simple question: 4ga ground, 8ga power?

[sumone 10+ year member]

While inspecting my car for different locations of wiring/grounding I got in my trunk and noticed a black wire wedged between the backseat and the trunk floor. pulled on it a little bit cause I didn't know what it was and one end was free (black tape over that end so nothing is connected on it), but the other end is secured somewhere in the depths of the car....it says "power force - 4awg ground wire". I'm thinking the previous owner had a system in.

So this makes me think....this could save me some time finding and securing a ground wire by just using that wire. however, my kit I have is 8gauge. is it cool to use a bigger gauge wire for ground (aside from the typical power should equal ground gauge)? I could see a problem if I was doing a 4gauge power and 8 gauge ground, but what about the other way around?

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[DJ FURY 10+ year member]

Never ground with 2 different gauges.Always ground with the same gauge u run from the battery.

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

As long as your amp doesn't exceed the current capacity of the 8 ga you're absolutely fine.

Technically, you'd be better off using the larger ground - it will result in a tiny bit less resistance than the same length 8 ga.

 

[DJ FURY 10+ year member]

NEVER USE 2 DIFFERENT GA WIRING!use the same ga u run from ur car battery to ground.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

DJ FURY-Shut up!

Sumone-n2audio is correct. You can use a larger gauge wire for your ground with absolutely no ill effects, assuming that you can get the larger wire connected to your amp.

 

[davidfre21 5,000+ posts]

i have 4g power 8g ground

u will be fine, but it would be a good idea to udgrade to 4g power, but not necessary

 

[DJ FURY 10+ year member]

First of all i dont ever tell someone to do something i would never do.Im my opinion i wouldnt do it.He asked for an opinion and i told him never to do it because i wouldnt.

 

[jbl_marshall21 10+ year member]

if ur ground is the same size as ur power wire or bigger ur ok. u can have 8 gauge power wire and 4 gauge ground. its all good.

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

Bigger is better. In all cases. If the minimum size is 8 gage for a particular install, you can use anything bigger than that for either or both. There's ABSOLUTELY NO REASON to have the exact same gage for both power and ground. Only that both be at least the minimum required.

 

[sumone 10+ year member]

Cool - just needed some assurance. Basically how I see it is that the larger wire (bigger cross section) handles more current and has a lower resistance (at the same voltage). So if the current I'm running through my amp is safely handled by gauge X and gauge Y, using both wires should be safe. My amp is a usx4065 and the fuse is only 30A...If I remeber correctly, 8gauge can do up to about 60A.

hopefully this "ground wire" is a ground wire though....cause I still can't find out where it's going...

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

I also use a 4065, fed with 8 gage and a 30 amp fuse. I'm wishing I used 4 gage though, because of the inevitable "upgrade" that's always around the corner. Friggin car audio is addictive.

If you can't identify where that ground wire goes, use a new one. Ground should be within 2 feet of the amp.

 

[sumone 10+ year member]

yea I'm gonna hop in the trunk again and find out where it's going for sure soon. wherever it is, it's somewhere under the car and (ballpark) around 3-4 feet long...kinda making me skeptical. still haven't hooked up the other stuff yet, but it would be nice not having to drill another hole in the car...

 

[infinity1412 10+ year member]

use the same guage all the time, or the amp could malfunction

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

use the same guage all the time, or the amp could malfunction

BS. Purge that thought from your memory. Whoever told you that was wrong.

 

[Logikalliquid 10+ year member]

what kind of damage you keep talking about could occur? I would think the fuse would blow first, but im just a newb.