Smallest power wire i've seen done....

[shadow_ 10+ year member]

This has to be the smallest power wire i have ever seen. This was done a few years ago on my moms subaru. I never looked at it until i popped her hood open today and I was just like wtf...thats the power wire. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wow.gif.23d729408e9177caa2a0ed6a2ba6588e.gif

I don't get how there is 2 of them also //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif . She has one alpine amp powering her 4 jl audio speakers in the doors and her 12inch bandbass by jl also. It thumps but i don't get how with such a small power wire, its the size of speaker wires //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wow.gif.23d729408e9177caa2a0ed6a2ba6588e.gif . And this was a shop that carried jl audio, mb quart etc. with a pro installer. Also her sound goes almost to mute sometimes when the car is off and you turn it on. You have to turn the unit on and off to get it to work right. I think i now know why this place doesn't do car audio anymore. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

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[Atimm693 10+ year member]

Did they even use a ring terminal.

 

[shadow_ 10+ year member]

Yeah, they used a very small one lol. Just crimped the 2 mini wires together and put the ring on the bolt. I should of looked at it when they did it but figured since they sold high end stuff(back then) that they would of done a good job. One wire goes through one side of the firewall and the other goes across the engine to the other side. Something i don't understand is i took this pic of the amp and the power wire seems to be a little bigger //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif ....

Least they put the wires neatly in and hidden.

 

[ThomasG 5,000+ posts]

14awg power wire //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/woot.gif.aaa6090e619a97b6090d16dd863c5a69.gif

 

[phyphoestilic 5,000+ posts]

they probably ran those 2 wires to a distribution block to that bigger power wire on the amp. Looks to me like 12AWG at the battery, and 8AWG at the amp.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

You can run multiple runs of wire to act as one larger power cable, if that answers your one question. But still, that really does look small. Where's the fuse?

 

[shadow_ 10+ year member]

The fuse i don't know, all i see is that one fuse but that doesn't look like it would be the power wire all wrapped up like that. That looks like it goes to the alternator. I'll go out after i eat and see if i can see where these 2 run exactly.

 

[bass_lover1 10+ year member]

It looks like they did 2 runs of 10awg for main power, then it seems like 8awg back at the amp. Also my eyes might be deceiving me, but the ground at the amp looks smaller than the power wire, if true that could end up pretty bad.

 

[Bartak1 10+ year member]

Are you sure those arent wires for something completley different, and the amp's power wire is hooked up to a power point in the underhood fuse box or something?

 

[shadow_ 10+ year member]

Ok, them 2 red wires aren't for the system. That taped up one is, with the black fuse box. But it seems that wire is even smaller then the one off the amp, he has it taped like 3 times around. I don't know what the heck them red wires are for. I never seen that done before with it taped up all the way to the firewall though . But as the other guy said about the ground wire. Yeah the ground off the amp is about 1/3 of the size of the power wire.

 

[phyphoestilic 5,000+ posts]

Ya the black wire with the fuse looks like a 8AWG so should be fine, if they were actually pretty smart then I would assume 1, or both the red wires are a direct 12v+ connection for the HU, cause everyone knows the stock Head Unit's wiring usually sucks.

But then there's also the problem with the ground at the amp. Might wanna upgrade that yourself sometime.

 

[shadow_ 10+ year member]

Yeah, this is her older subaru. She has a new altima but going to get a different car and wants the system put in that. So the ground will get upgraded then unless it takes a while until the new car. The head unit isn't stock its an alpine also...

This is her sub....

Sucks that she has a better system that i do at the moment and she's 63. Guess that tells you some people like good car audio even at that age. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fro.gif.c695f1f814b01c4ad99fe7f8cccadd29.gif

 

[phyphoestilic 5,000+ posts]

Actually after checking the amp model, it seems to me that the amp shouldn't draw more than 35amps. So technically even if that ground wire is 10AWG it's more then enough. (All you really need for the ground is 12AWG assuming he kept the ground under 18"). Of course personally I'd upgrade the ground just cause I wouldn't be able to stand different size power/ground cables.