I just upgraded my amps to an alpine 1507 v12 and an alpine 303 v12 4 channel. Would it be ok to run a 4 gauge power wire to the distribution box then 8 guage out to the amps. That's the way the previous owner had it installed and he had a very high end store do the install but it seems with that much power it should use something bigger. I have a 1 farad cap, should i run the cap just to the sub amp or to both amps. I wanted to see what the guru's have to say. TIA

95 eclipse RS

14.80 @ 94mph with no turbo

chances are, youd be fine, but i wouldnt risk it, id go 4gauge.
later boss
chris

Thats what I have now is 4 gauge. I didnt know if i should go any bigger than that though. The dist box is less than 6 inches from the amp so 8 gauge will be fine for that i'm just talkin about from the battery to the dist box. also anyone have info on the cap. I only have one amp now but I didn know if I should hook it up to both amps or just the sub amp.

95 eclipse RS

14.80 @ 94mph with no turbo

4 gauge is enough for most applications, unless your running an ungodly amount of power, 4 is fine.
later
chris

agreed. youll be fine. the only reason to strp up to a larger guage wire is that you MIGHT see a small voltage drop due to the resistance created by the 4 guage. its probably less that a couple tenths of a volt though, so no biggie. make sure all the wires are fused for there appropriate guage size, not for the fuse rating on the amp its running to.

as far as the cap goes, it doesnt matter where you put it on the + line, it will release current to whatever device needs it.

:shhh: i do cocaine :/shhh:

Cool. Thanks. What size fuse should I run off the battery. and What Your saying is I should run a fused dist. block. I have one but the one that came with the amps wasnt. What fuses should I use in that then. TIA

95 eclipse RS

14.80 @ 94mph with no turbo

run no more than 100 amp fuse at the battery (on the 4 guage). the only reason to use a fused distribution block is if you "step down" in wire guage, like from one 4ga. to two 8 ga. (like you are). if you would prefer to use an unfused block, just remain consistant in your guage size, i.e., run the 4 from the battery into the block, then output a 4 to each amp. it might be cheaper to buy an extra couple feet of 4 guage than a whole new distribution block. if you want to stick with the 8 guage to each amp, my current handling application guid says that with runs less than 4 feet, the 8 guage wire can safly hold up to 65 amps, but since your run is shorter, id imagine you will be fine fusing at around 70-80 amps. if the sub amp draws more current than that (i dont think it EVER will), you will need to upgrade that line to 4 guage and either fuse it at a higher amperage rating or just not fuse it (since you would remain consistant with your wire size).

:shhh: i do cocaine :/shhh:

Right on dawg. Thanks

95 eclipse RS

14.80 @ 94mph with no turbo

Yep, 4 ga will be fine for those amps. You will be good to use 8 ga too from a dist block also. A good fuse to put at the batt will be a ANL type fuse of 100 amps. Remember, the fuse there is to protect the wiring, not the equipment. Our alternators max current output is 90 amps, so if your pushing over 100 amps, I would worrry more about that then wire gauge Also, be sure to have your ground wire the same 4 gauge size, and be sure its tightly against BARE metal. Also make sure to have a good, clean, tight ground at the battery-to-chassis ground in the engine bay, on the driver side fender. I took that off, got the area right around the bolt there, all nice and clean, and down to bare metal. Its very important to have good, proper grounds.

13.5 @108 MPH-2.2 60ft(stupid FWD!)
S16G @ 18 PSI/FMIC/Running on MegaSquirt II (Now with sequential
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