+ wire 4 gauge - wire 8 gauge <- prob?

[OldManTod 10+ year member]

Hey all,

I finally got my 1200.1 back from Kicker and will wire that up this weekend, but I have a question, the kicker manual talks about 0/1 gauge from the battery, but the installer ran 4 guage from the front (which is one of the reasons I am rebuilding the amps and subs in the back) instead of 0/1.

My question is this, I can run 4 gauge from the dist block, I have enough 4 guage, but as far as grounding wire, I only have 8 gauge. Can I get away with running the 8 gauge as the grounding wire, or should I get 4 gauge and run that from the dist block??

Also, about what is the max length that you want to let a ground wire get, all the way to the amp is going to be about 5 feet of grounding (that includes the length from the dist block back to the frame).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

T

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[guy022077 10+ year member]

i dont think so...you need to match the power and ground. 4 gauge power 4 gauge ground.

as for distance, im told the shorter the better. 5 feet is pretty far. no metal closer to amps?

 

[ruckus]

I would rather have a bigger pipe on my ground than my power.

 

[req 5,000+ posts]

yes. bigger on the ground. at LEAST 4awg.

id never do 8awg for anything over 700w personally. and anything over 1200w id do 1\0.

upgrade the 'big three' as well.

 

[OldManTod 10+ year member]

yeah... I gotta do the big three....

The best that I am going to be able to do is run the ground directly from the amp and even at that, I am looking at about three feet...

Thanks for the replies so far...

T

 

[johnecon2001 5,000+ posts]

yeah... I gotta do the big three....
The best that I am going to be able to do is run the ground directly from the amp and even at that, I am looking at about three feet...

Thanks for the replies so far...

T

where the heck is the amp mounted at that you need three feet of ground. Just go straight down and find some metal.

 

[OldManTod 10+ year member]

on a piece of 3/4" plywood covered with carpet attached to the 3rd row seat in the back of a durango....

I guess if I go straight down and to the body right below the amp, we are still talking a foot or so...

T

 

[Shyne151 10+ year member]

on a piece of 3/4" plywood covered with carpet attached to the 3rd row seat in the back of a durango....
I guess if I go straight down and to the body right below the amp, we are still talking a foot or so...

T

A foot is fine, I've always heard keep your ground wire under 3feet.