Well id say that the smaller wires may not be big enough to move every bit that the alt is putting out straight from.the factory. So a bigger cable does t hurt. Doesnt have to be 0 gauge but bigger isnt hurting anything. Also the second you add anything aftermarket it is now needing more amd is tryi g to pull more to support this newly added stuff. And with this new idiot generation of young people its almost 100% necessary . It use to be on stock you didnt go over 1200 watts and did a big 3 and agm up front. Now these ylung idiots run 2500 on stock everything. Cant even keep their voltage up and arent even seeing 2k rms on a good day. In short do your big 3 with whatever gauge wire you want. The 0 gauge is overkill but if you're there already why not over kill it. I'm sure there are typing errors I'm on my phone I'm not going back to fix them
I once ran a 4k amp on completely stock electrical //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif
60 amp alternator and a small lead acid battery. Didn't even do the big 3.
Amp was ran at 2 ohms nominal, but still had terrible voltage drop. I was that young idiot in your example a few years ago, lol
What is the highest voltage you can have on a standard 12v battery? I've been told if you go over 15v you are damaging you're battery. For example, if you heat something in a plastic bag in a microwave, it's going to pop. The battery fumes have nowhere to go and the battery keeps expanding until it pops. The most common failures of batteries is overcharging. Is this true? This is what somebody is telling me, I'm just asking.
I don't like to go over 15v. Occasionally when it's really cold, my alts will charge up to 15.3v when I first turn my truck on. After I turn my system on and the alternators warm up, voltage drops down to a safe level.
Yeah, but, has anyone done the BIG 3 with stock size wires, or does everybody assume bigger is better?
That would completely defeat the purpose unless the wires were damaged. Even then, I would replace them with larger wire.
That brings me back to my point about stock wires can handle stock alternator amperage.
Wire can handle much more than "rated" specs in bursts. How much current wire can carry varies based on a number of factors. The longer the run of wire is, the less current it can carry safely. Also, when it gets hot under your hood, that extra heat adds resistance, which adds heat, ect.
If you have a 140 amp stock alternator (like I had), you may still have 8 gauge stock wiring. My truck did. In short bursts like when you start the truck up after the battery was drained, the wire can carry the current to the battery. However, if there was a serious load on my electrical system, that wire wouldn't carry 140 amps all day in the summer.
I remember reading an interesting writeup about fuses a while ago. Even fuses can take much more than their rated current for short bursts, and not blow. The longer that current is traveling through the wire, the more heat will build up, which adds resistance, which causes more heat, ect.
When you add an extra load on the stock electrical system like an amp, things change. If you don't upgrade your charging wires, those are often the weakest link. A couple things could happen. Commonly, you would have bad voltage drop and your aftermarket equipment would be damaged.
If you upgrade your wiring and are constantly placing a high load on your electrical system, you alternator and/or batteries will still be taxed. I really don't feel like continuing this explanation, because you won't listen anyways.
I'm sorry, are you an ASE certified mechanic with 40 years experience of working on cars, trucks, buses or a certified professional garage mechanic?
What's your point? You know stock electrical. You don't know serious car audio.