Can I just use electrical wire instead of speaker wire?

[Joel114]

I have a bunch of 12 and 14 awg thhn or thwn lying around because I do electrical work and I am wondering if I can just use that from my amp to speakers because it will only be going 2 or 3 feet and I don't want to have to buy a 25 or 50 feet roll of 12 awg speaker wire. Also am is a 150 amp fuse enough for this 500w rms amp or should I get a 250 amp fuse?

Click to read more...

 

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

Yes.

 

[Joel114]

Yes.

For which question?

 

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

For which question?

The speaker wire. What size wire are you running to the amp?

 

[MattinMO]

Yes 

 

[Joel114]

The speaker wire. What size wire are you running to the amount?

12 awg for 2 to 3 feet

 

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

12 awg for 2 to 3 feet

Sorry, typo. What size power wire for the amp?

 

[Joel114]

Sorry, typo. What size power wire for the amp?

4 awg about 15 feet

you typed it right I just read it wrong

 

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

For 4 guage 150 amp fuse is fine. If it where 0 guage then you'd need a 250.

 

[Joel114]

For 4 guage 150 amp fuse is fine. If it where 0 guage then you'd need a 250.

Would it matter if I used a 250 amp fuse since it is only if something shorts out and I might plan on adding a second amp and running 1/0 to a splitter by both of them.

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

You fuse for the current capability of the wire. 150 is the most I would go with 4ga. Fuses are cheap if you upgrade your wiring sitch. 

 

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

You fuse for the current capability of the wire. 150 is the most I would go with 4ga. Fuses are cheap if you upgrade your wiring sitch. 

This. If/ when you upgrade to zero guage then upgrade the fuse. 

 

[2RZ-FE 10+ year member]

I thought you fuse for the total sum of the current draw? Like in the manuals it says what fuse size to use by the battery. Why would I fuse for 150 amps if my amps draw around 100 amps?