ground

[blowsoot 10+ year member]

how long is too long for ground wire to amps?

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[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

you just want it as short as reasonably possible. Wires have a known (very small) resistance per length. You just want to avoild resistance wherever you can.

If your installation for some reason requires 10' - make it 10'. If you can make it a foot -- make it a foot.

 

[johnecon2001 5,000+ posts]

Anything over a foot.

 

[azbass 5,000+ posts]

always kept it under 3 feet

 

[forbidden 10+ year member]

^^^ Why? What is this based on?

 

[flakko 5,000+ posts]

Anything over a foot.

OVER a foot? wats wrong with a short ground? overheating?

 

[knukonceptz 10+ year member]

Short as possible will do. You can mount an amp anywhere in your car and its almost always within 2 feet of usable metal. Common grounding points and such should be used though to avoid ground loops. 3 - 4 is easily acceptable in most applications

 

[azbass 5,000+ posts]

^^^ Why? What is this based on?

because I say so. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif

 

[M@nJo 10+ year member]

i have my speaker amps grounding wire (8ga) about 6ft long and no problems at all. it does call for 10ga though

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

Anything over a foot.

Right! 11.9" could have tragic results! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

always kept it under 3 feet

yes - because at 3.1' your equipment will be vaporized //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

^^^ Why? What is this based on?

nothing

OVER a foot? wats wrong with a short ground? overheating?

nothing, no.

Short as possible will do. You can mount an amp anywhere in your car and its almost always within 2 feet of usable metal. Common grounding points and such should be used though to avoid ground loops. 3 - 4 is easily acceptable in most applications

BRILLIANT!

Except for the 3-4' part. There are people who feel the best grounding point is the battery, and they run a 14' wire to it. Nothing burns up, nothing overheats, nothing shuts down. It's just a few milliohms more resistance than a good, short ground to chassis.

As a a great wiseman once said...

you just want it as short as reasonably possible. Wires have a known (very small) resistance per length. You just want to avoild resistance wherever you can.
If your installation for some reason requires 10' - make it 10'. If you can make it a foot -- make it a foot

 

[johnecon2001 5,000+ posts]

meh.

 

[forbidden 10+ year member]

A good installer will measure the ground return resistance and if it cannot be made to get under 1/2 ohm with no load, then it is off to the battery you go. With todays vehicles made out of a combination of blended metals, crappy spot welds and glued together unibody panels, it is not about the amount of metal in the return, but the combined resistance through the return. Ever blown up a amp with a seemingly unknown reason? Chances are that your ground return resistance is higher than a crack vvhore.

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

...if it cannot be made to get under 1/2 ohm with no load, then it is off to the battery you go...

I hear/read this a lot, and I'm not sure where it came from, but I know that if you've got a 1/2 ohm resistance between your amp and the battery (-) you've got HUGE issues. Primarily, so much voltage would be lost your amp would be unable to function. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

500' of 4 ga wire is less than 1/2 ohm.