I'm just still confused.

[PaintballMonger]

I need help guys.

I'm installing my new system- have all the parts and all, just waiting to install.

All that's left for me to buy is wiring, and this is where I am getting quite confused and overwhelmed.

First off- my specs.

1999 Passat 1.8t sedan

2 SA-10's powered by an MB Quart 1500.1D

MassiveAudio SK6 II components powered by MA NX2 2 ch.

Subs, Sub-amp, speaker-amp, and crossovers will be installed in the trunk.

I have a few questions.

1. I've read the Big3 Sticky and want to know if my system requires that upgrade.

2. Do I need a new battery/alt?

3. When I wire my subs together in parallel (2, dual voice coil 4ohm subs wired to 1ohm), what gauge wire do I use? That is, when I'm running wire sub to sub, what gauge do I use?

4. Do I use the same gauge from battery to sub-amp and then from sub-amp to subs? Or do I change?

5. (Same question as 4, only for Battery to speaker-amp and from speaker-amp to speakers)

6. What's all this business with fuses? I really need someone to break down where to install a fuse/how to install a fuse..

7. When buying wires, would it just be better for me to buy a kit? I was looking at kits from KnuKonceptz.. would I benefit from the ease of buying a kit? Or is it just a way for them to make money?

8. If anyone has done something similar to this install in the past, any lengths on wiring would be appreciated so I know how much to buy..

Any help here will be very appreciated. I dove into this thinking it wouldn't be that hard, but my first install is proving to be stressful to say the very least!

Thanks!

Click to read more...

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

Answers in bold

1. I've read the Big3 Sticky and want to know if my system requires that upgrade.

On anything over 800-1000wrms(depending on size of alt), its always recommended that you do a big 3 upgrade.

2. Do I need a new battery/alt?

Add another battery (agm type) and you should be fine as long as the big 3 upgrade is completed as well

3. When I wire my subs together in parallel (2, dual voice coil 4ohm subs wired to 1ohm), what gauge wire do I use? That is, when I'm running wire sub to sub, what gauge do I use?

Always use the highest quality wire you can afford, 12-10gauge on the subs will be fine with the power level you are running

4. Do I use the same gauge from battery to sub-amp and then from sub-amp to subs? Or do I change?

For what you are running, its best to run 0ga to the rear to the 2nd battery and/or use a fused distribution block (If using 1 big *** battery up front) to split the wires to each amp. You could do 0 or as small as 4ga from the d-block to the mono amp and then run 4 or as small as 8ga to the 2ch. The size depends on the size the d-block will allow. You can always get reducers from 0-4 or 4-8 as well. If you are running less than 100wrms, you can usually just splice into the factory speaker wires.

5. (Same question as 4, only for Battery to speaker-amp and from speaker-amp to speakers)

See above

6. What's all this business with fuses? I really need someone to break down where to install a fuse/how to install a fuse..

Fuses are used to protect the wire from too much current which could melt the wire. You install a fuse within 15" of the battery.

7. When buying wires, would it just be better for me to buy a kit? I was looking at kits from KnuKonceptz.. would I benefit from the ease of buying a kit? Or is it just a way for them to make money?

Knukonceptz is a good place to buy wiring kits, quality product at a reasonable price, I think they have a 0ga on there for around 60+shipping

8. If anyone has done something similar to this install in the past, any lengths on wiring would be appreciated so I know how much to buy..

just get a knukonceptz kit.

hope that helps, I'm kind of in a hurry to go study for finals

 

[PaintballMonger]

Answers in bold
1. I've read the Big3 Sticky and want to know if my system requires that upgrade.

On anything over 800-1000wrms(depending on size of alt), its always recommended that you do a big 3 upgrade.

2. Do I need a new battery/alt?

Add another battery (agm type) and you should be fine as long as the big 3 upgrade is completed as well

3. When I wire my subs together in parallel (2, dual voice coil 4ohm subs wired to 1ohm), what gauge wire do I use? That is, when I'm running wire sub to sub, what gauge do I use?

Always use the highest quality wire you can afford, 12-10gauge on the subs will be fine with the power level you are running

4. Do I use the same gauge from battery to sub-amp and then from sub-amp to subs? Or do I change?

For what you are running, its best to run 0ga to the rear to the 2nd battery and/or use a fused distribution block (If using 1 big *** battery up front) to split the wires to each amp. You could do 0 or as small as 4ga from the d-block to the mono amp and then run 4 or as small as 8ga to the 2ch. The size depends on the size the d-block will allow. You can always get reducers from 0-4 or 4-8 as well. If you are running less than 100wrms, you can usually just splice into the factory speaker wires.

5. (Same question as 4, only for Battery to speaker-amp and from speaker-amp to speakers)

See above

6. What's all this business with fuses? I really need someone to break down where to install a fuse/how to install a fuse..

Fuses are used to protect the wire from too much current which could melt the wire. You install a fuse within 15" of the battery.

7. When buying wires, would it just be better for me to buy a kit? I was looking at kits from KnuKonceptz.. would I benefit from the ease of buying a kit? Or is it just a way for them to make money?

Knukonceptz is a good place to buy wiring kits, quality product at a reasonable price, I think they have a 0ga on there for around 60+shipping

8. If anyone has done something similar to this install in the past, any lengths on wiring would be appreciated so I know how much to buy..

just get a knukonceptz kit.

hope that helps, I'm kind of in a hurry to go study for finals

If I buy the knuconceptz 1/0ga amp install kit and the knuknonceptsz 4ga amp install kit I should be ok? I will just need wire from the amp to subs, correct?

What about the rest of my big-3? And also, my amp specs say it will only accept 2ga wire at most.. Does this mean I cant get the 1/0ga kit?

Thanks so much for the help

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

If I buy the knuconceptz 1/0ga amp install kit and the knuknonceptsz 4ga amp install kit I should be ok? I will just need wire from the amp to subs, correct?
What about the rest of my big-3? And also, my amp specs say it will only accept 2ga wire at most.. Does this mean I cant get the 1/0ga kit?

Thanks so much for the help

Get the 1/0 amp kit, I strongly suggest getting another battery so if you do that you will only need a couple ft of wire to go from batt to amps and you could use 4ga or do 0ga with a reducer. Make sure you have 2 sets of rca cables, one for each amp. For big 3 upgrade just buy the wire by the foot for how ever much you need.

 

[Ronny 10+ year member]

.... And then just your local audio shop or buy by the foot (through KnuConceptz) for the 12g cable to go from the amplifier to the woofers, and woofer to woofer. You'll only need maybe 2-3 feet max for woofer to woofer, and a couple feet for the run from the amplifier to enclosure terminal(s).

And as kushy_dreams is doing, finals crunch time is calling me to get back to working on a final presentation //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[PaintballMonger]

Get the 1/0 amp kit, I strongly suggest getting another battery so if you do that you will only need a couple ft of wire to go from batt to amps and you could use 4ga or do 0ga with a reducer. Make sure you have 2 sets of rca cables, one for each amp. For big 3 upgrade just buy the wire by the foot for how ever much you need.

OK. So- I buy the 1/0ga knukonceptz amp kit (with a 150a fuse), then use that, not to power my amp, but to power my new battery? What wires do I need to run (all in all) for the new battery?

What battery do you recommend? And the 2 sets of rca cables- thats for each of my amps to head unit, right?

And lastly, just so i understand: 1/0ga from battery to trunk battery, 1/0ga battery to alt, 1/0ga battery to chasis, 1/0ga chasis to engine block, 1/0ga trunk battery to ground. 4ga from trunk battery to sub-amp, 12ga from sub-amp to subs (then 12ga sub to sub), 4ga from trunk battery to ground. 8ga from trunk battery to speaker-amp, 8ga from speaker-amp to ground, and 14ga from speaker-amp to speakers.

Could this possibly be right? Am I right to be confused or am I retarded?

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

OK. So- I buy the 1/0ga knukonceptz amp kit (with a 150a fuse), then use that, not to power my amp, but to power my new battery? What wires do I need to run (all in all) for the new battery?
What battery do you recommend? And the 2 sets of rca cables- thats for each of my amps to head unit, right?

And lastly, just so i understand: 1/0ga from battery to trunk battery, 1/0ga battery to alt, 1/0ga battery to chasis, 1/0ga chasis to engine block, 1/0ga trunk battery to ground. 4ga from trunk battery to sub-amp, 12ga from sub-amp to subs (then 12ga sub to sub), 4ga from trunk battery to ground. 8ga from trunk battery to speaker-amp, 8ga from speaker-amp to ground, and 14ga from speaker-amp to speakers.

Could this possibly be right? Am I right to be confused or am I retarded?

Get the kit with a 200a fuse or as close you can get to 200. Your mono has 140a of fuses on board and your 2ch will have around 50a.

RCAs will need to be run from the headunit, make sure your headunit has enough rca outputs, if not you will need y cables to split them.

0/1 for alt to ground, batt to alt and batt to chassis for big 3 upgrade

0/1ga from front batt to rear batt

0/1ga from rear batt to ground in trunk

0/1ga with a reducer to 4ga or just use 4ga from rear batt to mono amp

4ga with a reducer to 8ga or just 8ga to the 2ch amp

12ga from sub amp to box and inside box to connect subs

Now as far as batteries go, get something from XS Power. Kinetic and Shuriken are made in the same factory and just have different labels on them. I have heard Kinetics and Shurikens have high failure rates. For size, look for something in the neighborhood of 30-50amp hours, whichever you can afford. XS's will cost a little more, but they are a far better product than most out there. I have been sold on XS Power ever since I have seen this vid, the xs batt was almost 1v higher after a 30sec 500amp load and they are each company's top of the line batt.



People say Battcap makes a good product, I have no experience with them so I cant comment on that.

 

[PaintballMonger]

Get the kit with a 200a fuse or as close you can get to 200. Your mono has 140a of fuses on board and your 2ch will have around 50a.
RCAs will need to be run from the headunit, make sure your headunit has enough rca outputs, if not you will need y cables to split them.

0/1 for alt to ground, batt to alt and batt to chassis for big 3 upgrade

0/1ga from front batt to rear batt

0/1ga from rear batt to ground in trunk

0/1ga with a reducer to 4ga or just use 4ga from rear batt to mono amp

4ga with a reducer to 8ga or just 8ga to the 2ch amp

12ga from sub amp to box and inside box to connect subs

Now as far as batteries go, get something from XS Power. Kinetic and Shuriken are made in the same factory and just have different labels on them. I have heard Kinetics and Shurikens have high failure rates. For size, look for something in the neighborhood of 30-50amp hours, whichever you can afford. XS's will cost a little more, but they are a far better product than most out there. I have been sold on XS Power ever since I have seen this vid, the xs batt was almost 1v higher after a 30sec 500amp load and they are each company's top of the line batt.

OK. So there's no 1/0ga chassis to engine block? I thought thats what the sticky said but i could be wrong..

And, how exactly do i connect the front battery to the trunk battery? I'm sorry for the stupid question but I just don't want to **** this up. Do I run 1/0ga from negative to negative and positive or positive? Still unsure..

Oh, and do I need to ground my amps? Or no?

Thanks!

 

[accuab 10+ year member]

He said alternator to chassis which is the same as engine block to chassis. The casing of the alternator is a grounding point. It is normally just easier to get to than finding a good place on the engine block itself. But they are connected so it's fine. To connect the two batteries, run the 1/0 from the front battery positive to the rear battery positive. Then run a 1/0 ground from the rear battery to a ground point in the trunk( strut mount bolt is a good place). You could run the negative to negative like you said but would be pointless really since the body is a ground that is connected to the ground terminal of the front battery. And do you ground the amps? An amp will not turn on without a ground so yes you have to ground them. Use the same size wire that you use for your power wire to the amp.

 

[PaintballMonger]

He said alternator to chassis which is the same as engine block to chassis. The casing of the alternator is a grounding point. It is normally just easier to get to than finding a good place on the engine block itself. But they are connected so it's fine. To connect the two batteries, run the 1/0 from the front battery positive to the rear battery positive. Then run a 1/0 ground from the rear battery to a ground point in the trunk( strut mount bolt is a good place). You could run the negative to negative like you said but would be pointless really since the body is a ground that is connected to the ground terminal of the front battery. And do you ground the amps? An amp will not turn on without a ground so yes you have to ground them. Use the same size wire that you use for your power wire to the amp.

The alt casing is metal? I heard stories of people leaking acid from their batteries because they thought the casing was ground and then it turned out that the connection was touching some plastic... Any thoughts?

And also, how am I going to fit all these connections on my battery(ies)? Do I need an adapter or something?

Lastly, the 1/0 from rear battery to ground- that starts from the positive terminal, right?

Thanks so much guys, this is making me feel so much more confident about my build.

And if someone could tell me exactly when I need fuses, the types of fuses, where I need to mount them, and how I mount them; that would be a huge help. Don't wanna fry my electrical system/start a fire.

Thanks for helpin out a noob. I appreciate it.

 

[PaintballMonger]

up ^^ Still looking for a couple more answers if possible guys! Thanks

 

[duanebro 10+ year member]

The alt casing is metal? I heard stories of people leaking acid from their batteries because they thought the casing was ground and then it turned out that the connection was touching some plastic... Any thoughts?
make sure it isn't plastic.

And also, how am I going to fit all these connections on my battery(ies)? Do I need an adapter or something?

depends on the batteries, for a side mount - yeah you will need an adaptor. For a top mount you can just put the connector that comes with your wiring kit under the bolt that holds the factory wire on. you will need a connector for the rear battery. Two actually.

Lastly, the 1/0 from rear battery to ground- that starts from the positive terminal, right?

no.

- to ground always. switch this and bad things happen.

Thanks so much guys, this is making me feel so much more confident about my build.

And if someone could tell me exactly when I need fuses, the types of fuses, where I need to mount them, and how I mount them; that would be a huge help. Don't wanna fry my electrical system/start a fire.

fuse at the start of all runs of wire, (not grounds) if the wire gets messed up and shorts, the fuse will blow before something burns or you get zapped.

Thanks for helpin out a noob. I appreciate it.

If you can find some one close to you that has done a few installs before, try to get them to help you out.

 

[PaintballMonger]

If you can find some one close to you that has done a few installs before, try to get them to help you out.

Unfortunately, there aren't too many i know with systems, let alone 1000+watt rms systems..

Anyway, when it comes to fusing, do I fuse for the big 3 at all? Or do I just fuse from front to rear battery, rear battery to sub amp, and rear battery to speaker amp?

Am I missing something, or do I just need those 3 fuses? (i.e. do I fuse front bat to alt, etc.?)

Thanks man

 

[JoshC 10+ year member]

gunna be a boss first system man, wish i had started on 2 SA's