Is 16AWG ok for 300 w RMS?

[mdereske 10+ year member]

I have some left over 16AWG RF wire from running wires for my speakers, and was wondering if this would be OK for running a RE SR 10 at 300W rms? A lot of places online I checked out recommended 8-10 AWG. To me this seems like overkill. Will the 16 be ok, or should I go thicker?

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[Midget 10+ year member]

Would it work? Yes.

Should you probably go a bit bigger? Yes.

 

[revrider1 5,000+ posts]

Will work, but id go bigger...

 

[simpsonbuck 10+ year member]

8 gauge would work fine.

 

[mdereske 10+ year member]

Cool, thank you for the quick replies. Wouldn't want to hook it all up and be disappointed.

 

[simpsonbuck 10+ year member]

Your electrical system will thank you too.

 

[qkassidyw 10+ year member]

Are you going to use the wire to run power to your amp? Or are you going to use it to run the signal from the output of the amp to the sub?

For power= NO

For signal=Just fine...

 

[CadillacMatt 10+ year member]

I'm running 18ga on my Fi Qs 1000wRMS and have no issues whatsoever. On a short run of wire it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[SSS 18734 5,000+ posts]

You will have no problems with 16 gauge for your subwoofer wire.

 

[Simek4life 10+ year member]

16 ga or bigger for subwoofer

4 ga or bigger for power

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

Would it work? Yes.
Should you probably go a bit bigger? Yes.

He's actually wrong.

It wouldn't work.

Doing the math using the 'watt formula' (w=v*a)

300=12*(a)

300/12 = A

25 = A

The maximum amperage a 16awg wire can take is 22 amps. If played for too long, the wire would get hot and catch on fire.

However, if you're running from the amp to the sub, your amplifier only puts out low amperes, but high volts.. and most wire can handle seemingly infinite amount of volts. So, you'll be fine if you're doing that.

 

[MmatsDude 10+ year member]

i wouldnt feel confortable using 16 gauge but thats just me

 

[snoopysnooper 10+ year member]

i used 18 ga for 600 rms when i was mad young

and my power wire was 12 ga //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

it was quite fail, but i was young and thought i was cool, so w/e

 

[Got_Bass89 10+ year member]

i used 18 ga for 600 rms when i was mad youngand my power wire was 12 ga //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

it was quite fail, but i was young and thought i was cool, so w/e

12ga power wire.. Holy sh*t lol

 

[mdereske 10+ year member]

well crap, and I went and bought 8 gauge wire today. Well, at least I'm future proofed, right?