finally installing amp... need help

[camarozrule]

thankz guyz on helping me pik out my wires and such. im finally going to install my amp with the help of a friend. over the past week ive read tons of how to's and the crutchfield video on how to install an amp. i kno what do except how to hook up the power cable to the battery this part has me so confused so if u guyz could hel i would greatly appreciate it. thankz. btw i got the 4 guage amp instal kit from knukonceptz.com

[96firebird311]

You will need one of these.If you battery has top mounting posts, yo can use any of the clamp type. If you only have the side mount posts, you will need those GM adapter posts towards the bottom of the page.

[camarozrule]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by 96firebird311:
You will need one of these.If you battery has top mounting posts, yo can use any of the clamp type. If you only have the side mount posts, you will need those GM adapter posts towards the bottom of the page.<hr></blockquote>

so am i gonna need one for the negative side and one for the positive side... 2 total???

[youngcamarokid]

No, just one for positive. The negative cable goes to ground, which is your chasis. Find a spot on the frame, grind it down to bare metal, and drive a screw through it.

[96firebird311]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by youngcamarokid:
No, just one for positive. The negative cable goes to ground, which is your chasis. Find a spot on the frame, grind it down to bare metal, and drive a screw through it.<hr></blockquote>
Then why do they make the negative style terminals at all? How do you intend to connect 4g to the battery? :D Ground wire is equally as important as the power wire. They are one in the same. If you add a power wire to your vehicle, you MUST add or upgrade the ground wire.

Now then. Your car already has a ground directly from battery to chassis. So you can do one of two things.
1) You can upgrade the stock wire, but I'd go even bigger then 4g. Simply because that is the same ground your engine is using as well. Make it 2g or 1/0. Now the tricky part that makes this route damn near impossible. You would need to buy a little adapter thingy from Auto Zone. About $2. It looks a lot like the stock connecter, minus all the plastic coating. The big difference is that it has a screw type clamp thing going on... [img]smile.gif[/img] You can squeeze all your -'s under it and screw it down. But it's hard as hell. And I would say impossible with 1/0 wire.

2) Or you could go the MUCH easier route and buy the damn negative battery clamp in the link above.

Your choice! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[youngcamarokid]

On my car I took several strands of 12 guage with loops on the end and a bolt and drove it into the battery for ground

[96firebird311]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by youngcamarokid:
On my car I took several strands of 12 guage with loops on the end and a bolt and drove it into the battery for ground<hr></blockquote>

What?!?! What do you mean you "drove it into the battery"? You didn't use anything similar to this I assume? And why did you use several strands of 12g? You need to use the same size as your power wire. And I know (hope) you didn't use several strands of 12g for a power wire..... Oh and two strands of 8g don't make 4g...... just FYI.

[InsaneCamaro]

I dont know about you guys but im running my power wire under the lil red connector thing on the passengers side inner fender well. I have been running this for over a year without any power problems, and the amp im running is over a thousands watts.

[96firebird311]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by InsaneCamaro:
I dont know about you guys but im running my power wire under the lil red connector thing on the passengers side inner fender well. I have been running this for over a year without any power problems, and the amp im running is over a thousands watts.<hr></blockquote> What about the wire that runs from the battery to that positive post? So you are pulling all your current through the stock wiring. Which is like what....8awg? What amp you got?

[Backfire]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by 96firebird311:
Oh and two strands of 8g don't make 4g...... just FYI.<hr></blockquote>

I have seen a number of charts outlining the current capacity of the different wire sizes and you are right. Two 8ga cables doesn't equal the current capacity of one 4ga, it actually has more capacity!! At 12V, one 8ga cable is around 100A, while one 4ga cable is around 150A. So running two 8ga cables won't look great, but it will provide plenty of current capacity for the system.

[96firebird311]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Backfire:
Two 8ga cables doesn't equal the current capacity of one 4ga, it actually has more capacity!! At 12V, one 8ga cable is around 100A, while one 4ga cable is around 150A. <hr></blockquote>Sorry buddy. I'd like to know where you got this info from, so I can correct them as well.....

First off, voltage has nothing to do with it. Be it 12V or 1200V. Amperage is the only thing you need to look for when deciding on wire size. Next, cross sectional area. 8g has 8.35mm and 4g has 21.04mm Also, here is your chart:
Size___Amperage___Class A/B___Class D
0 awg 330 amps 2731 watts 3414 watts
1 awg 262 amps 2168 watts 2710 watts
2 awg 208 amps 1720 watts 2151 watts
3 awg 165 amps 1365 watts 1707 watts
4 awg 131 amps 1084 watts 1355 watts
5 awg 104 amps 860 watts 1075 watts
6 awg 82 amps 683 watts 853 watts
7 awg 65 amps 542 watts 677 watts
8 awg 52 amps 430 watts 537 watts
9 awg 41 amps 341 watts 427 watts
10 awg 33 amps 271 watts 339 watts
11 awg 26 amps 215 watts 269 watts
12 awg 21 amps 171 watts 213 watts
13 awg 16 amps 135 watts 169 watts
14 awg 13 amps 107 watts 134 watts

Let me break it down for ya.... :D ... (I always liked this one [img]smile.gif[/img] )

If you are filling a swimming pool with water. And you want to get it done a quickly as possible. Would you use two pipes that are 5in in diameter OR a single 10in pipe.

Think about it.

[ October 01, 2003: Message edited by: 96firebird311 ]</p>