what gauge wiring to use?

[94_Accord]

hey all, before i go out and blow more money for the sake of it, lol i jst thought i would check up and see what you guys/girls reccomend when it comes to wiring up the amps and stuff.. i have 8gauge at the moment, and upon putting my new subz in, i have managed to go thru 3 fuses in the last month, now im assuming that its the power cable kit that i have which is too small as i am pumping the same, if not less than wot i was with the previous subs... Any thoughts??

Cheers

Mike :)

[newmski]

blowing fuses? check your connection at earth and make sure u have no freying wires earthing out on somthing
here is a good chart for audio cabling
http://www.the12volt.com/wiring/recwirsz.asp

[chicken8]

get the raizin grounding kit or something

could be fluctuations from ur battery.

doesnt seem like a cable problem. and 8 gage is pretty think already. should be fine if powering a 4 channel amp

[SPL77Civic]

what amp/s are you running?

8g isn't that thick at all, hell, I use 8g for speaker cable.

Anyways, check (as suggested) all your connections, esp power and earth.

Then go and buy yourself about 6m of 0g cable, you may not need it now, but if you ever decide to get bigger amps in the future you'll already have the cable to support it.

[bumography]

8guage for speaker cable? overkill mate, no point watsoever. unless ur pumping 1000+wrms into ur subs

i've used 8 guage to power my 2 amps once ( they added up to 100amps, i know 8guage is rated 60 i think.) 1000wrms in total, and nothing ever went wrong, except fuse blew once on a burp...
but also my cable is short cos my cars short..which might be why its ok
:)

[SPL77Civic]

yeah I was actually running 6000rms into 2 10s.

and am currently installing a set up that will see in excess of 10000rms into 2 15s, possibly even 18s.

So no in my case it isn't overkill, my mates and I prefer to overengineer the boxes and systems we build, its alot easier to upgrade amps and even woofers when u already have the basis to do so.( big battery, lots of 0g and other various sized cables and a really strong box)

[Fhrx]

Mike, before you go paying any money for anything, are you in NSW? If so bring the car down here and I'll diagnose the issue for you. :)

[wkdteg]

as others have said, check ur earthing and connections etc...
i wouldnt go as far as buying the raizin kit, as ive read a few articles where they dont exactly do much.
if ur the dude runnin the infinity gear, just run 4guage, and check ur connections etc... u might also want to invest in an amp kit, which would provide sum gear ur might not already have.
cheers

[94_Accord]

well ive got 2 amps, both 4 chanel, both bout 800 watts each to pump 2x12inch subs
then i have the 6x9s, splits, tweeters

i just wana kno whether the wiring i have is too thin for the system i have.

[wkdteg]

u got nothin 2 loose if u upgrade to a thicker form of cabling, as it also gives u the oppurtunity to upgrade components later. but ide check grounding points aswell.

[94_Accord]

Mike, before you go paying any money for anything, are you in NSW? If so bring the car down here and I'll diagnose the issue for you. :)

nah dude sorry im not.. im in melbourne..

i checked all the wiring tonight and they seem fine, they is no exposed wiring that could cause it to fry.. im just thinking whether the power cable kit that i originally bought for the car maybe just wasnt the best quality in itself..

are the power cable kits u can buy a bit dodgy or are they just the same as buying it seperately.

[wkdteg]

wat kit was it?

[94_Accord]

it was a Sound Tech Power cabling kit..

im not too familiar with kits, so im not sure wot kind of quality that is.

[smoknhothonda]

As stated previously go with the 0 gauge cable if you can afford it.

It easier to run your cable once, and never have to worry about upgrading it again.

I ran Neotech 0 gauge in my accord ( I was originally going to run 4-6 MTX 10's but I ended up running just a mild system, but at least I know if I upgrade I wont have to change my cable, and there is less voltage drop with the bigger cable compared to 8 gauge :)

The Neotech cable is of high quality but its a lot cheaper then stinger cables. By memory it was around $18-22 a metre

[SKREMN]

4 guage suits most applications safely upgrand your fuse? what amps are you pulling?
you can measure your amps as well with an amp meter
I have 0 guage and blow 120 amps fuses its not the wire its the fuse

[Fhrx]

As stated previously go with the 0 gauge cable if you can afford it. It easier to run your cable once, and never have to worry about upgrading it again.

Agreed. This is certainly true until you start pulling more than 300 amperes. Then you need to worry about 00 (2/0) and 000 (3/0) AWG cable.


The Neotech cable is of high quality but its a lot cheaper then stinger cables. By memory it was around $18-22 a metre

This is where I'm afraid I must pull you up champion. Now cables are one subject bound to start an argument at any audio gathering. Everybody has a different opinion on cables. To me, cables are not just cables. The reason we go for high quality cables is two fold. One reason is that the better quality the cable, the more strands it usually has and hence more current carrying ability. Now this is not important at all as you can simply buy a larger cable if need be so I wouldn't try and sell a cable based on that argument. The other main reason is that better cable tends to have a much more uniformly extruded jacket. If you get a meter of cheap cable and compare it to a meter of QED or Ohmn cable; chopping it at 25mm intervals, you'll often find the cheap cables come dangerously close to breaking out of the jacket every so often due to poor extrusion. Again not important if you plan on having your system for three months but if those cables have to withstand literally years of abuse under carpet (water / dirt / feet landing on them) then this does become an issue. The oxygen free argument is bollocks when referring to car audio cables and will not make an audible difference.

Just my 0.02 worth. :)

[mj3610]

get 4gauge power cbales and a ANL fuse which is larger i think it should fix the problem.

[Slow96GSR]

yeah I was actually running 6000rms into 2 10s.

and am currently installing a set up that will see in excess of 10000rms into 2 15s, possibly even 18s.

I'd be interested in seeing what amp(s) you are using. Hope one is this one (http://www.usamps.com/old_site/products/inv/usa-6000.htm)!!

Just so you all know you take voltage X amps and you get max power. That's why Fosgate will never have an amp that does 5k+ watts because they never make a power supply big enough but that's for a different discussion. Also 0awg isn’t enough for 10k watts. You'll need 0000awg or multiple lines. 6000 watts to the subs will be like 500 amps at 12v if you are running a good amp might be more. 0000awg is needed for 275 amps. If you go to www.usamps.com you can get the manuals on wiring and they have great info on hookups and wire specs.

As for the problem at hand.... Sounds like too small a gauge of wire is being used. With out knowing what amp and car you are in for lengths I would say to be safe go with 4awg and 0awg if you can afford it. Make sure there is a fuse no more that 16” away from the battery and one at the amp.

[SPL77Civic]

nah, I was running a pair of Eaudio 3000ds. the amps were sold by a company called Eaudio in NZ, the same amp was also sold by about 4 other companies around the world.

They never retailed in Oz, over in Finland, they are called SPL Dynamics EXT 3000ds and in 2004/05 were hugely popular in dB Drag Racing competition in Europe.

The amps going into my project Civic are Digital Designs Z1s, at the moment these would be close to being called the most powerful amp at 12v, with tests in europe showing in a real world test, in a leading competitors car, that the Z1 makes 4188rms at 1 ohm on 12v (so 1 battery charged to float at 14v then on burps the voltage drops to around the 12v mark)

[Slow96GSR]

Grab a USA 6000....13000+ watts at 14.4 volts! They are power hungry so be ready for a bigger alt and maybe 3-4. Not to mention the batteries!! I did a van a few years back and ran 8 US Amps VLX400's, 68 Batteries and 4 alts putting out close to 600 amps each. Of course 50k watts needs power!