three installer's three different answers on main power wire

[wmdtib05 10+ year member]

been to three shops today and got three differnet answers on what should i run as my main power wire. one shop said use 4 gauge because its much easier to run. the other said use 1/0 because its bigger and better. the last shop ask me a few questions on what stuff ill be running like amps,sub etc. and if ill be planning on anymore upgrade later. i said no.he did some measurement from the front to the rear where ill be doing all my install. my jl_1000 alpine-500 second battery and one 15 inch-wmd2-d1 sub. he said since my power wire from the main battery to the rear will be under 11 feet long. and my amps total RMS will be between 1500 or less. it will be fine to run 4 gauge but recommend to use 2-gauge and only use 1/0 if the wire length was over 15 or longer and if had lot more power.so my question is, does this make sence? and if anyone have any input on this and the correct gauge it will be great.

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[SethPhillips 5,000+ posts]

been to three shops today and got three differnet answers on what should i run as my main power wire. one shop said use 4 gauge because its much easier to run. the other said use 1/0 because its bigger and better. the last shop ask me a few questions on what stuff ill be running like amps,sub etc. and if ill be planning on anymore upgrade later. i said no.he did some measurement from the front to the rear where ill be doing all my install. my jl_1000 alpine-500 second battery and one 15 inch-wmd2-d1 sub. he said since my power wire from the main battery to the rear will be under 11 feet long. and my amps total RMS will be between 1500 or less. it will be fine to run 4 gauge but recommend to use 2-gauge and only use 1/0 if the wire length was over 15 or longer and if had lot more power.so my question is, does this make sence? and if anyone have any input on this and the correct gauge it will be great.

you could get away with a 4ga run.... but just incase you want to up grade down the road id throw 1/0ga in there.... it's not going to hurt anything just cost more....

 

[thieves 10+ year member]

2ga would be fine with that much power, unless you plan on upgrading in the future. if so, go with the 0ga.

 

[2critical 10+ year member]

Option 3 is a winner! 4 ga.will work for you, but is not the best option and leaves you no room for upgrades in the future. Get the 2 ga. and you will have no worries

 

[blue200sx 10+ year member]

option 3 sound like the guy who knew the most. i would follow his suggestions

 

[2002XLT 5,000+ posts]

yep, guy 3 sounds good. When did it start to matter how easy it was to run the power when you are paying someone for an install? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

 

[NeverEnuffBass 10+ year member]

http://www.caraudiobook.com/car_audio_power_wiring/car_audio_power_wiring.htm

You are drawing about 69.4 amps. Using IASCA's reccomendationd of wire size, you need at least 2gauge

 

[lilmaniac2 5,000+ posts]

I would still use 1/0, the kicker 1/0 kit is only 100 bucks on ebay and is as easy to work with as cheap 4 gauge

 

[lilmaniac2 5,000+ posts]

http://www.caraudiobook.com/car_audio_power_wiring/car_audio_power_wiring.htm
You are drawing about 69.4 amps. Using IASCA's reccomendationd of wire size, you need at least 2gauge

thats his sub amp, and that would be at 100% efficiency

at a much more realistic 75% effeciency you would be pulling near 100 amps from the sub amp alone //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Ignatowski 5,000+ posts]

ga would work fine but I would go 1/0 because

more is better and leaves room for insanity later....Welding cable or KNU

 

[mokedaddy 5,000+ posts]

I had a local guy tell me that he was running over 2000 watts on 4 gauge and thats all you would ever need. I was like ok //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

But yes you will probably want to upgrade eventually even if you dont think so now. Its an addiction much like crack. Run the 0 and save yourself the head ache later

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

thats his sub amp, and that would be at 100% efficiency
at a much more realistic 75% effeciency you would be pulling near 100 amps from the sub amp alone //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

x2... Was gonna say the same thing.

 

[krisfnbz 10+ year member]

I would run 1/0, If your paying someone to do the run, then put a big wire in there just incase you were to ever upgrade in the future.

Its not that expensive, you can get a run of 15ft of 1/0 for less than $50 bucks.

 

[wmdtib05 10+ year member]

Thanks guys for all the input. Just have a few more questions. I have two options. i have 25 feet of 2 gauge wire from ma-audio. I dont know if anyone have ever use this power wire, plus I have kicker 1/0 gauge kit. My plan was to run two wire from the main battery. Both my ground and power using the 2 gauge wire direct to the rear battery so i can have a better grounding point since my car is a unibody or i can use option two and run just the power wire using 1/0 gauge. But I would not be able to run the ground from the rear using 1/0 because I only have room for just one 1/0 from front to rear. My only problem is finding a good spot in the rear for my ground point.what do u all think?

 

[wmdtib05 10+ year member]

i mean i only can run one 1/0 from front to rear for my power and will have to use the rear for my grounding using 1/0.