Hi,
This may be a stupid question but i wanted to make sure i was grounding my amps properly but dont have access to a VOM. It says to choose a location on the chassis. I'm not exactly sure which part the chassis is so i took a picture of where the original installer chose to make the grounding point in the trunk of my 2003 Lexus IS 300. Is this indeed a good location or bad location for my ground.
a closer look
If this is a good location i wanted to scrape the paint away(most likely use sandpaper) and reconnect the wires with the same shown screws from above.
When disconnecting the ground to my amps, should i remove the positive and/or negative wire from my battery terminals? and have the car in the off position? what is the procedure to follow that sets up the safest working environment when messing with my sound systems electrical wiring?
If this is a bad location where would you guys specifically suggest i pick as a grounding point in my cars trunk?
Background on my system:
JL audio 1000.1v2, JL audio 13" w7, Kicker KX600.4, and Stock head unit
Stock alternator and Duralast Gold: part # 24-DLG, CCA 750, 935 at 32F, reserve capacity 130amps
4 gauge wiring was used for the positive power wire from my battery's positive terminal all the way to the trunk where that 4 gauge wire was fed into a distribution block. This block has three output wires using 8 gauge wiring. Two of these 8 gauge power wires run to and are simultaneously connected into the 12v input of my JL Audio 1000.1 (shady? should i upgrade to 4 gauge or unnecessary). The one remaining 8 gauge power wire as well as the small red remote wire is fed into a:
Bosch 12V 20/30A small black plastic thing (fuse?).
This Bosch has a very small black ground wire that is "grounded" as seen in the picture below. does the location of that ground look fine? do i just need to scrape the paint away to ensure a good connection(like my amp ground point)? should i choose a different location? if so where?
The output of this bosch piece is an 8 gauge wire and the (small red) remote wire.
this red 8 gauge wire is then fed into the 12v input of my Kicker kx600.4 amp.
the remote wire is fed to the remote wire input of the kicker amp and another small red wire connects the kicker amp remote input directly to the remote wire input of the JL Audio 1000.1
Given my systems specs and electrical wiring setup, what gauge wiring would you guys suggest i use when doing "the Big 3" upgrade to my car?
should i be worried about the size of the 8 gauge power wires that is used to power both of my amplifiers?
Is this electrical wiring, shady and or could it be improved? if so how?
The reason I am asking is because i experience random bouts of alternator whine and turn off thump, as well as light dimming when playing the bass loud. My plan of attack will be doing the big three upgrade and following the suggestions made in the
Sticky Thread >>>Engine whine and ground loop fixes... take two
but before I do these I wanted to make sure the electrical wiring of my system was correct.
Let me know if you need more pictures or more information
also i apologize for the extremely long post and if you guys think this post is better off being put somewhere mods could definitely move it or i can repost it in the advised thread.
any help would be great
Thanks!