4AWG big enough for 900w total?

[johnson 10+ year member]

I ran some 4ga welding cable and will use a fused distro block to split into two 8ga outputs. Component amp will do 2 x 150 and the woofer amp will be around 600-800w. Will 4ga be sufficient or should I take it out and buy 0ga wire?

Click to read more...

 

[gHOstFaCe 10+ year member]

Should be fine.

 

[XtrmAudioCncpts 10+ year member]

http://www.streetwires.com/products/wireGauge.cfm

 

[forbidden 10+ year member]

0 gauge, if your amp is struggling to get power, it is going to struggle to make power.

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

I've got 4/8 with a 700w sub amp and 380w component amp - both very under-rated. Works great - and has been for close to 3 years. With a 110A alt voltage is never under 14.

 

[johnson 10+ year member]

What kind of alt? I have a 95 Civic with 1.6L engine. I was about to do the big 3 but the stock wires look as big as 4ga, maybe a little bigger.

 

[M@nJo 10+ year member]

4ga will be fine.

its good to go with larger wire for head room though if you got the time/funds.

 

[lbridges 10+ year member]

http://www.streetwires.com/products/wireGauge.cfm

What he said ^^^. Any answer is meaningless without knowing the length of the cable as well as the power draw (for greater accuracy, don't forget to account for efficiency losses, i.e., class A, Class A/B, class D, etc.)

Alternately, look at http://www.bcae1.com

 

[forbidden 10+ year member]

My estimate comes with a solid 18 years of installation background. Good to see that a website link agrees with me.

 

[bikejunkie223 10+ year member]

current draw over the length of the cable is the thing. Bigger wire will do nothing to create headroom- the amp gains do that. You can run a 2 ft length of 1/0 to a 75w x 2 amp, and it will still have no headroom with the gains improperly set.

 

[candyman206 10+ year member]

What kind of alt? I have a 95 Civic with 1.6L engine. I was about to do the big 3 but the stock wires look as big as 4ga, maybe a little bigger.

The alt wire on that civic is like 8ga. The big wire you see going to the positive battery post, is the starter wire.

 

[johnson 10+ year member]

The amp is a DA D5600.2 and maybe a JBL BP600.1. Im still looking for a woofer amp. The run itself is maybe 13-15 feet. Car is a 95 Civic and the battery is right up against the firewall on the passenger side.

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

My estimate comes with a solid 18 years of installation background. Good to see that a website link agrees with me.

Of course they want you to go overkill on wiring. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/greedy.gif.5a53e6246569d7ab79867170f3b06629.gif

1/0 for 510w at 16'??? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

 

[bikejunkie223 10+ year member]

4 guage will be fine for those amps at that length, unless you want the engine bling of sewer pipe wire.

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

Any answer is meaningless without knowing the length of the cable as well as the power draw (for greater accuracy, don't forget to account for efficiency losses, i.e., class A, Class A/B, class D, etc.)

It's CAR audio - I think we can make a few reasonable assumptions.

1 - the wire's not going to be ridiculously long - 12-16'. Since we now know it's a Civic it may even be 10-12'. 2 - amp efficiencies aren't that different at high demand which is the only time they will even begin to tax the capacity of the power wire.

4 ga is more than enough for 900w. That is a fact.

Would 1/0 work? Of course, but it's a long way from a requirement.