wiring confusion

[Neothin 10+ year member]

alright, im still in the later stages of piecing together a system for the tC. I've gotten to the point where I want to start looking at what I'll need to wire everything together. Just for reference, these are the system components I'm looking at:

Pioneer DEH-P880PRS

JBL BX1200.1

JBL PX300.4

Rainbow SLC 265 Kick

Rainbow SL 165

1 Alpine 10" Type-X

Now onto the wiring (Please keep in mind that as with the majority of new members here, this is the first time I've ever played with car audio...):

Knukonceptz positive and negative battery terminals

1/0 awg Knuconceptz Kolossus wire connecting chassis, battery, and alternator (Big 3)

1/0 awg Knuconceptz Kolossus wire from the battery to the hatch

1/0 awg ---> 2x 4 awg distro block

4 awg Knuconceptz kolossus wire from the distro block to each of the amplifiers (4 awg is the largest wire the amps can accomodate)

Now I start my questions:

1. what kind of fuse (amperage wise) should I be using in the main power wire from the battery back to the hatch?

2. Just trying to visualize the whole electrical circuit here... power wire--> amp--> speakers--> amp--> ground. For the ground wires comming out of the amplifer, those will be 4 awg. Should i combine those two 4 awg wires back together into a 1/0 awg wire via another distribution block or should I just ground both grounds separately?

3. Are fuses needed after the distribution block in the power wire? aka battery--> fuse--> 1/0 awg power wire--> distro block--> fuse---> 4awg power wire--> amplifier. if so, what kind of amperage will I need?

4. When wiring in the subwoofer, I want to wire it as a 2 ohm load. The type-x is a dual 4 ohm voice coil configuration so i know this is possible by wiring the positive and negative leads together. Now my question about this is, what gauge of wire should I run from the amp to the sub, wire the subs leads together, and then finally back to the amp?

5. This is the same as number 4. What gauge of wire will I need to run to and from the PX300.4 to each of the rainbow speakers?

6. The components that rainbow makes, they include a crossover, a tweeter, and a woofer. Does it include wire to wire these are all together, or am i going to have to get wire to do it with? what gauge if the later?

7. Am I missing any fuses anywhere?

8. The power wire running back to the battery, what terminal is that run off of?

thank you tons!

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[Jingle]

lol if it is the power running to the battery, it is red, the positive cable. Think this, my dad told me this when i was like 10, it will POSITIVELY shock you. thats only something to remember it by, its not really gonna shock you. and when you run your wires always make sure the colored wire is positive, that way you know.

 

[Neothin 10+ year member]

it was all going well, till I read that... lol

I know... its negative to positive.... so your power wire should be off of the negative terminal and the return should be to the positive terminal.

I just looked at the big 3 sticky and i got confused. It says to run a wire from the negative terminal to the chassis. I don't see how that's right though. instead of using power wire and running that back to the positive terminal from the amp, you can just ground to a bare metal part of the frame of the car. If you've grounded the negative terminal to the chassis, i dont see how the current makes it all the way back to the battery.

help //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[Neothin 10+ year member]

i just figured it out by staring at it for a couple of minutes....

ground out the amp to the chassis, power runs thru the chassis into the chassis/engine block wire, thru the block into the alternator (via the metal mounting bracket), and then it goes from the alternator to the positive terminal and thus completing the circuit! sometimes i just amaze myself lol.

so now that my last question is answered, anyone care to shed some light on my others //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

1. what kind of fuse (amperage wise) should I be using in the main power wire from the battery back to the hatch?

200A should do just fine on 0/1ga wire.

2. Just trying to visualize the whole electrical circuit here... power wire--> amp--> speakers--> amp--> ground. For the ground wires comming out of the amplifer, those will be 4 awg. Should i combine those two 4 awg wires back together into a 1/0 awg wire via another distribution block or should I just ground both grounds separately?

Either/or. This is one of those "no right answer" type deals, as I've yet to find any clear cut answer either way. Both have advantages and disadvantages. I personally run mine back into a distrobution block, and fuse at a single point for simplicity sake.

3. Are fuses needed after the distribution block in the power wire? aka battery--> fuse--> 1/0 awg power wire--> distro block--> fuse---> 4awg power wire--> amplifier. if so, what kind of amperage will I need?

Any time you decrease wire size you should use a fuse. So if you are splitting that 0/1ga wire into two (or more) smaller gauges of wire, you should use a fused distrobution block.

4. When wiring in the subwoofer, I want to wire it as a 2 ohm load. The type-x is a dual 4 ohm voice coil configuration so i know this is possible by wiring the positive and negative leads together. Now my question about this is, what gauge of wire should I run from the amp to the sub, wire the subs leads together, and then finally back to the amp?

10ga or 12ga would be more than adequate.

5. This is the same as number 4. What gauge of wire will I need to run to and from the PX300.4 to each of the rainbow speakers?

14ga or 16ga would again be more than adequate

6. The components that rainbow makes, they include a crossover, a tweeter, and a woofer. Does it include wire to wire these are all together, or am i going to have to get wire to do it with? what gauge if the later?

Not sure off hand. Some companies include wire, others don't.

If they don't, just use the above suggestion.

7. Am I missing any fuses anywhere?

Sounds like you may be missing a fused distrobution block for the power wire to split that 0/1ga wire into smaller gauges for the amplifiers.

8. The power wire running back to the battery, what terminal is that run off of?

Positive.

thank you tons!

No, thank you!