Ive got a 1200w x1 chan class D amp, and i have considerable dimming (at night) with the HU around 65% volume, I never go above 70%. I am looking at getting a second battery to install soon. Are you suggesting that i need a new alt before i need a second battery? Btw im still running factory battery. Its 3 yrs old with 35k
-Patrick

 

Have you upgraded the battery to chasis, chasis to block, alternator to battery wires with at least the same gauge wiring you are using in your system? If not, I would try this first. Your electrical system in your truck is only as good as the weakest link. If you haven't upgraded these yet then that could take care of your problems.

Basically adding a second battery will only tax your alternator more. Your alternator is what generates the power for your system. When you have dimming it means that your system is pulling more power then your alternator can generate, so it is pulling the extra needed energy from the battery.

 

Yah i know what happens when it dims, just never thought about upgrading the wires. Where is a good place to buy 0 or 2 gauge wire, and mount clips etc?
And ovbiously buy my questions, i havent done anything more then wire up the amp.
-Patrick

 

TX, what year is your truck? I would first upgrade your battery to chasis, chasis to engine block, and alternator to battery wires to at least the same gauge you will be running for the new amp. For the new amp you are referring to I would assume that would be 4 gauge or larger, depending on the length you are running the cable.

I had two balzers that I had the same install in. The first was run only with the stock battery. In the second blazer I upgraded to an optima yellowtop about a year before I traded it in for my F-150.

The voltage drop you see will depend on how much power your amp is drawing, and what other accessories you have on at the same time. For instance, you would more then likely see more dimming when running your air conditioner and your stereo at the same time.

 

Patrick, I tend to be lazy and order my stuff from sounddomain since I've had good service from them before. I have ordered a few things off of ebay, but I found that for the items I was buying, the price savings were minimal.

For cheap 1/0 gauge wire you could use some welding wire, it has a lower strand count so its a little harder to work with and bend, but most people seem to be happy with it.
https://weldingsupply.securesites.co...in/einstein.pl

 

couldnt find anything that just jumped out at me on that welding site. About how many feet do i need for the wire overhaul? Does a hardware store or Home depot, or the likes not sell thick gauge wire?
-Patrick

 

To tell you the truth I've never see it at any of my local hardware stores. If you have something other then a Home Depot or Lowes in your area they might carry the larger guage wire, but it would probably be the welding wire. I don't think you'd need more then 10', but I haven't actually run any of the big 3 upgrades in my truck yet as I don't have any of my amps installed yet.

Hopefully someone who's already run the upgrades in their truck could give you a better idea of how much wire you would need.

 

Patman03sprcrw- Cyberburn is right about the welding lead cable being a good choice. I think the one you want is a called Extreme Duty or maybe Extra-Flexible- cant remember the exact term. It is made of hundreds of tiny strands that make it almost as flexable as a piece of hemp rope. Forget HomeDepot on this one. Your best bet for finding it is at a welding supply house. Explain about the flexablity issue and lots of strands and they will know what you are talking about. For the connectors or cable lugs you may have to go to an industrial electric supply house. For a look at the connector types (there are lots of different types) look online at Thomas and Betts (T&B) or Burndy. T&B and Burndy you can get at the the electrical suppy house or you might try Allied electric- but they tend to only sell the smaller stuff and might not carry 1/0 connectors.

 

Yah, i always thought big three was Cap, battery, and alternator upgrades. LOL....

Okay thanks for the theads up. I might just buy a 0gauge amp wiring kit off ebay if i find a cheap one. Then just try to get some cheap connectors somewhere.

And InfernalCombustion thanks for the better description, i was pictureing like a steel support cable, just smaller diameter when i first was reading about the welding wire stuff.
-Patrick

 

I apologize if anyone thought that my earlier post on capacitors refered to changing system voltages. There were some questions about why anyone would want to use a cap on a system and I was just giving an example where it might have a benefit.

I stand by my comments on TRANSFORMERS and how they don't work on DC. I agree that there are some CONVERTERS or SYSTEMS that step-up DC voltages using a chopper circuit to convert DC to a modified AC waveform which is sent through a transformer and then rectified with a rectifier circuit back to a chopped DC waveform which is then smoothed back to a DC waveform using a capacitor, inductor or a battery. Those converters may have the words "voltage transformer" written on the package label by the marketing staff but the circuitry involves far more than just a transformer. The electrical term "transfomer" refers to a specific piece of equipment just like the terms resistor, inductor, or capacitor. The complexity, bulk, weight, and expense of a DC voltage boosting converter rated at 1200 watts/70 amps (the amplifier will not be 100% effecient - assume 200W loss) was such that I assumed no one would ever confuse it with a simple transformer.

 

Patrick-
Yea, an amp wiring kit would be a LOT prettier. The connector stuff I mentioned is for industrial use behind a cabinet door.

The welding cable will be fairly expensive, although maybe not by audio shop standards (the price on that Monster cable stuff is just theft). Also, the price on copper right now is really bad....
The insulation is very durable, designed to be used for months on a construction site being run over by trucks in the dirt etc... It will also be available only in the large sizes. We tried to buy it once in #4 or something and I think that I remember the smallest was around 1 or 1/0

 

is 4g too small for this? i have no idea what gauge stock is, and dont know how big i need to go. I found alot of kits on ebay for 4g for like 20+ 10-15 for shipping. It would be most of everything i needed, i would just need to pick up 4 extra connectors....

Something like this....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/4-Gau...35383935QQrdZ1

Thanks,
-Patrick

 

There is a question thats gonna start a fight. Let me start by saying that I am an Electrical Engineer and I do a lot of building/factory/industrial design. I know wire sizing very well for AC power and large motors etc. I do not do much DC or audio amplifier work so there may be some rules of thumb that I am not aware of. However this should get you very close.

Most importantly, start with the recomended fuse size for your amplifier. Your fuse protects the wire and the amp. You want to size the wire so that in the event of a short circuit or amp failure, the fuse will pop before the wire overheats and starts a fire. That would be bad. The following is a set of wire sizes and ampere ratings for AC copper wires taken from the National Electric Code. It is very conservative because they don't like fires. I have put down the most conservative numbers from table 310-16.
#8 40 amps
#6 55 amps
#4 70 amps
#2 95 amps
#1 110 amps
1/0 (0) 125 amps
2/0 (00) 145 amps

If you stay within the wire sizes above, use high quality connectors, and run an equally sized ground wire back to the battery/ground buss your DC voltage drop should be under .5 volt at 10' (and 1 volt at 20') from the battery.

As far as that ebay link, it is kind of strange. I would want as much ground wire as power wire for anything over 20 amps. Also the kit says its good for 1850 watts. 1850 W / 14 volts is 132 amps. But the kit is fused for only 80 amps! It is probably a slow blow fuse but that 1850 Watt number can't be a continous rating. If your amp is rated for 1200 RMS Watts - that rating is for output. Take into account the heat losses of the amp and cooling fans etc when considering the power consumption. That thing may draw 1500-2000 watts when the volume is really cranked up. BTW- for consideration of power needs, only use the audio wattage output ratings that are labeled as continous or RMS, the other output ratings are pretty much useless for anything except bragging.

 

well the idea was i needed about 10 feet, so there is plenty of wires. I dont need to add more fuses, to replace the big three right?

And as far as the ground being shorter, its that way b.c usually you can find a suitable ground anywhere in the vechile, and dont have to run the ground all the way to the battery. But my point is, wire is wire right? Doesnt matter what color the insulation is. Will still get the job done.

I really want to know what size gauge the stock wires are in the big three. That will help me make my descision the best from there.
-Patrick

 

Pat, basic rule of thumb on the big three is to use at least the same gauge wire you are currently using for your system. If you are currently running 4 gauge for your system, then using 4 gauge on the big 3 upgrades would be fine. The idea behind the big 3 is to add onto the existing factory connections for a better circuit path. As you stated, wire is wire. You can use the wire from an amp kit, order welding wire, or grab some wire from a local audio shop. They'll all do the trick.

As far as fusing, you should fuse the alternator to battery connection. An external fuse like the one shown with the amp wiring kit would work perfectly. Just use a fuse for the max amperage recomended for the wire, so for 4 guage you would want to use about a 100-120 amp fuse.

I just went and took a look at my truck. The stock wires are somewhere around 4-8 gauge. For my system I am running 4 gauge wire to my amps. Once I have my amps setup, and I redo the battery connections I will run 4 gauge wire for the big 3 upgrade in my system.