OK...I need an Answer to a question really quick....

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

alrighty then, but if the car burns down, it goes without saying "I told you so"

Agreed.

 

[danteBirosel 5,000+ posts]

Ok, so for the record. If you are gonna deal with alot of power or even go on comps. It would be recommended to have 1/0 wire to the sub amp (battery to sub amp) and then 4ga (battery to front stage amp)?

But if not too serious on car audio, then distros will do fine for music and such?

-dante

 

[danteBirosel 5,000+ posts]

can someone verify this for me please? ^^

 

[BigDrez 10+ year member]

I got the dude runnin' two seperate runs....lol I said **** it...one run of 4 awg and one of 1/0 awg

 

[danteBirosel 5,000+ posts]

I got the dude runnin' two seperate runs....lol I said **** it...one run of 4 awg and one of 1/0 awg

how are you results??

 

[Toxic Tuan 10+ year member]

Many people don't realize how important power wires matter. Resistence vs current draw. The more runs you have...the better. That is pretty much obviously. The question becomes: Cost effective vs actual results.

I'll use my SPL vehicle for example: 4 positive and 4 negative to the back to 8 positive and 8 negative to the back...I gained 0.5 dbs. You would think 4 positive strands of 1/0 and 4 negative of 1/0 negative all the way to the back would be enough...wouldn't you. 0.5 db is a whole lot.

What about for daily system? My customers all have noticed just by adding a single ground negative all the way to the back made a huge difference. It's it's noticeable...then it should be worth it. Instead of paying more money on amplifiers/subwoofers to get louder...you can easily gain by adding more power wires. BELIEVE it. You will never know the true potential of your system until you've had minimum resistence and maximum flow. Why get a formula 1 race car and feed it regular unleaded gas?

---

In this particular case...I'd definitely run 1 strand of 0 gauge postive AND negative plus another strand of 4 gauge positive for the 4 channel amp. Powerbass amps do draw alot of current.

Tuan

 

[danteBirosel 5,000+ posts]

thanks alot tuan for recieving my message and responding here. That really helped alot.

Cya @ garden grove.

and also, i didnt know it's ok to have a long *** 1/0 negative wire from battery to all the way to the back. i thought it was bad.

-dante

 

[Toxic Tuan 10+ year member]

thanks alot tuan for recieving my message and responding here. That really helped alot.
Cya @ garden grove.

and also, i didnt know it's ok to have a long *** 1/0 negative wire from battery to all the way to the back. i thought it was bad.

-dante

You can do both...that and the body as ground also. Never hurts to have extra ground. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[headless 10+ year member]

i'm going to go with helotaxi on this one.

Table at:

http://www.interfacebus.com/Copper_Wire_AWG_SIze.html

Shows 4AWG wire @ 41738 circular mils. (the table is entirely based on 'VERY LONG RUNS' of 4ga...read the notes at the bottom to see the math).

Good 4ga can be thicker in some cases, shitty 4ga may not be up to spec. Voltage drop at 300 amps on 'short wire runs' is less than .2v. (under 2%). You'll lose more voltage than that by using a distro block instead of a solid wire run.

Using 200 circular mils per ampere (as instructed for 'short wire runs') as a gauge, you get over 200a continuous current carrying capability on 4ga wire. I challenge you to pull 200a+ continuously to that amplifier while sitting in the vehicle for more than...uh...2 minutes straight. With music. Good luck!

YMMV.

 

[Bolognablake 10+ year member]

i'm going to go with helotaxi on this one. Table at:

http://www.interfacebus.com/Copper_Wire_AWG_SIze.html

Shows 4AWG wire @ 41738 circular mils. (the table is entirely based on 'VERY LONG RUNS' of 4ga...read the notes at the bottom to see the math).

Good 4ga can be thicker in some cases, shitty 4ga may not be up to spec. Voltage drop at 300 amps on 'short wire runs' is less than .2v. (under 2%). You'll lose more voltage than that by using a distro block instead of a solid wire run.

Using 200 circular mils per ampere (as instructed for 'short wire runs') as a gauge, you get over 200a continuous current carrying capability on 4ga wire. I challenge you to pull 200a+ continuously to that amplifier while sitting in the vehicle for more than...uh...2 minutes straight. With music. Good luck!

YMMV.

That's my school of thinking.

 

[draarong2004 10+ year member]

You can do both...that and the body as ground also. Never hurts to have extra ground. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

you were doin good on everything till you hit this brick wall....always ALWAYS ground to the frame, unless body panel is the only option, a true good ground is directly to bare metal frame.

 

[danteBirosel 5,000+ posts]

i'm going to go with helotaxi on this one. Table at:

http://www.interfacebus.com/Copper_Wire_AWG_SIze.html

Shows 4AWG wire @ 41738 circular mils. (the table is entirely based on 'VERY LONG RUNS' of 4ga...read the notes at the bottom to see the math).

Good 4ga can be thicker in some cases, shitty 4ga may not be up to spec. Voltage drop at 300 amps on 'short wire runs' is less than .2v. (under 2%). You'll lose more voltage than that by using a distro block instead of a solid wire run.

Using 200 circular mils per ampere (as instructed for 'short wire runs') as a gauge, you get over 200a continuous current carrying capability on 4ga wire. I challenge you to pull 200a+ continuously to that amplifier while sitting in the vehicle for more than...uh...2 minutes straight. With music. Good luck!

YMMV.

i don't get it. im lost? i guess it's cuz i just got home from work? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

you were doin good on everything till you hit this brick wall....always ALWAYS ground to the frame, unless body panel is the only option, a true good ground is directly to bare metal frame.

Only trucks and SUVs have frames anymore. For cars, it's all just sheetmetal. That's why I'm a big proponent of grounding back to the battery in just about every situation.

 

[headless 10+ year member]

i don't get it. im lost? i guess it's cuz i just got home from work? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

Metal has a resistance value...resistance is what causes voltage loss and heat buildup (watts lost to resistance = heat). Voltage doesn't really cause heating; amps do. When you push amperes (a measurement of electricity) through a wire, the wire's resistance increases. As the resistance increases, more power is lost to heat. The wire heats up. The insulation melts. Shit catches on fire. Thicker wire has less resistance than thin wire. Short wires have less resistance than long wires. A length of 4AWG that is 2 feet long.... well, see my previous post.

 

[Bolognablake 10+ year member]

you were doin good on everything till you hit this brick wall....always ALWAYS ground to the frame, unless body panel is the only option, a true good ground is directly to bare metal frame.

I don't own a vehicle with a frame.