What guage wire to connect a 1500W amp driving 1200W woofers?

[bighank]

Installing a 1500W peak amp with 2 12" 1200W woofers. Installer insisted that the 6 gauge wire in the install kit would "MELT" and that his $150 4 gauge was needed.
I have done extensive wiring installations including wiring commercial buildings and have never had any wires "MELT"
His claim of the 1500W amp drawing so much current that the insulation would melt seems ridiculous. The normal RMS current is way below 1500W.
The speakers are 4 ohm 12" woofers. Don't know what the power draw really is but it should be fine using 6 gauge wire for the amp feed.
Anyone out there have any comments of real life experiences including melting your 12Volt power leads.
Think the installer is upset that his company did not sell the system and wants to make up for it be overcharging a overpriced wire install kit.

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[Ridinhi 5,000+ posts]

Exactly which subs and amp do you have?
And your installer must be using an extension cord if it’s melting.

 

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

Look up your amps fuse rating. The look at your power wires amperage rating.

$150 for a 4 gauge wiring kit is insane.

 

[JakeW]

Curious as well on the 1500w powering 2 1200w woofers? Are they 1200rms? Or is that max?

 

[SlugButter]

Going by the book, he probably does believe that it needs 4 gauge. the melting wire is a fear tactic to sell you a kit. I’ve seen 8 gauge split Into two 8 gauges running 2 amps and it didn’t melt the wire. i suppose It could happen, but you could also get struck by lightning. that being said, I would get my own 4 gauge kit to squeeze every bit of power I can get, as efficiently as I can, into my equipment.

 

[YourNameHere 10+ year member]

Going by the book, he probably does believe that it needs 4 gauge. the melting wire is a fear tactic to sell you a kit. I’ve seen 8 gauge split Into two 8 gauges running 2 amps and it didn’t melt the wire. i suppose It could happen, but you could also get struck by lightning. that being said, I would get my own 4 gauge kit to squeeze every bit of power I can get, as efficiently as I can, into my equipment.

your an idiot.... its gonna melt when too much current passes through it, if not we would all be running 12awg for thousands of watts

 

[SlugButter]

your an idiot.... its gonna melt when too much current passes through it, if not we would all be running 12awg for thousands of watts

Why Are your gums flapping in the wind? You should tie those loose things down captain hot air.

 

[SlugButter]

His 6 gauge wire is not going to melt.

 

[YourNameHere 10+ year member]

so your sayin the odds of anybody melting their power wire is the same as getting struck by lightning?

 

[SlugButter]

so your sayin the odds of anybody melting their power wire is the same as getting struck by lightning?

come on man. Don’t you have normal conversations? Of course not. I’m saying it’s unlikely to burn his 6 gauge wire with 1500 max watts. Was it really necessary to clarify that to you?

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Installing a 1500W peak amp with 2 12" 1200W woofers. Installer insisted that the 6 gauge wire in the install kit would "MELT" and that his $150 4 gauge was needed.
I have done extensive wiring installations including wiring commercial buildings and have never had any wires "MELT"
His claim of the 1500W amp drawing so much current that the insulation would melt seems ridiculous. The normal RMS current is way below 1500W.
The speakers are 4 ohm 12" woofers. Don't know what the power draw really is but it should be fine using 6 gauge wire for the amp feed.
Anyone out there have any comments of real life experiences including melting your 12Volt power leads.
Think the installer is upset that his company did not sell the system and wants to make up for it be overcharging a overpriced wire install kit.

Assuming it's a legit 1500W amp you may well draw over 150A of current, and cheap #6 cable could very well fail catastrophically.

Now will your amp ever draw more than the max safe rating, who knows? Is your #6 cable OFC or CCA? Is it true AWG wire or something cheap that's not even the honest wire size? I can tell you for certain you won't cause a fire hazard by going too big on your power cable and there's no reason you can't uninstall your primary cable and use it in a future install. The power cable in my Jeep has been with me for about 10 years and through 4 vehicles.

150$ sounds a little high for JUST power cable but it's not out of line for a good brand amp wiring kit that comes with RCA speaker cable and some fuse blocks and such. Kicker, Rockford, and other big names get about that for their premium cable kits. Keep in mind if your installer is selling Kicker or whatever kits he's paying a couple markups from the brand + his distributor and of course he is ultimately paying the cost of keeping a store open and assuming some liability in installing this in your car. If you're going to DIY look into Sky High, Knuconceptz, or check out darvex.com (they sell good quality cable and connectors). If you're paying a shop to do the install 150$ isn't out of line.

Either way I would personally use 1/0 gauge and I wouldn't consider going below 4 gauge OFC.

 

[planet audio 10+ year member]

So speaking of which, I have been trying to find an inexpensive legit good 0/1 gauge amp kit for my JL RD1500/1. I have found a couple no name kits in the $100 - $130 range that CLAIM they are OFC. Everyone local is sold out.

 

[Marve_Lous]

come on man. Don’t you have normal conversations? Of course not. I’m saying it’s unlikely to burn his 6 gauge wire with 1500 max watts. Was it really necessary to clarify that to you?

No, he doesn’t. He’s some lonely douche who only gets on to call people names to try and fill his void.

 

[Marve_Lous]

So speaking of which, I have been trying to find an inexpensive legit good 0/1 gauge amp kit for my JL RD1500/1. I have found a couple no name kits in the $100 - $130 range that CLAIM they are OFC. Everyone local is sold out.

Sky High makes good kits.

 

[JakeW]

Lots of ofc new wire on eBay. I like stinger HPM.