

Yup - at 15' 4 ga drops 1/2v at 131A, so at 20' you don't want to run over 100A, at 10' you can safely run up to 190A.

wow. so ya do learn something new everyday. lol. i have probly just over 10 ft of 4 gauge w/200A breaker..bout to upgrade to 1/0 tho!! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/naughty.gif.94359f346c0f1259df8038d60b41863e.gif :naughty:

 

[headless 10+ year member]

wow. so ya do learn something new everyday. lol. i have probly just over 10 ft of 4 gauge w/200A breaker..bout to upgrade to 1/0 tho!! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/naughty.gif.94359f346c0f1259df8038d60b41863e.gif :naughty:

Did you ever try metering voltage at your main battery and also at the rear @ your amps under load? You can see the voltage drop with any amp meter -- it'd be large enough to be noticed on even a cheapo DVM.

 

[dkguitarist 5,000+ posts]

Did you ever try metering voltage at your main battery and also at the rear @ your amps under load? You can see the voltage drop with any amp meter -- it'd be large enough to be noticed on even a cheapo DVM.

nah, i never tried that. but i'm waiting on my amp to come back from kbaudio, so i can only test my battery at idle right now.

but willl deff check that out tho. good to kno. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/cool.gif.3bcaf8f141236c00f8044d07150e34f7.gif

 

[lionel2 10+ year member]

I have a volt meter on my car..it dont drop when i hit hard..stays at 14.4V...but i have a problem i have 110A of total fuse ratings..do i put a 100A fuse under the hood??

 

[MustangGT25YRS 10+ year member]

no.
but it will be preferred that you do, in case you wanna upgrade in the future, and save yourself the hassle of removing wire, then re-running wire. just do it once and get it over with.

but 4 gauge will be fine.

*******^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^********

X'S/2 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif .In the the "Long Run".......Believe Me!!!You'll Thank YourSelf that you Did.

I went from 4/Ga. to 2/Ga. to Finally ~1/0/Welding Cable.Pain In the Butt That was in My 'Stang /:crazy: //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/furious.gif.fc81ca146dbff91fede3ed290dbc4f4c.gif .All The Best with your System //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif .

Kind Regards,

 

[Megalomaniac 5,000+ posts]

I plannin on runnin 1/0 in my car so i wont have to buy new wire in future. is saves $ in long run. just make sure ur fused

 

[lionel2 10+ year member]

I had to go with 4 guage cause my amp can only handle 4 guage...could have gotton a reducer thing or something..but sounded like a hassle...but now i have to install another amp..sorry i didnt go with 1/0..dude said 4 gauge is most effective and 1/0 is overkill..i dunno..bigger the better..plus you lose less power with bigger wires wattage wise...but takes more power from battery and alt i believe..oh well...but i dont have massive amps..just a 1700w mono running at 500x1@4ohm for my subs and will be running a 4 channel that does abou 36x4@4ohm for my doors and dash speakers