bbeljefe
CarAudio.com Elite
The main problem with CCA is that aluminum is more prone to corrosion and it is easier to break than pure copper. CCA also has up to ~25% less ampacity than copper conductors, depending on the temperature and application. But... electricity doesn't travel inside wire, it travels along the surface of the conductors. This is one reason why high current cable assemblies are made of stranded wires, because the more individual strands there are, the more surface area the cable has and thus, the higher the ampacity.
My personal opinion is that if you aren't a competitor seeking to draw ever single last possible milliamp of current out of your power supply... OFC is not necessary. I recommend 1/0 CCA for daily driving and I use 1/0 CCA in my daily driver. Previously I had one run of 4 gauge OFC on the sub amp and one run of 8 gauge OFC on the mid/high amp. I was also running 2 gauge copper for my big three and two group 27 deep cycle marine batteries under the hood. I changed all my power wiring to 1/0 cca and got the cops called on me when I was testing the system afterward. I've been in the same place for seven years, playing my system loud in my driveway often and when I upgraded cable, I did not change anything about the sound system.
That's why I was saying it's a good idea to run larger cable than you need. It will make your system sound like you've added larger amplifiers when you take all (as much as possible, actually) the stress off the alternator, battery(s) and amplifiers.
And look... if you stop and think about for a few minutes, would you put a 1200 HP engine in a car with the stock drive train? Some have... and they wipe out trannys, twist drive shafts off and break axles. Bottom line is that your electrical system is made to handle, at the most, a 1000 watt amp. You're adding 60% more horsepower to that system and anything less than a 60% stronger drive train is going to cause you problems in the future. Not to mention, it's going to rob your system of deebeeez immediately.
Sorry for the tangent but... needed to be said.
My personal opinion is that if you aren't a competitor seeking to draw ever single last possible milliamp of current out of your power supply... OFC is not necessary. I recommend 1/0 CCA for daily driving and I use 1/0 CCA in my daily driver. Previously I had one run of 4 gauge OFC on the sub amp and one run of 8 gauge OFC on the mid/high amp. I was also running 2 gauge copper for my big three and two group 27 deep cycle marine batteries under the hood. I changed all my power wiring to 1/0 cca and got the cops called on me when I was testing the system afterward. I've been in the same place for seven years, playing my system loud in my driveway often and when I upgraded cable, I did not change anything about the sound system.
That's why I was saying it's a good idea to run larger cable than you need. It will make your system sound like you've added larger amplifiers when you take all (as much as possible, actually) the stress off the alternator, battery(s) and amplifiers.
And look... if you stop and think about for a few minutes, would you put a 1200 HP engine in a car with the stock drive train? Some have... and they wipe out trannys, twist drive shafts off and break axles. Bottom line is that your electrical system is made to handle, at the most, a 1000 watt amp. You're adding 60% more horsepower to that system and anything less than a 60% stronger drive train is going to cause you problems in the future. Not to mention, it's going to rob your system of deebeeez immediately.
Sorry for the tangent but... needed to be said.
