power wire do's and dont's??

[jeepinguy]

i have 3 amps that are behind the back seat. (jeep cherokee)

Obviously, they all need power.

Can i send one 10 gauge power wire from the battery to the amp area, and then set up a power distibution block in the back? Or will i have to run 3 seperate power wires.

The amps are less than 150 watts each (alpine/sony/sony)

I want to upgrade to much bigger amps in the near future, so i dont want to have to rip all this out just to accomodate the bigger power requirement. I would rather do the job once. Im not too excited to pull seats and carpet any more than i have too.

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[jeepintn 10+ year member]

no. if you are upgrading, or even plan on it, go for 0 gauge and save yourself the trouble.

 

[Anniku989 10+ year member]

Run 2 or 0 gauge if I were you, 4as a minimum. Then just put a distro block and run it to each.

 

[mokedaddy 5,000+ posts]

If you are going to upgrade than run one run of 1/0 ga should suffice. and then use a d-block

But do not run 10 ga wire to three amps.

 

[fwb_1234 10+ year member]

Use at the VERY MINIMUM 4 ga.

But you can run just 1 run to the back and then use a distro.

 

[Racerx250 10+ year member]

do use a larger gauge such as 1/0 or 4 as a min. Do not run 10 ga. wire or even 8ga and split it between 3 amps. Unless they draw like 5A a piece. Do take time to do it right the first time.

 

[miker 5,000+ posts]

Why do you say use 1/0 gauge???

What would you say if the battery wire was 1.5ft long? Would you say 4g. is good for say 1000w?

 

[Anniku989 10+ year member]

Why do you say use 1/0 gauge???

It'll handle more with less resistance, and it won't burn your car to the ground

What would you say if the battery wire was 1.5ft long?

Umm, cool...?

Would you say 4g. is good for say 1000w?

Its a close call, depending on the length, but I'd go for 2gauge or thicker in that case

 

[fwb_1234 10+ year member]

According to this wire guide: http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=166038, you should use at least 4 ga for 1000W.

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

Why do you say use 1/0 gauge???

because overkill is the flavor of the day lately, and I would say a large majority of the members here run 1000w+ and can't fathom the possibility of a simple 400-500w set up.

8ga is enough for what you're looking to do, but it would be easier to just get a multi-amp 4 ga kit. They're for sale everywhere, and would still allow you upgrade room for at least twice as much power.

What would you say if the battery wire was 1.5ft long? Would you say 4g. is good for say 1000w?

4 ga is good for 1000w at 15', but I wouldn't go any smaller regardless of length.

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

I installed 1/0 in my cherokee, and there's no way you need to remove the seats or carpet.

All you have to do is come in the passenger footwell through the floor pan. Run the wire to the right and feed it along underneath the side molding below the doors. You can then drill another hole to come through beneath the rear seat (where the vertical "face" is)