I'm trying to source power wire to install a 4 channel and a mono amp. I will be working on a custom enclosure to fit in the hatch area of my wagon. As such, I've got 2 questions: 1. Does anyone know roughly how long of a power wire I'll need to get from the battery in the engine bay back to the hatch area. My estimates seem to be putting me between 20-25'. I'm wondering if this is correct based on any body else's actual experience. 2. Does anyone know a good source for wire (local would be preferred, but online is good too)? I've been googling around trying to source wire, but without how much to buy it's kind of hard to get an estimate. I'm looking at using 0/1 or 2 ga. wire. I'd get a "wiring kit" but again, without having a somewhat firm number, this would be point less.
True, but you still would then need 8 or so ga wire up to the engine bay for the car to run... And then do I really want the battery in the cargo area... Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
I have a Braille/Deka in the back. Being that you can mount it anywhere and any which way, I modded one of the foam floor panels to mount mine. Don't even see it, have full use of the spare well and less weight on the nose of the car.
I'll have to look into one of those. Did you have any issues tying yet into the car system? If needed is hard to jump the car or someone else's ? Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
Knuconcepts is where I purchased all of my wires. You should get at least 4 gauge wire for your setup. I would personally get at least 16 feet. Better to be a little long than short.
http://www.bcae1.com/images/swfs/speakerwireselectorassistant.swf this says anything heavier than 10 gauge is going to have better than 98% power efficiency at lengths between 20~30 feet.
For how much power? You have to remember that the power your amp puts out is less than the power transfered in the wire from the battery to it as well. I wouldn't connect my amps with 10 guage
Good lord, not this debate again. Just like the guy on legacygt trying to tell everyone 1/4" fuel line is good for up to 10,000HP. Try telling that to a top fuel drag team. Sometimes things on paper just don't really transfer over into the real world. Plus the calculator you pointed out was for speaker wire...not power wire...so it doesnt take into account for stuff like amperage draw. Back on topic.....you should run at least 4 gauge wire with the setup you have. Knuconceptz is great wire for the money. I have been using their stuff for the past 7 years without any problems.
@mad mallard I've been to that website before and this calculator and this one tooare more suited for showing the effects of wire size on a system. Size does matter. @integroid & @Matt- Thanks!! knukonceptz looks pretty good, and I'm looking at getting this kit from them.
I like to use welding cable, super flexible and locally available if you're in a hurry. I do get mine off eBay though..... I also like to use a fused battery terminal vs. the remote one, cleaner and arguably safer as the fuse is right on the battery. The "kits" I typically put together: Typical eBay deal on 1/0 cable Audison Connection fused battery terminal Audison Connection Dual fused terminal block There is a matching negative battery terminal, but not necessary as I ground each amp to the chassis Audison Connection Negative block
Chris, you can stop by the house today and see some of the KnuConeptz wiring in person if you'd like. Their RCAs are dead sexy and they're KollusFlex (or whatever the hell they named it) is unbelievably pliable. I ordered 20 or 25 feet of their 4AWG, and 8 feet of 8awg ground and power as I ran the larger cable into a distribution block (when I had two amps installed). I used a fuseblock right on the negative terminal as well. I bought 100 feet of speaker wire to do just the front speakers and that was plenty. My setup was a bit longer than a "stock" one simply because I ran the crossovers and amplifier in the trunk which means the speaker wire needs to run from the trunk to the front of the car, four times. Twice for both tweeters and twice for both drivers.
Didn't say it didn't matter. ;p In Knuconceptz, the cost increment from 8 to 4 awg is %110, from 4 to 1/0 is another %500 after that. Thats about in line with other places that don't sell as nice a jacket on their cable as Knu does. Personally, I'd only run power cable 1~2 awg thicker than the speaker cable i was going to use, just from a cost standpoint. Yeah, I realised I mis-read the original post and went to the wrong calculator. Oops. here's the right one. http://www.bcae1.com/images/swfs/voltdropthroughsystem.swf When you start turning serious power after 150 watts, like multiple amps, then you can start choking things with a 10 awg. but anything under 150watt total won't get any $$$ benefit with heavier than 10awg.
Also keep in mind it's not "just watts", as different amplifier topologies draw different current. Class D, and G/H can do with much less than a Class A amp (if you can find one), but class A/B still pulls quite a bit more current than the afore mentioned D and G/H. An easy out is to use the bcae1.com info based off the amplifier fuses. Not the dead nuts accurate way, but a good baseline to use.
You can't get any better than KnuConcepts wiring. Their flex wire is amazing stuff and so easy to work with.