Melted pausitive terminal wire???

[tother]

I have a 99 Ford Contour 4cylender (old mans car but i like it)... anyways the other day my pausitive wire at the battary got so hot that it some how like melted onto my starter, inturn causing my starter to stay running till it eventually burned out. The mechanic said he thinks it could have been my amp that did it (like it over heated the wire)... I have 2 - 400watt clarion subs in a ported box. along with a 600watt Legacy Amp.. I am not sure of the specs on my fuse, but the guy at the shop said he set me up with the right one for sure, it is like 10inch from the battary at very most.. Did the subs probably do that, if so is there a way to fix it.. or was it probably just co-incidental that i just hooked up the subs?

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[stones 10+ year member]

You're starter shorted out and caused a massive short.

The amplifier and subwoofers had nothing to do with it.

You're gonna need a new starter, battery terminal wire and a starter solenoid.

 

[tother]

So the added heat going through the battary wire as a result of the subs wasnt what caused the wire to melt it was the starter just screwing up, than causing the wires to heat up?

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Unless the fuse was blown closed, there wasn't enough current flowing through the wire to melt it.

 

[PhatTonyDeMarco 5,000+ posts]

So the added heat going through the battary wire as a result of the subs wasnt what caused the wire to melt it was the starter just screwing up, than causing the wires to heat up?

There is no "added heat" going through the battery cable. Your started simply caused a short, replace it. Also, while youre at it, you might as well replace that amp too, because I doubt it is putting out anywhere near 600w, or 400w for that matter. How does it sound , just curious.

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

There is no "added heat" going through the battery cable.

Umm...there is, which is why we pay attention to the ampacity of the wire //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[PhatTonyDeMarco 5,000+ posts]

Umm...there is, which is why we pay attention to the ampacity of the wire //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/uhoh.gif.c07307dd22ee7e63e22fc8e9c614d1fd.gif Its due to heat? I thought it was just the amount of current a wire could hold, I didnt realize it was the heat...

Or does higher current = more heat?

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

higher current = more heat?

Exactly.

The reason why you don't want to pull high amperages through small gauge wire is because the wire heats up, eventually melting the insulation...resulting in possible shorts and fires. Size the wire to take the load, and you don't need to worry about the wire heating up at all.

 

[PhatTonyDeMarco 5,000+ posts]

Exactly.
The reason why you don't want to pull high amperages through small gauge wire is because the wire heats up, eventually melting the insulation...resulting in possible shorts and fires. Size the wire to take the load, and you don't need to worry about the wire heating up at all.

Now why didnt Loki answer that one?...

 

[tother]

Ok sweet, so i basically got the go ahead to hook it back up.. to answer the question too it sounds real good actually.. I mean im sure a bigger amp would make it sound good, but i dont like way to much bass anyways..

 

[PhatTonyDeMarco 5,000+ posts]

Ok sweet, so i basically got the go ahead to hook it back up.. to answer the question too it sounds real good actually.. I mean im sure a bigger amp would make it sound good, but i dont like way to much bass anyways..

BTW, what guage wiring are you running from amp to battery, and what guage for your ground?

 

[tother]

im running 4guage wire for the ground and the power.

 

[PhatTonyDeMarco 5,000+ posts]

im running 4guage wire for the ground and the power.

Sounds like youre fine on your wiring.. Did they replace the starter, had any problems since?

 

[tother]

Since they replaced the battary wire and the starter everything seems fine.. Im a lil worried about burning out my alternator still, but i tihnk bascially everyone who has subs and doesnt purchase a better alternator worries about that to whatever extent.

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

Assuming you wired your amp cable directly to the battery and not down at the starter terminal, the only current that flows through that wire is starter current.

It IS possible that the battery terminal came loose because of audio install "issues", which can cause high resistance that leads to overheated wires. Not being able to see your battery installation, I can't say for sure.