Anybody have opinions on wiring diagram?

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

um if it takes 800A to blow a 400A fuse... it would be labeled 800A. In car audio applications most fusing is fast blow (so you get the benefit your supposed to get from a fuse) Going to a slow blow fuse (one that acts the way Helo is talking) defeats the whole purpose of fusing. Amplifiers are sensitive, you only need to push them a little more then intended and you chance blowing a power transistor. Take your total wattage your system can produce RMS then divide that number by 14 to figure out your amperage. Then add a few to give your self a small cushion and to take into account amp efficiency's. Ex. XX-Colossus =3200W 3200W / 14V = 228.6A (minimum) Why do some many people think the chassis is a bad place to ground? so long as you properly prep the area your grounding to in the back and the area your grounding to in the front (like when you do the big three) then the chassis can handle a MUCH larger amount of juice then the wire you run. It s a bunch of big sheets of metal. there is NO DIFFERENCE electronically between having a solid piece of wire and putting both ends to chassis. A connection is a connection, so long as there isn't resistance being added somehow, or insufficient material to handle the load. My two cents. Oh yeah... You also have 2 200A fuses in series going to your back batteries which does NOTHING for you. Drop one of them. Also, your concerned about having to replace fuses... Why not go to circuit breakers. Like these. Good luck

it's always importan to fuse at each battery and circuit breakers can always fail and you shouldn't be poping breakers or fuses in the first place.

 

[xpl0it 10+ year member]

My amplififier was rated at 3800 watts at 13v from Team Toxic Bass. I heard it was good to fuse after the first battery and fuse before the second battery. Darkfox, what do you think of the HC800? Should I keep it, or sell it? I already own it and it's already installed in my car, so that's not an issue, and I would rather keep it if it does ANY BENEFIT at all, anything. If it more harm than good I'll ditch it, but if it's doing something good, I'd rather just keep it. Also, why is grounding to the first battery much better than the chassis, my battery under my hood is dual 1/0 grounded to my chassis, so wouldn't grounding to the metal under my carpet in my trunk be literally the same?

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

^^^^Circuit breakers have a MUCH worse potential for your vehicle than help/convienence(think welded link). I'd stay away from them.

Proper fusing for the wire's capacity is the best thing you can do. I'd imagine a 200A fuse going during a real good burp.

You didn't fuse between the batteries either.

I've heard Chassis ground, especially on unibody cars, is only around a 4ga equivilant. Frame grounding FTW.

sell the 800, btw

 

[xpl0it 10+ year member]

If I ground to my frame, if the wire is 4-8 feet long (very rough estimate, haven't looked) will that matter? I just want to know why I should sell the 800. To me it seems logical to keep it if it's adding more reserve cap and giving me a better amperage bank?

 

[DarkFox 10+ year member]

Thats what I am saying.. grounding to the chassis is just as good so long as surface is prepped well. How much is it per foot of zero guage. say it takes you 18 feet to go from the front bat to the back bat. X 2 is 36FT. Say you went with the nice kicker stuff at $5.00 a foot that = $180.00 in zero gauge when you could have just grounded to chassis... Now about those bats you got in the back... I dont know much about those models but in general I would only run identical batteries without a battery isolator. Also.. you have two of the same size fuse in the same line of cable. Theres no porpus for that. Take that second fuse and eithere get rid of it or fuse the patch between your two rear batteries. (I would just ditch it.)

 

[xpl0it 10+ year member]

Where on a 1997 explorer sport would I have access to the frame? Sorry for this plethora of questions, but I'm putting a good penny in this system and don't want any holdbacks. I want to take advantage of every dime I spend.

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

If I ground to my frame, if the wire is 4-8 feet long (very rough estimate, haven't looked) will that matter? I just want to know why I should sell the 800. To me it seems logical to keep it if it's adding more reserve cap and giving me a better amperage bank?

oops. are you competing in dbDrag or something?

 

[DarkFox 10+ year member]

the chassis uses a bunch of 1/4 inch or 1/2 bolts to go to the frame. metal chassis, to metal bolts, to metal frame. Electronically its all one big conductor. your best bet though is to find one of the screw that go through the chassis to the frame, unscrew it, clean off all the paint/dirt, then wipe it down with some strong non residue leaving cleaners and ground there with a really broad (lots of surface area) ring terminal.

 

[xpl0it 10+ year member]

I just don't wnat my voltage to drop. Yeserday I ran two 9500s of my colossus (2000 watt load, not the full tilt) and my voltage dropped into the red zone after I turned the volume up to deafening levels. My amp's voltage protect light went on and the amp shut off for a bit. Also, my overload light flashes constantly, but Tuan from Team Toxic Bass said that happens when the voltage is low. I do not want my amp seeing anything under 13.8v. I want it to hang around 14v or higher. If I have to continue spending money for this to happen, I will.

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

My amplififier was rated at 3800 watts at 13v from Team Toxic Bass. I heard it was good to fuse after the first battery and fuse before the second battery. Darkfox, what do you think of the HC800? Should I keep it, or sell it? I already own it and it's already installed in my car, so that's not an issue, and I would rather keep it if it does ANY BENEFIT at all, anything. If it more harm than good I'll ditch it, but if it's doing something good, I'd rather just keep it. Also, why is grounding to the first battery much better than the chassis, my battery under my hood is dual 1/0 grounded to my chassis, so wouldn't grounding to the metal under my carpet in my trunk be literally the same?

not nessecarily. now some cars the chasis is connected to the frame using rubber gromets. also from what i read the current doesn't flow through metal panels evenly, it's kinda filtered like

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

Thats what I am saying.. grounding to the chassis is just as good so long as surface is prepped well. How much is it per foot of zero guage. say it takes you 18 feet to go from the front bat to the back bat. X 2 is 36FT. Say you went with the nice kicker stuff at $5.00 a foot that = $180.00 in zero gauge when you could have just grounded to chassis... Now about those bats you got in the back... I dont know much about those models but in general I would only run identical batteries without a battery isolator. Also.. you have two of the same size fuse in the same line of cable. Theres no porpus for that. Take that second fuse and eithere get rid of it or fuse the patch between your two rear batteries. (I would just ditch it.)

well if you are only gonna run 1 fuse on 2 batteries i hope you don't get a short near the unfused battery. also no cable is worth $5 a foot

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

I just don't wnat my voltage to drop. Yeserday I ran two 9500s of my colossus (2000 watt load, not the full tilt) and my voltage dropped into the red zone after I turned the volume up to deafening levels. My amp's voltage protect light went on and the amp shut off for a bit. Also, my overload light flashes constantly, but Tuan from Team Toxic Bass said that happens when the voltage is low. I do not want my amp seeing anything under 13.8v. I want it to hang around 14v or higher. If I have to continue spending money for this to happen, I will.

batteries need to be charged so that is more strain on your alternator

 

[xpl0it 10+ year member]

Ok ok, sooo. Say I do throw the HC800 out of the picture. What should I do to the HC2400? Fuse 200 amps before and 300 amps after to the colossus? On all these pics I see of multiple batt installs, I never see fuseholders in between batteries.

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

Thats what I am saying.. grounding to the chassis is just as good so long as surface is prepped well. How much is it per foot of zero guage. say it takes you 18 feet to go from the front bat to the back bat. X 2 is 36FT. Say you went with the nice kicker stuff at $5.00 a foot that = $180.00 in zero gauge when you could have just grounded to chassis... Now about those bats you got in the back... I dont know much about those models but in general I would only run identical batteries without a battery isolator. Also.. you have two of the same size fuse in the same line of cable. Theres no porpus for that. Take that second fuse and eithere get rid of it or fuse the patch between your two rear batteries. (I would just ditch it.)

1. NEVER pay retail for ANY WIRE!

2. If you don't about kinetiks, go find out first.

3. You can run the same TYPE of batteries with no cross drain. An isolator makes you choose which batt/batts to use with car on or off. He could use 1 for a starting battery, I guess. Just another piece of resistance for a competitor though.

4. The two fuses are to PROTECT in case of a disconnect from either side between the batteries. At proper fusing, you DO need one at each end.

 

[DarkFox 10+ year member]

4.99 a foot. and if you tried it you would love it. Aslo, with the fusing, if you look at his diagram, hes already got the third battery(the second one in tha back) unfused. Thats why I said, he should either move it over or get rid of it. If it were me I would moun the two batteries side by side so the piece of cable would be like 6 inches long, and they would both be held in by a wooden enclosure. If they were gonna have any distance between them, then yes I would fuse it.