Anyone running larger than 4 gauge here?

[Keegz]

I want to upgrade my power wire when I change up my stereo in the spring, but when I put in the 4 gauge in the first place, it seemed like there wasnt much room even for that. Is anyone on here running 0 gauge, say? (that's what I plan on installing) Was it run alongside the door sills???

[CrazyCaker]

How many amps is your system drawing? Imho going 0 awg can be over kill in many cases. A lot of audio places of course are going to recommend it because they want to sell it to you (larger markup).

[thekid]

Jason's (YP5 Toronto) car was setup with 0 gauge between the batteries, IIRC.

[Keegz]

^ I hear ya there. I am running a 1200W max. amp for my sub, and plan on getting an 800W max. for my door speakers. Both amps themselves say no smaller than 4 gauge wire...

[CrazyCaker]

I'm running more then that with 4 awg, and have done so for over 4 yrs in this car. I also ran a simular setup in my last car and also used 4 awg. There were absolutely no indications of insulation breakdown, or wear.

[Myk]

You will never use anywhere close to the MAX ratings on an amp. You go to these shops and they say, Oh you have a 1200W amp, you need 0g wire for sure.

I had found a site that calculated the wire size based on a factor of the amps RMS and AMP draw....but I can't find it now.

[Keegz]

Hmm. Last year I had a dist block that was 4 ga in and had 4 8ga out, and I ran 2 8 ga wires to my cap, 1 8ga to my door speaker amp (bypassed the cap), then a piece of 4 ga I had lying around from the cap to my sub amp. If I dont need to go 0 ga then I'd like to at least find a dist block that will accept 4 ga in and at least 2 4ga out, that way I can run 4 ga to both amps AND my cap. I know its not gonna improve the performance at all... splitting a 4ga into 2 4ga, but at least it all looks uniform that way. :)

[y2jay]

don't forget our alternators don't have the required output for that amount of juice, if you plan on running so much power.

[midnitehour]

i use 0/1 guage.. don't really notice any difference between that and the 4 guage i was running execpt that it no longer fits under the door sills.
the 0 guage runs from the batt to a 300 amp fuse then to a dist block which has 3 100 amp fuses down to three 8 guage wires to the amps and one to the cap.
I've got 3 amps 1920watts in total.

got a good deal on the wire so can't really complain.

[S.S.S.P5]

I got 2 agu in the p5, and have been an MECP Certified audio instaler for 10 years, 0 is nice to have but in most instances completely unnecessary

[bluewater87]

i used to run 4 gauge in my setup, then i upgraded to 0 gauge and it made a big difference. i have a kicker kx2500, and another 4 channel 1000w peak amp. the kicker is rated at 2880 watts rms. when u have this many watts, ur gonna need 0 gauge. (and a realy big capacitor, yellow top, still havent got the bigger alternator yet though) and my lights still dim at high volume.

[Keegz]

But where are you guys running the wires if they dont fit under the sills???

[RideGuy]

Are there any other concerns other than voltage drop when considering the size of wire?

[bluewater87]

But where are you guys running the wires if they dont fit under the sills???

i got mine to fit

[midnitehour]

Are there any other concerns other than voltage drop when considering the size of wire?

heat build up from resistance... melt the wire...become shibby... but unlikely

[midnitehour]

i used to run 4 gauge in my setup, then i upgraded to 0 gauge and it made a big difference. i have a kicker kx2500, and another 4 channel 1000w peak amp. the kicker is rated at 2880 watts rms. when u have this many watts, ur gonna need 0 gauge. (and a realy big capacitor, yellow top, still havent got the bigger alternator yet though) and my lights still dim at high volume.

also remember to upgrade your grounds. if you have a 0 guage from the battery than you need a 0 guage to the battery to make it fully effective.

[bluewater87]

also remember to upgrade your grounds. if you have a 0 guage from the battery than you need a 0 guage to the battery to make it fully effective.

is that the wire from the alternator? what about the ground wire kits u can buy. whats that for?

[midnitehour]

^ no from the chasis to the (-) terminal on the battery

[.miKEy.]

if you are going to do that do it all man, use all 0ga from altenator to batt, alt to ground, ground to batt, ground to chasis, and power from batt to amp/cap or whatever system you are running.

you will not notice much of a difference from 4 to 0 if you arent running a huge setup, generally 4 will be fine for an everyday driver, 0 is commonly used for SPL and other high wattage applications where it is necessary to free up the flow of power and squeaze out those last few dB.

[midnitehour]

0 guage is a bitch to cut. need a really big wire/cable cutter.

[.miKEy.]

naw i use a sharp utility knife in a sawing action, clean cut but dulls the blade after a full 0ga install :P

[RideGuy]

#4 @ 12v, lets lets say 5 meters (16.4 feet) is good for a little over 75A (900W actual, not peak) with a 5% voltage drop.

I'm guessing that voltage drop is what people are trying to avoid when they are after every last bit of juice, and why they go up to #1/0.

Amps vs voltage drop on #4, 12v, 5meters
5% drop - 75A
4% drop - 60A
3% drop - 45A
2% drop - 30A
1% drop - 15A

That's why I asked before if voltage drop was the only thing to consider. I don't know much about car audio, but I do know about power. :)