Posted June 6, 200916 yr on my highs amp, im running the power wire as 8 gauge and the ground wire as 4 gauge(i was told this was ok by a friend and professional installer). im not doubting his credibility, i just wanted to know what are the advantages and disadvantages if there are any to wiring your amps this way
June 6, 200916 yr It's ghetto is a disadvantage. There are no advantages. As long as 8 gauge wire is sufficient for the power draw of the amp it's ok.
June 6, 200916 yr Author I definantly appreciate ya and will stick with the 8 gauge wire for the ground and power wires. I had the amps wired with both wires as 8 gauge and after i changed the ground wire to a 4 gauge i did notice how tacky it looked.
June 7, 200916 yr 8ga most likely isn't enough for your application, although I really can't tell what you are running from your sig as you are missing a couple channels of amplification for what speakers you have
June 7, 200916 yr Author the profile ap1040 is the 4 channel amp, its setup: ch. 1 (2 boss audio tweeters @ 2ohms) ch.2 (2 boss audio tweeters @ 2ohms) ch.3 (2 eminence alpha 6c @ 2ohms) ch.4 (2 eminence alpha 6c @ 2 ohms)the profile ap1200 is the 2 channel amp, its setup: ch.1 (4 eminence alpha 6a @ 2ohms) ch.2 (4 eminence alpha 6a @ 2ohms)after i read what ku40 wrote, i went and did some research and the web site said 8 gauge would be good enough with the amount of power im using. the amps biggest power and ground terminals are 4 gauge so does that mean i should upgrade to 4 gauge.
June 8, 200916 yr Author M5,If im running an epic-160 and kenwood kdc-x492 in my dash and i wanna change the ground up on them from a 18 gague wire, what should i go with. They both have an 18 gauge wire for the ground going into a 16-14 connector or bigger if need be, but whats the biggest size wire i should use on the other end of the connector going to the cars frame or kick panel. appreciate it the info, your very helpful
June 8, 200916 yr There's no limit on how big a wire could/should be. It doesn't hurt anything. 12 gauge speaker wire works fine.
June 8, 200916 yr the profile ap1040 is the 4 channel amp, its setup: ch. 1 (2 boss audio tweeters @ 2ohms) ch.2 (2 boss audio tweeters @ 2ohms) ch.3 (2 eminence alpha 6c @ 2ohms) ch.4 (2 eminence alpha 6c @ 2 ohms)the profile ap1200 is the 2 channel amp, its setup: ch.1 (4 eminence alpha 6a @ 2ohms) ch.2 (4 eminence alpha 6a @ 2ohms)after i read what ku40 wrote, i went and did some research and the web site said 8 gauge would be good enough with the amount of power im using. the amps biggest power and ground terminals are 4 gauge so does that mean i should upgrade to 4 gauge.And you have no amp on your subs? Do you have a fresh run of 8 gauge for each amp or all three on one run?
June 8, 200916 yr Author M5, Yeah currently i have no amp for my subs, there just riding with me for the health. i just got done working on the car and still sweating as im typing but drinking plenty of water in the texas heat. right now i have a 4 gauge wire from the positive terminal going to a dual output ditribution block with a 100a fuse on each side with 4 gauge wire going to each amps positive terminal. i just also sanded down the seat bolt and frame, then cleaned it with degreaser. I ran one 4 gauge ground wire from each amps ground/negative terminal to the frame where i placed a washer down the two wire rings held down by a bolt with a washer tightened into the seat bolt frame, is this a sufficient ground?????If im running an epic-160 and kenwood kdc-x492 in my dash and i wanna change the ground up on them from a 18 gague wire, what should i go with. They both have an 18 gauge wire for the ground going into a 16-14 connector or bigger if need be, but whats the biggest size wire i should use on the other end of the connector going to the cars frame or kick panel???? appreciate it the info, your very helpful.
June 8, 200916 yr Ground to the metal of your dash closest to your big three mounting point. Huge wire isn't necessary.
June 9, 200916 yr Author M5,should i place a washer between the ring terminals and the car's frame or should the ring terminals touch the frame itself or it doesnt matter. last question appreciate it.
June 9, 200916 yr M5,should i place a washer between the ring terminals and the car's frame or should the ring terminals touch the frame itself or it doesnt matter. last question appreciate it.You want as good of contact as possible, make sure to take the frame down to bare metal and have the terminal make contact as best as it can. Having a washer on top to rotate for the nut can help. I locktite my connections as well as things tend to shake loose.
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