Amp hook up question

[85MercPark]

Where should the main power to the AMP come from? Battery directly? Or fuse box?

[Nathan in MI]

Just power it directly from the battery with an in-line fuse.

[85MercPark]

It's an 800 Watt Kenwood, what gauge wire should I use? What size fuse?

[gadget73]

from the battery. 4 ga wire is probably overkill, but its better to err on the side of caution, especially given how long the cable is. Check the fuse on the amp (may have 2, add them if so) and add say 10 amps, and that would make a good front fuse. You'll want the fuse close to the battery, just in case that cable shorts somewhere along the line, that way it will blow the fuse instead of catching the car on fire. Might also want to consider an alternator upgrade, yours is probably a 55 or 65 amp.


If this is the VW, 8 ga is probably fine, the amp will be like 2 feet from the battery. Make sure you add a capacitor if its the VW, otherwise you'll hear the chatter from the mechanical voltage regulator. Also keep in mind its a 30 amp generator. The stock alternator that you can replace it with is all of 55 amps.

[85MercPark]

It's the Merc. I was looking last night for a place to run the power line through the firewall, that should be interesting...

The sub box I got won't fit in the VW...

[87_crown_vic]

i can help with this if needed at SF. easiest thing to do is go to wal-mart and get an amp wiring kit that has the RCA cables, power line, ground line, fuse, and remote wire. if no remote line is with the kit, regular speaker line can be used since it is just to send a signal to amp when to power on from the head unit.

[85MercPark]

Might just take you up on that.

I already have an AMP in place. All wired, just need to run a main line to it and a better ground.

[85crownHPP]

ooohhh I wanna help take apart the waggin ! save it for saturday!

[85MercPark]

Got a wedding Saturday, be there Sunday...

[zoomie]

ampwiring

i used to do car audio for a living with 800 w 4 gage might be overkill but if you plan to upgrade thats what id use 8 g is nect best thing i usually jyst punch a hole through the fire wall with a air hammer with a spike looking bit thingy on it then run a peice of tube through it cut off at 45 degree angle or so and run the wire throug the tube to the battery. then id plug the hole with a rubber grommet type thing or seal it with something like epoxy or silicone sealer also i usually dont run my ground anymore than 10 inches from the amp as well. me personally i dont use caps unless i need it i have a 1000 amp battery for my car so im good lol the best amp i have found is hifonics , you can run them all day and barley be warm,also these amps punch out some juice!!!! sonicelctronix i believ is the place i get my amps from if i remeber right. happy hunting and goo dluck with the install

[87_crown_vic]

NECROPOST... would have gotten done at SF but dang rain... as far as running the power line, i always notch the rubber grommet where the antenna line runs thru the firewall and feed thru there... best if you got a clothes hanger to use as a fish line to pull the line since the rubber plug is under the blower and stuff...

[1987cp]

Remove amp, lose dead weight. A 160 Watt head unit is more than plenty to cause hearing damage.

[bluebeast86]

Direct from battery with amp wiring kit from wal-mart will suffice.

[crown vic muscle]

The conversion of Watts to Amps is governed by the equation Amps = Watts/Volts
so 800/12 = 66.6666666 amps. so 4 ga wire is WAY overkill. 8 ga is a better fit, the 4 ga will handle twice the load.
http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

[zoomie]

the other thing is the bigger the wire the more power you push through it i tend to like 4 ga myself also nevr use walkmart wiring like 12 or 16 wire to power your amp ive seen it catch fire twice now lol