Agreed. the benefit is that you can order it by the foot. Most of the other products require a 25ft minimum. I run power and ground to the rear. I run a parallel ground with the 2 gauge to chassis in the rear also, no worries about adequate grounding that way. I mean if you exceed that 300 amps, an you could, need all the help you can get.
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Dang, that is about $2.25 a foot less than Knu - bookmarked!Welding power wire is going to be a lot cheaper then that. 130 bucks for 18 feet. I would buy 30 feet of it and do the Big 3 now. That should have been done already.
4/0 Welding Cable Class K
4/0 Flexible Welding Cable - 600V. Cut to length and sold by the Foot.www.wireandcableyourway.com
And can come in a few colors as well. Stuff works great and will do exactly as what that KnuKonceptz will do and for cheaper.
I have the Excelene listed in the 2nd link and it is flexible and works awesome for a cheaper cost overall.
Firewalker
CarAudio.com VIP
Even with the thicker casing it is still very flexible. Tbh you can't beat it for the price and quality. Pure OFC copper and much cheaper.
djdilliodon!
CarAudio.com Elite
That is correct. Upgrade all factory ground wires and charging wires. From the secondary battery you can do multiple runs to the amps or a run to a distro block and split it that way. If you use a grounding point in the back, make sure you test it! Use a multi meter one side connected to the battery under the hood and the other side to test the point you want to use for ground. If all points have too much resistance, you have to spend the money on another run for ground to the battery under the hood.
That's who I buy from too. Here is their ebay page:
Looks like they have different prices than their website. 1/0 was more, but 2/0 was less. I've been pretty happy with it. They also have several different colors to choose from. I know everyone uses black and red, but I didn't. I used Green and yellow to the amp, and black for the ground. This way, it's a little easier to identify, and guaranteed to never confuse vehicle cables for amp cables.
yeah for the big 3. If you go for a really large alt, (something over 300 amps), you're going to want more than 1/0 for your big 3. You can go as big as you want, and it just costs a little more.
Looks like they have different prices than their website. 1/0 was more, but 2/0 was less. I've been pretty happy with it. They also have several different colors to choose from. I know everyone uses black and red, but I didn't. I used Green and yellow to the amp, and black for the ground. This way, it's a little easier to identify, and guaranteed to never confuse vehicle cables for amp cables.
yeah for the big 3. If you go for a really large alt, (something over 300 amps), you're going to want more than 1/0 for your big 3. You can go as big as you want, and it just costs a little more.
4/0 EB Flex ™ Welding Cable - BLACK - Electron Beam
4/0 class K welding wire. Single conductor. NEMA class K. Temperature range of +105 C to -40 C. 2128 strands of 30g bare bright annealed copper with premium Poly-XL™ high energy electron beam cross-linked polyethylene jacket. Specifically engineered for the welding industry. FREE US SHIPPING...
electronbeam.com
Eb flex is good
Firewalker
CarAudio.com VIP
Buddy used to work there and make that cable. I used to get it at his cost. Electron Beam does nice stuff. Not too far from where I lived for 25+ years. Seen that cable get made in person a couple times.
Popwarhomie
5,000+ posts
Team Lethal Pressure
Yes.
- Thread Starter
- #29
Looking at this cable it says the 4/0 has 2128 strands of wire. The Knukonceptz has over 10,000 strands. But both are '4/0'. So I'm thinking the Kolossus cable is just more flexible?4/0 EB Flex ™ Welding Cable - BLACK - Electron Beam
4/0 class K welding wire. Single conductor. NEMA class K. Temperature range of +105 C to -40 C. 2128 strands of 30g bare bright annealed copper with premium Poly-XL™ high energy electron beam cross-linked polyethylene jacket. Specifically engineered for the welding industry. FREE US SHIPPING...
Eb flex is good
- Thread Starter
- #30
What is an acceptable value for the resistance?
dragon.breath
10+ year member
Senior VIP Member
I don’t know if you have picked up on this yet but at that power level, you may also need to run a ground wire from the front battery to the rear battery. People think that the body of the car is huge compared to a piece of wire and should be able to carry almost unlimited amounts of current. But it’s not true. A modern unibody car is tack welded together then seam sealed.
My friend’s Maxima was losing 1.1 volts under load between the front and rear batteries at around 3200 watts rms total. We added his old 4 gauge wire as a ground between batteries and the drop went from 1.1v to .4v.
My friend’s Maxima was losing 1.1 volts under load between the front and rear batteries at around 3200 watts rms total. We added his old 4 gauge wire as a ground between batteries and the drop went from 1.1v to .4v.
- Thread Starter
- #33
So far as charging goes, how do I figure out what alternator to use?
To note: this system will be used for my entertainment purposes only. I have never and will never enter a competition...but would like to go to one.
To note: this system will be used for my entertainment purposes only. I have never and will never enter a competition...but would like to go to one.
djdilliodon!
CarAudio.com Elite
I look for .1 or less, if nothing meets that, do a run directly to the battery. My current car I got lucky with a solid ground in the back. The next one I’m sure I won’t
As far as strand count goes in wire, more thinner strands means more flexible, less thicker strands less flexible. Thicker stranded wire of the same overall size can handle more current but if flexibility is needed it’s just not practical. I’ve seen 500 mcm size cable handle 1200 amps at 123 volts. I’m talking continuously, no breaks, just none stop! That run was 223’ long! This is thick stranded cable and is a mofo to bend. I’ve seen 4/0 handle 475 amps at 122 volts continuously on a run that was 140’ long. This is also solid stranded cable. I’ve tested welding style cable jumping services with huge amounts of draw. Finer stranded cable has its limits. I’ve melted many 1/0 jumpers made from welding cable
. The saying “it takes real wire to do real work” is 100% true. It’s just most setups in car aren’t drawing constantly unless you are playing test tones. Whatever the max draw is, realistically you will draw half that while playing music. Some bass notes it may reach above but it will only be for a second. If you did 2 1/0 runs, you can play it however you wish and will never come close to exceeding the cables limits.if you take 3000w divide by amp efficiency which is 88%. 3000 / .88 = 3409w. That is your amp draw. Then divide that by voltage, 12v when off, 14.4 (used to be standard) when running. 3409 / 14.4 = 236 amps. That's the amperage draw at full volume maxed out, when you are setup to run 3,000w.
If you go 4,000w / 14.4v =277.7 amps.
Then you need to add on to what your vehicle does. Generally your stock alt is going to do everything it can maxed out: EFI, ECU, electric fans, low beams, high beams, brake lights, AC, interior lights, (stock) radio, cig lighter, dash lights, and have a little bit of head room.
Your amp doesn't constantly draw 277 amps even when you have it full volume, just when the heavy bass hits. Between that it's recharging, so it's relative to what music you listen to. Rock and country have more time between to recharge. Rap and generated bass music has a little. With 277 amps, I would say the range is about 200 -250, and you would never have a drop in voltage.
With your vehicle and you live somewhere cool enough that you don't use the AC, or hot enough where you use the electric fans, then you're never going to need 2/3rd of what your stock alt can do.
IMO, an alt is something you DO NOT want to buy twice, because you are going to upgrade to 12% more. A good one is a decent chunk of money for your system. With your amp being capable of 5K watts, and if you EVER MIGHT want to upgrade subs to that amount, I would go bigger now. I honestly wouldn't expect to find too many options for a 2000 Camry though. If you can find 250-300 you should be good.
Also know that when you do go shopping for an alt, there are two numbers that matter.
Amperage output at or near idle, (what will it do when you're at a stoplight), &
RPM needed for max output. (What will it put out at cruising speed).
A 300amp ebay alt is going to do less at idle than your stock ~100 amp alt, and won't do full output until over 3K rpm. Well where do you cruise at? Will you ever even see that output? A high quality alt will do most at idle, and full output around 2K rpm. Think about how you drive, and where you listen to it, and know what RPM you cruise at, or are usually driving at. Get those two numbers before you buy, and if they won't or can't give them to you, then keep shopping. That's going to be the difference between a $200 alt, and a $600 alt.
I think that I mentioned something to that affect earlier. Anymore, newer cars especially, i use parallel grounding. Never have any grounding problems since.
https://www.bestcaraudio.com/car-audio-myths-you-cant-ground-a-car-audio-amplifier-to-the-battery/
I mean an extra $125 to $150 after dumping several thousand $$ into the system seems like a bargain to get out of it what you put into it.
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- Thread Starter
- #37
So I looked at mechman alternators. They don't have one to fit my car. What are some other reputable brands that don't break the bank?
- Thread Starter
- #38
I'll not be upgrading it after it's built. This will be the last system I will ever install in a vehicle I own. I have my mind set on a couple Orion HCCA124 subs wired to 1 ohm. The subs are 2500 watts RMS capable and together should be able to handle what the amp throws at it. I have an XTR2500.1Dz that the birth sheet states has 2971 watts output. The single HCCA122 I have connected to it handles it just fine. Although it does start to have a smell after pounding it for about 10 minutes.
Is your camry a v6?
I have a 99' Avalon with 3liter v6.
I'm going from memory here but can verify if needed...
The stock alt in my car is 100amp
A 2005 Sienna uses a 150amp alternator. RockAuto has a ton of them for $150.
It's a direct bolt on replacement. The only difference is my car has 3 pin harness connection, Sienna has 4pin.
I just plugged in the 3 wires my car uses, 4th pin left unused.
And that's how I got 50amp increase for $150
I have a 99' Avalon with 3liter v6.
I'm going from memory here but can verify if needed...
The stock alt in my car is 100amp
A 2005 Sienna uses a 150amp alternator. RockAuto has a ton of them for $150.
It's a direct bolt on replacement. The only difference is my car has 3 pin harness connection, Sienna has 4pin.
I just plugged in the 3 wires my car uses, 4th pin left unused.
And that's how I got 50amp increase for $150
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