different 12+/ground gauge

[robertoyoung08 10+ year member]

i have an amp that im using 4 gauge to give it power and 2 gauge to ground it. it blows fuses at loud volumes, could the difference in gauge wiring be a problem?

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[Boomsday 10+ year member]

sames size wire, turn the gain down, and make sure ground is solid, should fix ur problem

 

[gckless 5,000+ posts]

It's fine to have a larger ground. What size fuses are you using?

 

[-01limited- 10+ year member]

Yeah, 2nd on if you are gonna use larger wire on one, it should always be the ground. Never the other way around.

 

[robertoyoung08 10+ year member]

sames size wire, turn the gain down, and make sure ground is solid, should fix ur problem

Ill try to turn the gain down a bit.

It's fine to have a larger ground. What size fuses are you using?

Thanks for reassuring me. Fuse is my next question actually. I'm using 100 amp agu. Should I switch to anl? Someone told me 100 for agu was too much and they cant handle that much power.

Yeah, 2nd on if you are gonna use larger wire on one, it should always be the ground. Never the other way around.

Thanks 01. I only had spare 2 gauge so threw it in there.

One more piece of info- when fuses blow and I change them immediately I notice the power wire is a bit warm. Any correlation?

 

[av83 10+ year member]

Ill try to turn the gain down a bit.


Thanks for reassuring me. Fuse is my next question actually. I'm using 100 amp agu. Should I switch to anl? Someone told me 100 for agu was too much and they cant handle that much power.

Thanks 01. I only had spare 2 gauge so threw it in there.

One more piece of info- when fuses blow and I change them immediately I notice the power wire is a bit warm. Any correlation?

Are you running the gear in your sig off that four gauge? If you are, I have a feeling you are in need of an upgrade of wire. Also, is the wire copper or cca? That makes a difference in this.

 

[robertoyoung08 10+ year member]

Are you running the gear in your sig off that four gauge? If you are, I have a feeling you are in need of an upgrade of wire. Also, is the wire copper or cca? That makes a difference in this.

Yes I am. I have a run of 0 gauge to the back and from there its distributed with the 4 gauge mentioned above.

The wire is kicker hyperflex. But the one I'm using on the amp that is blowing is the newer kicker wire so I think its the cheaper cca stuff

 

[gckless 5,000+ posts]

Yeah the problem here is you are using too small of a fuse. Your amps are drawing more than the 100A that fuse is rated for. Switch to ANL, fuse for the capacity of wire. 250A for 1/0ga, and after the distro block run 150A fuses to each amp.

 

[av83 10+ year member]

Yes I am. I have a run of 0 gauge to the back and from there its distributed with the 4 gauge mentioned above.
The wire is kicker hyperflex. But the one I'm using on the amp that is blowing is the newer kicker wire so I think its the cheaper cca stuff

If kicker its using cca, its news to me. your wire should be ok. I'm assuming its only the sub amp that is grounded with two gauge. Nope, if you're using a 100 amp fuse on quality four gauge, and running over 100 amps through it, that will cause problems. Decent, quality, four gauge can safely transfer well over150 amps in shorter lengths. Around 150 in longer lengths.

 

---------- Post added at 08:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:52 PM ----------

 

Yeah the problem here is you are using too small of a fuse. Your amps are drawing more than the 100A that fuse is rated for. Switch to ANL, fuse for the capacity of wire. 250A for 1/0ga, and after the distro block run 150A fuses to each amp.

Yep.

 

[robertoyoung08 10+ year member]

Yeah the problem here is you are using too small of a fuse. Your amps are drawing more than the 100A that fuse is rated for. Switch to ANL, fuse for the capacity of wire. 250A for 1/0ga, and after the distro block run 150A fuses to each amp.

I have a 300 amp fuse on the 0 gauge and then a 100 amp on the 4 gauge after the distro. JL says to put at 100 amp. On it? Idk if I shouldnpush it and do more. Especially considering the price I paid for it off the forum (no warranty lol)

If kicker its using cca, its news to me. your wire should be ok. I'm assuming its only the sub amp that is grounded with two gauge. Nope, if you're using a 100 amp fuse on quality four gauge, and running over 100 amps through it, that will cause problems. Decent, quality, four gauge can safely transfer well over150 amps in shorter lengths. Around 150 in longer lengths. 

 

---------- Post added at 08:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:52 PM ----------

 

Yep.

Haven't checked this specific wire on this amp to be honest. But kicker has always been good for wiring. And yes only sub amp has 2 gauge ground. Other amp is fine.

So switching to anl is my best option then?

 

[gckless 5,000+ posts]

I have a 300 amp fuse on the 0 gauge and then a 100 amp on the 4 gauge after the distro. JL says to put at 100 amp. On it? Idk if I shouldnpush it and do more. Especially considering the price I paid for it off the forum (no warranty lol)


So switching to anl is my best option then?

Oh, you didn't mention that before. Still, for 4ga 150A is where you should be. But make sure that your gains are set right, that you're not clipping and drawing large amounts of power. Also make sure there are no shorts or anything like that.

 

[av83 10+ year member]

[quote name='robertoyoung08']I have a 300 amp fuse on the 0 gauge and then a 100 amp on the 4 gauge after the distro. JL says to put at 100 amp. On it? Idk if I shouldnpush it and do more. Especially considering the price I paid for it off the forum (no warranty lol)



Haven't checked this specific wire on this amp to be honest. But kicker has always been good for wiring. And yes only sub amp has 2 gauge ground. Other amp is fine.

So switching to anl is my best option then?[/QUOTE]

I don't think fuse type is your issue. If the jl is supposed to be fused at 100, and the run of four gauge going from the d-block to the amp is short, than your problem is likely due to the gain being up to far. You're probably ******* up a bunch more amperage than you should and clipping your amp at the same time. Use a dmm and test tone to set your amp gain, or better yet, rent the DD-1 from @jockhater2 ;

 

[robertoyoung08 10+ year member]

[quote name='gckless']Oh, you didn't mention that before. Still, for 4ga 150A is where you should be. But make sure that your gains are set right, that you're not clipping and drawing large amounts of power. Also make sure there are no shorts or anything like that.[/QUOTE]

Ill have to double check gains I guess. The amps are mounted where I cant even see the gains so I haven't touched them yet since initial set up that I had ball parked to get things running before tunning.

[quote name='av83']I don't think fuse type is your issue. If the jl is supposed to be fused at 100, and the run of four gauge going from the d-block to the amp is short, than your problem is likely due to the gain being up to far. You're probably ******* up a bunch more amperage than you should and clipping your amp at the same time. Use a dmm and test tone to set your amp gain, or better yet, rent the DD-1 from @jockhater2 ;[/QUOTE]


Lol he rents it?!
Ill have to check gains then. Everything else seems fine. The amp turns on/off perfectly and plays at low/moderate volumes perfectly too. My power run to it is only like 3 to 4 feet tops

 

[av83 10+ year member]

Ill have to double check gains I guess. The amps are mounted where I cant even see the gains so I haven't touched them yet since initial set up that I had ball parked to get things running before tunning.



Lol he rents it?!

Ill have to check gains then. Everything else seems fine. The amp turns on/off perfectly and plays at low/moderate volumes perfectly too. My power run to it is only like 3 to 4 feet tops

Lol, yeah he rents it. He's a good dude. Not really making crap of it, just sharing with the caraudio peeps. The ad is in the misc. car audio classifieds.

 

[jockhater2 10+ year member]

Lol, yeah he rents it. He's a good dude. Not really making crap of it, just sharing with the caraudio peeps. The ad is in the misc. car audio classifieds.

Nope. Haven't even made enough off of it yet to cover the cost of the CC1. And I bought it used. I think I have made $70-80 since september or october. And most of that is because 2 guys came to me locally from craigslist and were so happy they gave me $20 cash.

I can't even post it on caco because they want me to have a vendors liscense...lol I don't make enough to cover that.

But anyways.

Av83 could be right. If your blowing a fuse and that is what JL recommends. Then you could be clipping hard. Which will pull in my current than your amp needs.