Car Audio guys in here

[AZSnake98]

Ok. i'm gonna keep this as short as possible:

Installed my deck in my Cherokee... installed and amp for my mids and an amp for my sub...

Went off-roading, voltage dropped. Keep in mind this is months after my stereo install. We figured my battery just went out... no big deal. Check my in-line fuse holder, one side is pretty burned/melted looking. After some research Ive narrowed it down to me using too small a power wire to my distribution block and it was pulling too much power... causing my amps to turn off. (This happened between 10-and 30 minutes of it working fine.) If i unplug the fuse from one side of the distribution block the other amp turns back on right away BUT turns off a short while later. Then, I can turn the deck off for 5 seconds... then turn it back on and it works fine again for a sort while...

Do you think It's that my battery to distribution block wire is too small of gauge? It's 4 gauge... and it splits into 2 more 4 gauges one to the mid amp and one to the sub amp. the sub amp is a Rockford 900watt and the mid is an MBQuartz 460watt.

Would also like to know a good online car audio place (other than crutchfield) with good pricing to order stuff. The audio place i went to today wants 10 doll hairs a FOOT for 0gauge wire.... Im like wtf...

Any suggestions / input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[verbal]

How long is the run from your battery to the distribution block? This chart gives you a good idea for what wire size you should be running. It looks like you should definitely be running 2 gauge on the main wire. I would think you would be fine keeping the 4 gauge runs off the block.

Recommended Power and Ground Cable Sizes & Speaker Wire Size and Length

 

[Blown_By_You]

Yes, it most definitely sounds like your wire was too small, BUT, 4 gauge should have been plenty, even to run both of those amps...

You can also cause excessive heat from having a bad ground.. Go thru and recheck your grounds.. Make sure they are on bare, clean metal and bolted down tightly..

I buy all my audio stuff of Amazon these days.. Don't EVER buy anything from Crutchfield... Jesus, they **** people..

I don't think you need 0 gauge.. I really don't.. There is another issue here.

Although, when you run a distribution block, you would run 1 4 gauge split into 2 8 gauge wires..

Or one 0 gauge split into 2 4 gauge wires..

 

[Blown_By_You]

If you insist on changing to 0 AWG, you can get it for $3.99/ft shipped from Amazon..
Amazon.com: IMC Audio 0 Gauge Power Cable Wire: Car Electronics

 

[leo2hot4tv]

I would think the fuse would blow before wires melt. What kind of fuse do you have? In line 30 amp?

 

[Blown_By_You]

I would think the fuse would blow before wires melt. What kind of fuse do you have? In line 30 amp?

I'm guessing it's more like a 150 amp maxifuse.

Drawing too much juice or having too much resistance constantly won't necessarily blow the fuse..

 

[low03tb]

4awg (if its truly that) will be just fine. You're not running that much. Issue likely lies somewhere else. Kinda hard to diagnose without being there

 

[FineLineMtrSprt]

Are you running a capacitor? ..... if so make sure its grounded. Are both your amps shutting off. . Or just one? Did you remote turn in wire come loose?

Sent with Tapatalk2 while watching chicks get naked.

 

[07COBRAVENOM]

what part of AZ you in?

 

[mr-proper]

how are your gains set on the amp? you crank it up all the time with the gains set up to high? and bass boost turn on? if so then i am sure your amp is going south ,and cant keep up anymore. the gains set up to high is causing the amp to overheat;-) ,try a different amp and see if it resolves it, your 4gauge is plenty and check for a loose ground.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/ best place and fast shipping,


(my amps gains are set at 30% and bass boost is turned off)

 

[AZSnake98]

Wow thanks for all the responses guys lets get this shit figured out.


Ok lets answer all these in succession.

From the amp to the dist block is around 10 feet. But there is an inline fuse holder 1 foot from the battery, then dual fuses on the dist block right by the amps in the back.

checked the grounds... they are solid. should I replace the 4 gauge from the battery to the dist block with 2/0 gauge? or replace the 2 4gauge wires coming from the dist block to the amps with 8 gauge?

The fuses are an 80 amp in the in-line next to the battery, the 2x 30 amps in the dist block near the amps.

No capacitor. and BOTH amps shut off unless i remove oone of the fuses in the dist block, then the other amp will run fine for a while... then shut off as well. remote wires all checked and are fine

Im in peopria AZ.

the gains are MAYBE at 50% and the bass boost is off I have enough bass equalizers and sub volume control on my deck that I don't need them on on the amp.

 

[cobracide]

I would be doing 1/0. Especially where the first wire that feeds all the others.

 

[AZSnake98]

I would be doing 1/0. Especially where the first wire that feeds all the others.

Yea I'm thinking the same... My only hesitation is if there is some kind of OTHER SIDE to this... like if I go overkill on the wire size is it gonna mess up something else?

 

[AZSnake98]

4awg (if its truly that) will be just fine. You're not running that much. Issue likely lies somewhere else. Kinda hard to diagnose without being there

even if its 4gauge from battery then split to 4gauge to 2 different amps? That seems like the most logical solution would be to beef up the wire from the battery... especially since when I unplug a fuse from the dist block.. and run just one amp... it works fine for a while...

 

[cobracide]

Yea I'm thinking the same... My only hesitation is if there is some kind of OTHER SIDE to this... like if I go overkill on the wire size is it gonna mess up something else?

1/0 is not too big. It is a better match for the amps total power capacity of about 1500W.

 

[Jroc]

This is a awesome kit for the money.
Amazon.com: KnuKonceptz KCA Complete 4 Gauge Amp Installation Kit: Car Electronics

IMHO it's better than my StreetWires 4 gauge amp kit even though it's very similar.

 

[Tmatt142]

Hmmm. Could be your wire gauge as was mentioned. What size ground are you running? Are you running a separate block for the amp grounds as well? Where do you have the amps grounded? Your pwr cable @ the battery, how well is it connected there?
Now, how bout your amps....are you running them stereo, mono?? Or is it as simple as flicking a switch to do that? Where aRe the amps located? Is it well ventilated so they are not heating up? And lastly, make sure your alternator can keep up with all the power your pulling out of that battery.
My two cents....I'm not familiar with the new technology car audio but had my fair share back in the old days.

 

[cobracide]

Verify the run lengths and gauge.

http://knowledge.sonicelectronix.com/car-audio-and-video/car-amplifiers/what-gauge-wire-do-i-need-to-install-my-amplifier.html

 

[low03tb]

I VEERY highly doubt your wiring gauge is the issue

 

[Stryker27]

I VEERY highly doubt your wiring gauge is the issue

+1
I think you should verify that the is no issue with either amp. do you have any way to remove the amps and test them in another vehicle? Spending $$ on 0Ga at this point may be premature....