My new amp is using the old 8ga wire from my previous setup.

The installation booklet says "at least 8ga wire", would I see any benefit of moving to 4ga?

Def move up to 4ga. Outside the amperage draw from your Amp, 4ga makes upgrading much easier in the future. Depending out your long term outlook you may need more than 4ga someday...lol Stay with 4ga for now unless you plan on adding more than 2 of those amps.

Upgrading to 1/0 is overkill for 90% of the people here. Mine unfortuneatly warrents it.

Terry

4 is safer, just in case ,ya kno?

assuming that the 8ga. wire is fuse correctly, upgrading will not improve anything related to safety and will barely improve anything else. you might see a .1-.3 volt drop along the line, but thats not going to produce an audible difference. out of curiosity..what amp?


edit: duh...i forgot about your other post. that kenwood amp puts out 460 watts RMS...so...

460watts/12amps=38.3amps at peak. however...taking into account the efficiency of that amp, the draw is more like 60-70amps. BUT...thats only with sine waves and the like, not musical passages. you will probably average around a 15amp draw with peaks at 30. assuming the fuse (on the wire) doesnt blow, you are fine. as for your question in the other thread...you alternator will be fine. i used to run 1800+ watts of class a/b power in my eclipse and it took several years for that to kill the alt, lol.

Originally posted by SPL_Eclipse
assuming that the 8ga. wire is fuse correctly, upgrading will not improve anything related to safety and will barely improve anything else. you might see a .1-.3 volt drop along the line, but thats not going to produce an audible difference

So I'm good with 8ga? I figured that if the manual said it's good I'd be fine, but the demo amp in Best Buy used 4ga, that's why I asked.

Thanks for the assurance on the alternator issue...

The only reason I asked that is because I was hearing some funny noises from that area and my sister's alternator was making some funny noises until it shot all of the bearings out of the back of it, resulting in a fused solid alternator and a belt catching fire in her car. (yeah that's a funny enough story to be posted in the pits!... see "Rusty (no-longer) Trusty Buick".

I guess my noises are timing belt equipment related, and as soon as I get money I'm buying the kit from parts dinosaur.

go to 4 AWG.
The voltage drop/resistance for an 8 awg wire is TRIPLE that of the 4 AWG wire.
Sure the 8 AWG can handle the current but the voltage drop for the 15-20 ft of wire you need is a HUGE difference. and your whole electrical system will be happier you switched to 4.

Originally posted by mcgyvr
go to 4 AWG. The voltage drop/resistance for an 8 awg wire is TRIPLE that of the 4 AWG wire. Sure the 8 AWG can handle the current but the voltage drop for the 15-20 ft of wire you need is a HUGE difference. and your whole electrical system will be happier you switched to 4.

i disagree. while 4AWG is "triple the size" (sorta), the voltage drop will be next to nothing. even with a minor voltage drop, there will be no audible difference between 8 AWG and 4 AWG. and theres NO possible way for it to effect the rest of the electrical system (assuming its healthy in the first place).

Originally posted by SPL_Eclipse

Originally posted by mcgyvr go to 4 AWG. The voltage drop/resistance for an 8 awg wire is TRIPLE that of the 4 AWG wire. Sure the 8 AWG can handle the current but the voltage drop for the 15-20 ft of wire you need is a HUGE difference. and your whole electrical system will be happier you switched to 4.

i disagree. while 4AWG is "triple the size" (sorta), the voltage drop will be next to nothing. even with a minor voltage drop, there will be no audible difference between 8 AWG and 4 AWG. and theres NO possible way for it to effect the rest of the electrical system (assuming its healthy in the first place).

Voltage drop for 8 awg assuming a 15 foot run is .7 to 1 volt depending on the quality of the wire.
Voltage drop for a 4 awg assuming a 15 foot run is .2 to .3 volts.

In a 12 volt system a .7 to 1 volt drop is enough to make a difference.

(information per the national electrical code for 90deg C stranded conductors)


Ive had systems with cheap 8 awg wire from radio shack, the lights would blink,battery would drain,alternator couldnt keep up. by simply switching to 8 awg monster cable (better quality) all electrical problems were gone.

This is the same principal as the fuel pump rewire modification.
By simply switching the wire guage the voltage drop that the pump sees was reduced greatly.

I'm using Monster Cable. I wouldn't settle for anything less.

There is no way in hell I'd use the Scosche brand from Walmart.

the walmart by me sells monster cable......

Grade of wire is subject to the buyers opinion or standards. Personally i feel monster cable is subgrade. Others will disagree.

Argue wire gauge all you want. To say wire gauge does nothing for you is just proof someone knows nothing of electricity. I could go into specifics but i dont feel like i need to. I upgraded from 4ga to 0gauge and noticed a difference on the SPL meter. same weather conditions ect and my amps will draw 60amps combined on a full draw.

"To say wire gauge does nothing for you is just proof someone knows nothing of electricity."

im not saying upgrading will do nothing, just not a whole lot. for an anmp that size, the difference in 8 AWG and 4 AWG is negligable.

as far as brands go, thats going to make less difference. the "skin size" (or surface area of the conductive portion of the wire) of both will be almost unmeasurably close, so the main difference will be flexability/resistence to tearing/etc.

Originally posted by SPL_Eclipse
"To say wire gauge does nothing for you is just proof someone knows nothing of electricity." im not saying upgrading will do nothing, just not a whole lot. for an anmp that size, the difference in 8 AWG and 4 AWG is negligable. as far as brands go, thats going to make less difference. the "skin size" (or surface area of the conductive portion of the wire) of both will be almost unmeasurably close, so the main difference will be flexability/resistence to tearing/etc.

Skin effect is for AC voltages or frequency based signal tranfer.
NOT DC POWER

and brands of wire makes a HUGE difference also.

and I can get 8 awg wire that you can twist into a 1 inch circle and I can get 8 awg that needs at least 1 foot circle to bend.


go to 4 awg wire and you will benefit.


I was talking to a NASA engineer yesterday who was hooking up a 120 Amp 48VDC DC fuse panel with 24 awg wire because he thought it was the voltage that generates the heat and that his 24 awg wire says 300 volt on the side of it so he thought thats plenty to support the 48 volt supply to the panel. No matter what I told him he thought he was right. I had to go over his head and call up his boss to avoid serious safety hazards caused by his believing he knew what he was doing.

Quality of Cu used in construction and the actual physical construction is also very important. Cheaper companies spend less and use cheap ways to make wire. You get what you pay for.

Terry

"Skin effect is for AC voltages or frequency based signal tranfer.
NOT DC POWER

and brands of wire makes a HUGE difference also."

interesting, ive always been told that the skin applies to D/C as well. any good links to help me learn the "right" way? as for manufacturers, ive used them all, plus random welding wire and the like, with no noticable difference both in voltage drop or audible output (the biggest difference was a .1v drop switching from home depot welding wire to monster cable)

however..im still sticking to my thought that the 8 AWG is fine. there will be a few lost watts, but it will not be audible and as long as the wire is fused correctly it will be safe.

DC does whats known as DC conductance which is where the current conducts down into the core of the strands and wont travel only on the skin layer like AC/frequency voltages.

but anyways 8 awg will work, 4 is a better choice for that amp.

and here

Thanks guys.

I just found out that I will be getting a new car due to my parents moving to India (job transfer). I will need to be putting the Talon in storage until I get a house with a garage (or a house for that matter). Car will be removed from insurance so it will not be used for a couple of years.

I appreciate all of this information, and will be upgrading to 4ga wire in the future when I get all of this settled.

I will miss my car, but at least I will be able to keep it and see it when I want.

glad to hear that you are keeping it.

Terry