Battery, Alternator, and amplifier wiring

[ssande]

I have a custom vehicle that I am installing a new system on and have a question regarding the main power feed. For simplicity, lets say the alternators are in the front, amplifiers in the middle of the vehicle, and the batteries in the rear. I am using 1/0 gage wire for the power feeds and grounds.

My question is, do I run the alternator charge lines from the front to the rear where the batteries are, or do I add a junction in the middle and have the batteries and alternators feed the amps from the junction? This would cut down the distance of the wire runs considerably, but I am concerned about potential alternator noise.

Some details:

Broken into two electrical systems each with:

250 amp alternator

Deep cycle battery

Powering a Crunch 4,000 watt and two 3,000 watt mono amplifiers (I am pushing the upper end of what the alternators will produce continuously).

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[Silverado SS 10+ year member]

Just wondering how big is that deep cycle? You do realize you will be pushing "10000" watts right

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

one deep cycle in front and about 5x in the rear?

 

[SounDrive Pro Seller]

This sounds like a disaster waiting to happen... Why are there two seperate electrical systems? And what kind of amps?

 

[ssande]

Sorry, I tried to keep the details simplistic as this is not a simple project and there are many trade-offs, design considerations, and limitations. The vehicle is a motorized bar that seats 8 people. Driven hydrostatically and the engine runs most of the time as a generator to power the sound system and lights at night. There are reasons for the two separate electrical systems because of the systems they power.

The amplifiers are Crunch V-Drive which are not RMS rated. For a more real world view the 4,000 watt amplifier has two 40 amp fuses and the two 3,000 watt amplifiers each have two 70 amp fuses. I am underdriving the 3,000 watt amplifiers a bit by only using a 4 ohm load. I agree though - right at the limit and perhaps somewhat past it . Having two electrical systems also allows me to turn off 1/2 the sound system and let that battery recover via the alternator.

So this takes me back to my original question. Should I run the alternator charge lines all the way to the batteries, or junction them halfway between where the amplifier runs are? See below for a better illustration of what I am aksing.

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