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The purpose of this tutorial is to go over the techniques and methods of getting power to your amplifiers from the battery. Power to your amps is one of the most important parts of your system, if you aren't getting enough juice your system won't be able to work to its max capacity. This tutorial assumes you have already installed your amplifier where you want, if not review this guide.
Materials
These are the materials I used on my cars, some where trimmed down and some parts are optional. If you are unsure what size and length wire you will need look at the tables below. They will help you determine the gauge that is right for you. Use a tape measure to find the distance from the battery to your amp to find length, and besure to tack on an extra 5 feet or so.
-20 Feet of 4 Gauge Power Wire
-10 Feet of 4-8 Guage Ground Wire
-10 Feet of 8 Gauge Amp Wire
-20 Feet RCA Cable
-20 Feet 16 Gauge Remote Turn on Wire
-Speaker Wire
-Inline Fuse
-Distribution Block (Optional)
-Battery Connector (Optional)
-Various Wire Connectors
-Wire Crimper
-Various Screwdrivers
1. Getting the Materials
Choosing the right materials for the amps wiring is very important. You will obvoious need all the wires ready before you can begin to listen to your new system. There are several kits out there at your local electronics stores that will get you going with practically everything you need. I suggest you pick up one of those if you can, but there are many much cheaper solutions. Look out on eBay but make sure you carefully look over whats included in the auction, and check the sellers feedback. If you are unsure what gauge kit to buy, look at the following tables to see what would be right for you.
Recommended Wire Size |
RMS Watts
|
Wire Length
|
|
4 Feet |
8 Feet |
12 Feet |
16 Feet |
20 Feet |
100 |
10 Gauge |
10 Gauge |
8 Gauge |
8 Gauge |
4 Gauge |
200 |
10 Gauge |
8 Gauge |
8 Gauge |
4 Gauge |
4 Gauge |
400 |
8 Gauge |
8 Gauge |
4 Gauge |
4 Gauge |
4 Gauge |
600 |
8 Gauge |
4 Gauge |
4 Gauge |
4 Gauge |
2 Gauge |
800 |
4 Gauge |
4 Gauge |
4 Gauge |
2 Gauge |
2 Gauge |
1000 |
4 Gauge |
4 Gauge |
2 Gauge |
2 Gauge |
2 Gauge |
1400 |
4 Gauge |
2 Gauge |
2 Gauge |
2 Gauge |
1 Gauge |
Current Draw By Power |
|
Power and Ground Wire Current |
RMS (Watts)
|
Current (Amps)
|
|
Wire Gauge
|
Max Amps
|
100 |
16 |
|
1/0 |
350 |
200 |
32 |
|
2 |
225 |
400 |
64 |
|
4 |
150 |
600 |
96 |
|
8 |
100 |
800 |
128 |
|
10 |
60 |
1000 |
160 |
|
12 |
40 |
1200 |
172 |
|
14 |
25 |
1400 |
188 |
|
16 |
15 |
2. Battery Connection
Unhook the negitive side of the battery, and then the positive side of the battery. This will ensure that you do not get a short while wiring up your amp. Take your power wire, and strip off part of the sheath covering the wire. Take a crimper and crimp on a large ring terminal that will screw on to your factory battery terminal clamp. If you purchased a new battery terminal clamp, just plug it into that and tighten the screw. You will also need to move your existing power cables to the new clamp.
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