Gauge Wire & fuse needed??? - Audio & Electronics Forum

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Gauge Wire & fuse needed???
Monday, February 28, 2005 5:52 PM
Just a quick question.....

I don't think there is enough juice going to my 2 amps through the 12 gauge wire from the battery to the amps.... there is a 60 amp IN LINE FUSE.....
when my car is running, my subwoofer is much MUCH lower than when the car is not running...I am planning to upgrade the "big 3" tomorrow night for the dimming of my lights in general...

***my question is, what gauge should I upgrade it to and what in line fuse should I put in???? 80 amps/100amps???? Going from the battery to the amp in the back.

***Just some background...***
1st amp(MTX) has a 30 amp fuse running @ 280 watts rms...
2nd amp(Pioneer) has also a 30 amp fuse running @ about 150 watts rms...


PLEASE ANYONE WITH SOME INSIGHT!!!!

THANK YOU SOOO much!!!

Re: Gauge Wire & fuse needed???
Monday, February 28, 2005 6:12 PM
12 Gauge wire?!?!? Holy crap dude. Yes, definately up that to at least 8, with a 60 amp inline fuse. The power wire is choking your system. 8 would be minimum. And if you ever plan an upgrade, you may want to go to 4, just to save a step down the road.




Brakes? I don't need no stinking brakes....I have air bags
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Re: Gauge Wire & fuse needed???
Monday, February 28, 2005 6:31 PM
Wow, you're sharing a load from two amps with a 12awg?! Crazy...
Personally, i'd go with 4awg wire and keep the same 60A fuse rating...

12awg? WOW! Just wow..



"If life throws you a curve, pop the clutch and drift it!"
Re: Gauge Wire & fuse needed???
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 4:39 AM
in our cars figuring on 15' from battery to trunk area where the amp is can hold around 65 amps safely on 8 gauge. but your close to maxing the wire out, i'd suggest 4 gauge as well with around a 100-125 amp fuse on it, reason i dont say 60 amps is becase your two amps now are both 30 wich total give u 60 amps. if you ever switch out one of those amps for something bigger you'd have to change your fuse near the battery as well. if you just get a 100-125 amp fuse you wont need to ever replace it unless you go super big on allot of high powered amps in wich case your likely to have to change your power wire anyway.


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Re: Gauge Wire & fuse needed???
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 6:04 AM
at first I only had the mtx amp (280watts with a 30 amp fuse) and they installed the 12 gauge... but they should have been smarter and put my bigger wires in there for the future... it's all a gimmick.. they do it on purpose this way when i want to change... i have to do that too and then they make more money.....
so definitely I will go with at least an 8 gauge wire and maybe up the amp fuse to 80 or 100 amps just to be good for now and in the future too.... thanx guys... can i do that myself????? is it hard to do??? any simple instructions on how to replace that wire from the battery to the amps???? how do i change the in-line fuse????
Re: Gauge Wire & fuse needed???
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 6:11 AM
Carlitto Rossi wrote:at first I only had the mtx amp (280watts with a 30 amp fuse) and they installed the 12 gauge... but they should have been smarter and put my bigger wires in there for the future... it's all a gimmick.. they do it on purpose this way when i want to change... i have to do that too and then they make more money.....
so definitely I will go with at least an 8 gauge wire and maybe up the amp fuse to 80 or 100 amps just to be good for now and in the future too.... thanx guys... can i do that myself????? is it hard to do??? any simple instructions on how to replace that wire from the battery to the amps???? how do i change the in-line fuse????



***** ONE SMALL QUESTION... BECAUSE I HAVE ONLY A 12 GAUGE WIRE WITH 60 AMP FUSE... could that possibly mean that the amps are spitting out less watts than they really could??? ***

thanx...

p.s. any instructions on how doing so???
Re: Gauge Wire & fuse needed???
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 6:17 AM
Yes and you can cause fire to your car also (just touch the wire after you have play some music for a wile)




2 x Adire Brahma 15", 2 x PA A3000DB
Re: Gauge Wire & fuse needed???
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 8:45 AM
can anyone please tell me how to remove that wire from the batt to the amps and to replace it with another??? should I put 4/8 gauge + 60/80/100/+amp inline fuse??? (taking into account future upgrades???) ---both my amps in the back have a total of 60 amp fuses (2*30amps each)..

~thanks~
Re: Gauge Wire & fuse needed???
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 12:50 PM
I still suggest the 60 amp fuse. That way something won't short out later, and not blow the inline fuse as quick as it should. Otherwise, there's a small risk of melting the wire if something shorts. It probably won't, but I'd say stay with the 60. If you ever upgrade your amps, just change the fuse. It's all of a dollar or whatever.

Basically, to change the wire, just follow it's parth, and lay the new wire in place of the old as you pull the old out.




Brakes? I don't need no stinking brakes....I have air bags
http://members.cardomain.com/charlzo_2000
Re: Gauge Wire & fuse needed???
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 4:13 PM
as long as the fuse isnt rated higher then the wire is capable of there is no way to short or melt the wire, the only thing your doing by going with a smaller fuse, is just assuring that u pay more money when u upgrade your amps down the line. even if its only abuck why spend and extra buck when u dont have to. your system isnt any safer with a 60 amp fuse then it would be with a 100 amp fuse.


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Re: Gauge Wire & fuse needed???
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 7:56 PM
hey guys.. here is an update....

I just did the upgrade of the big 3... actually I only had to do 1 ( from the battery to the chassis) and let me tell you there was a huge difference in bass.... when i used to have the radio on (no cd) i had to put it at around 30 to hear some bass.... now i can hear it at 20... it's like there is more watts coming out of the amp....

***I also changed the main wire going from batt to amp (it's 8 gauge with 60 amp in line fuse now instead of the old 12 gauge wire)***

NOW, my question is, the ground for my amp it's a 12 gauge (the amp is doing 280 watts rms * 1 channel @ 4 ohms)... should I changed this gauge to 8 or 4???? or I leave it with the original 12 gauge???

please let me know... thanx...

Re: Gauge Wire & fuse needed???
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 8:02 PM
go with a 8




2 x Adire Brahma 15", 2 x PA A3000DB
Re: Gauge Wire & fuse needed???
Wednesday, March 02, 2005 9:22 AM
one question.. the wire from my amp (280 watts rms X 1 channel) to ground is only 12 gauge... should I upgrade that to 8 gauge??? or 12 is more than enough???

and my final second question is, how come when the car is running, the sub sounds a bit lower than when I am just sitting in the car and listening to music (car is off)???
and is there a way to prevent this, to make them both equal or that's how it always will be ???

Thanx...
Re: Gauge Wire & fuse needed???
Wednesday, March 02, 2005 7:31 PM
Carlitto Rossi wrote:hey guys.. here is an update....

I just did the upgrade of the big 3... actually I only had to do 1 ( from the battery to the chassis) and let me tell you there was a huge difference in bass.... when i used to have the radio on (no cd) i had to put it at around 30 to hear some bass.... now i can hear it at 20... it's like there is more watts coming out of the amp....

***I also changed the main wire going from batt to amp (it's 8 gauge with 60 amp in line fuse now instead of the old 12 gauge wire)***

NOW, my question is, the ground for my amp it's a 12 gauge (the amp is doing 280 watts rms * 1 channel @ 4 ohms)... should I changed this gauge to 8 or 4???? or I leave it with the original 12 gauge???

please let me know... thanx...


1. you have your battery grounded to the chasis, but your alternator is still grounded to the engine/tranny. the engine/tranny sits in rubber mounts. do the other 2 of the big three and you'll notice an even bigger difference.

2. use the same size ground wire that you used for power wire. if your using 8 guage to B+, use 8 guage for your ground



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