Someone just tell me what to buy please

[DaveVT 10+ year member]

zx350.4 for my fronts and rears (2x20a fuses)

Hifonics HFI1500D for my subs 1500@1ohm(2x70a fuses)

180a total max I guess.

I am putting a Kinetic HC600 in the trunk and using a distro block from that to the amps. Can I get away with 4 gauge for the whole install?. I was thinking 4 gauge from front to back with a inline fuse holder by the front battery.

Do I need one before the rear battery too?. After the rear battery is the fused distro block. Then 4 gauge to the sub amp and maybe 8 gauge to the 4 channel?.

Just need to know what to do here. Also can I use circuit breakers instead of fuses?. What amp fuses do I need to run in the inlines?. Also for the fused distro I only have 80's and 150a fuses but I could order others.

Im gonna stop rambling here....thanks for the help ahead of time.

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[Dj-torn 10+ year member]

You can use 4 Ga to wire the other batter, certainly protect either fuse or circuit breaker I prefer circuit breakers easy to break connection when your working your system.

I would fuse

If choosing between 8 and 4 ga wire for the system, Go Big or Go Home!

80A fuse in the distro for you highs seems fine as does the 150A fuse for the bass.

As it seems you don't have to buy anything, just get to installing.

 

[DaveVT 10+ year member]

Only problem is ive heard from a few that 4g cant handle the load. 125a or so is max I guess and this would pull up to 150 or so

 

[Dj-torn 10+ year member]

There is truth to that, and most on this forum will argue go bigger on your wires.

My rational is simple, If 4ga is all you have to get the job done at the moment, use it, But if your have the disposable income to spend $100.00 or more on 0Ga wire then what are you waiting for, do it right the first time.

In addition, I assume you will be doing some tuning to the amp, other than maxing out your gains, I further predict you will not be blasting your radio consistently, and that your car charging system does not rest at 14.4V This means that you will not be using the amps full potential and thus your 140A amplifier just went down to 130A or less.

The fuses are in place to protect the wire from becoming a fire hazard.

Check this wire chart link out

 

[DaveVT 10+ year member]

I can say I dont plan on upgrading so if 4g will cut it then that works for me. Also yes the amp will be properly tuned and rarely will I have it cranked up since my son will be in the car alot of the time.

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

With that sub amp, I would go with 0g wire. Usually give the rate fusing 1000rms and under you can get away with 4g, but I would run 0g in this case.

I use 4g on my isntall and have a 150 amp after front battery and 100amp after back battery to sub amp. Only throwing out 700rms if I am lucky.

You could save a little money and get a distro to do 0g to 4g, so you could run the 4 g to amps....Gonna have to cut a lot of wire off those 0g wires if running straight to amp. I dont belive that amp has 0g terminals anyway...

Good luck and good info from torn as well.

 

[Mookie 10+ year member]

I ran 4 gauge throughout my whole install one time on 1300 watts or so and my wire was hott as hell. I would go 0 juss to be safe. And it leaves room to upgrade also.

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

ive seen 4ga melt like butter it wasn't a pretty site for the interior carpet and stock vehicle wire that crossed....its melting path...I wouldn't skimp on something cheap as wire