The BIG 3 Should You Fuse?

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

I don't, neither does the factory.

some factory wires have small fuse or small inline wire as a "fuse".. either way i'd rather not melt all wire or burn car up over 1 car audio wire..

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

I would leave stock ground cable in place and run big three as motor to frame body to frame and battery to frame.

u don't run the alt power to battery? have 1 big time og here (not around much, i seen him 2 times in past yr) he said he just does the ground wires cause battery needs the help but alt don't or something.. i'm gonna do 1 wire motor to body (strut tower bolt) and body to battery..

 

[ChaseinBass]

u don't run the alt power to battery? have 1 big time og here (not around much, i seen him 2 times in past yr) he said he just does the ground wires cause battery needs the help but alt don't or something.. i'm gonna do 1 wire motor to body (strut tower bolt) and body to battery..

Yes but he was talking about grounds

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[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

I thought 2/0 welding cable was equivalent to 1/0 car audio cable since CA cable is oversized and welding cable is true to AWG, I may be wrong? And I was thinking of going 300amp as well like my main power wire to amps but alt is stock at 130amp so I just underrated to 250amp, shouldn’t be a problem right?

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i use smallest possible fuse for the wire.. so maybe u could use a 350 or whatever for that wire., but remember u want fuse to blow before anything else i think 250 is plenty like u said it's about same at 0g stereo wire and most peeps use larger fuse than needed..

 

[ChaseinBass]

Yes but he was talking about grounds

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Sorry I probably could have worded that better.

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[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

Sorry I probably could have worded that better.

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so u do 3 ground to frame + power wire., so u do big 4...

 

[ChaseinBass]

so u do 3 ground to frame + power wire., so u do big 4...

I did ? And as far as the Og s explanation?? Think of it as a circle ️ power coming out of alt to the battery then to your amps and neg continues on from amp to the frame of car and runs back up to where you alt is grounded which in most cases is engine block which has a small ground wire between it and the frame completing the circle or circuit as commonly referred to. So that being said you can’t have some o gauge wire running to your amp positive and 0 gage coming out of it and grounding on the frame because that same current has to be able to trave through the small wire between engine and frame and between body and frame ( I think the reason for this is for people grounding to car sheet metal and just provides an all around better ground for everything in the car that’s grounded to sheet metal like lights etc ) and will cause a bottle neck in you electrical path. That’s why you need to up wire size to do your big three or four. Kind of same reasoning you wouldn’t use a 0 gauge positive battery cable on your car and use a 14 gauge wire for a neg battery cable. Hope that helps and yes I know I am not very good at putting my thoughts into text lol

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

I did ? And as far as the Og s explanation?? Think of it as a circle ️ power coming out of alt to the battery then to your amps and neg continues on from amp to the frame of car and runs back up to where you alt is grounded which in most cases is engine block which has a small ground wire between it and the frame completing the circle or circuit as commonly referred to. So that being said you can’t have some o gauge wire running to your amp positive and 0 gage coming out of it and grounding on the frame because that same current has to be able to trave through the small wire between engine and frame and between body and frame ( I think the reason for this is for people grounding to car sheet metal and just provides an all around better ground for everything in the car that’s grounded to sheet metal like lights etc ) and will cause a bottle neck in you electrical path. That’s why you need to up wire size to do your big three or four. Kind of same reasoning you wouldn’t use a 0 gauge positive battery cable on your car and use a 14 gauge wire for a neg battery cable. Hope that helps and yes I know I am not very good at putting my thoughts into text lol

i'm wondering if i can use this dual fuse block under hood for both big 3 and later amp power wire instead of using 2 different ones.. the fuses are smaller so not as big as the normal kind https://www.amazon.com/KnuKonceptz-Bassik-Mini-Distribution-Block/dp/B06WP8G761/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1522103210&sr=1-3&keywords=knukonceptz+fuse+power+distribution+block

 

[ChaseinBass]

i'm wondering if i can use this dual fuse block under hood for both big 3 and later amp power wire instead of using 2 different ones.. the fuses are smaller so not as big as the normal kind https://www.amazon.com/KnuKonceptz-Bassik-Mini-Distribution-Block/dp/B06WP8G761/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1522103210&sr=1-3&keywords=knukonceptz+fuse+power+distribution+block

Kinda of small and I mean amperage wise for 0 gauge wire you would normally have 300 amp fuse and those are 150. Physical size doesn’t matter it’s the amperage of the fuses. Here are some cheap extremely durable fuse holders couple different styles and real fuses .

http://www.vteworld.com/content/electromech/fuse/fuse.php

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[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

Kinda of small and I mean amperage wise for 0 gauge wire you would normally have 300 amp fuse and those are 150. Physical size doesn’t matter it’s the amperage of the fuses. Here are some cheap extremely durable fuse holders couple different styles and real fuses .Fuses & Fuse Holders

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yeah but with 1k rms and 125 amp alt u don't need more than 150-200 amp fuse.. yes u fuse by wire size to a point, as in u don't use fuse that's too big or the wire, if u use one too small it just melts the fuse hurts nothing..

 

[ChaseinBass]

yeah but with 1k rms and 125 amp alt u don't need more than 150-200 amp fuse.. yes u fuse by wire size to a point, as in u don't use fuse that's too big or the wire, if u use one too small it just melts the fuse hurts nothing..

Well then I guess you answered your own question. But then again why would you bother and spend money on 0 gauge to carry 150 amps when you can use 4 gauge for that ? Actually I think it’s closer to 8 gauge at 20 ft but I would have to look it up to be sure.

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[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

Well then I guess you answered your own question. But then again why would you bother and spend money on 0 gauge to carry 150 amps when you can use 4 gauge for that ? Actually I think it’s closer to 8 gauge at 20 ft but I would have to look it up to be sure.

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0ga is for big 3, i may use 1/2 welding wire for amp later it's smaller but would still fit in that fuse holder.. larger wire is just better for amp and my wire is 14 yrs old, may go to 1ohm soon be little over 1k may upgrade but point is that dual holder is about same price as single..

 

[SoCalArgento]

I would leave stock ground cable in place and run big three as motor to frame body to frame and battery to frame.

So assuming we doing Big 4 with 3 grounding and one positive. Wiring would go as follows?

1) alternator (+) stud to (+) battery terminal

2) (-) battery terminal to chassis/frame

3) motor to chassis/frame

4) alternator bracket/casing(which is negative) where it is bolted to engine block bracket to the (-) battery terminal

—> this way the engine block and negative portion of alternator has additional grounding via the (-) battery terminal?

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[SoCalArgento]

0ga is for big 3, i may use 1/2 welding wire for amp later it's smaller but would still fit in that fuse holder.. larger wire is just better for amp and my wire is 14 yrs old, may go to 1ohm soon be little over 1k may upgrade but point is that dual holder is about same price as single..

Did you get a 0 gauge fuse holder from Gp Audio? They have 1/0 & 2/0 fuse holder which comes with your selection of fuse for around $9 I think

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[ChaseinBass]

So assuming we doing Big 4 with 3 grounding and one positive. Wiring would go as follows?1) alternator (+) stud to (+) battery terminal

2) (-) battery terminal to chassis/frame

3) motor to chassis/frame

4) alternator bracket/casing(which is negative) where it is bolted to engine block bracket to the (-) battery terminal

—> this way the engine block and negative portion of alternator has additional grounding via the (-) battery terminal?

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Yes you can ground at the battery or the frame. Or as I did and run it to the same bolt on the frame as engine to frame and battery to frame ie, one bolt with all three cables ran to it and that will do both.

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