wiring my dual voice coil sub

[audiotroubles 10+ year member]

I have my 4 ohm DVC sub wired with the voice coils in series from a bridged connection to my amp:

+ from amp to DVC1 + ; - from DVC1 to DVC2 + ; - from DVC2 to amp -

what did I do? is this correct? am I running at 4 ohms? it works well, but should I be wiring it a different way?

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[brtnboarder3241 5,000+ posts]

http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/woofer_configurations.asp

 

[gladiator_jai 10+ year member]

No sir. You can't wire a D4 sub to 4 ohm.

Only to 2 or 8 ohm.

what amp? what sub? specs of amp?

 

[audiotroubles 10+ year member]

okay, so maybe I'm running at two ohms. I don't know, so I was hoping someone could tell me according to how I have explained how it is wired.

amp: Diamond Audio D3 600.1

sub: PG Xenon X10D4

I mainly just want to make sure it is wired right. It works fine, so I assume so, but I could use some confirmation on it.

 

[prodgod 10+ year member]

The way you have it explained, it will be running as 8 ohms. To make it 2 ohms, run a wire from amp + to VC1 +, then a jumper from VC1 + to VC2 +, and a wire from amp - to VC1 -, then a jumper from VC1 - to VC2 -. Will find a diagram for you quick.

 

[prodgod 10+ year member]

Here are your two options when running a 4 ohm DVC sub. http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/woofer_configurations.asp~Q~1~I~42

 

[prodgod 10+ year member]

According to the specs on your amp and sub, if you run it at 2 ohm, the amp will be putting out 450 watts rms. Your subwoofer is rated at 450 watts rms. If you have it wired the way you described, that sub is only recieving about 225 watts rms.

 

[audiotroubles 10+ year member]

Cool, so I should probably rewire to get the 2 ohm power out of the sub.

The reason that I wired them in series like that is that I can't fit two wires into the sub's set screw connector.

I am using 10 gauge wire and only one fits into the set screw connector.

Do I just cut about half of the strands from each wire so that both wires will fit when both are put into the set screw connector?

 

[prodgod 10+ year member]

You're not running enough power to justify having that big of speaker wire. If you downgrade the wire a little, you'll be able to bridge easy.

 

[audiotroubles 10+ year member]

What is the correct wire size for the 450 watts that I'm looking for?

would 14 gauge work?

 

[prodgod 10+ year member]

You could get away with 12 or probably even 16.

 

[audiotroubles 10+ year member]

if 14 gauge wire is too small, could it cause a short? Is there a way to test the wattage to find out how much wattage my sub is pulling? I have a voltmeter