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Power wire gauge (specific setup)


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rbr28 
Member - Posts: 3
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Joined: February 23, 2003
Location: United States
Posted: March 04, 2003 at 9:15 AM / IP Logged  

I have seen a million guides suggesting the proper wire gauge for specific situations, but they all vary quite a bit.  I currently have about 14 feet of 8 gauge Streetwires cable running from my battery to a distribution block.  I then have 8 gauge from that to a Alpine 7894 head unit, and a Kenwood PS200T power amplifier.  The Alpine is rated at 27wx4 RMS and 60wx4 max.  There is a single 20 amp fuse on the power wire that came with the unit.  The Kenwood Amp is rated at 75wx2RMS, 150wx2Max.  The amp is bridged for a sub and the bridged power rating is 300W rms, and 600W max.  The unit has two 20 amp fuses, I'm guessing 1 for each channel. 

So here's my dillema.  If you add all that up, you obviously come up with very different numbers depending on what you go with.  If you go with amps, which to me makes the most sense, I can only draw 60 amps max from this setup.  Am I correct in that assumption?  If that's correct, the 8 gauge for a 14 foot run seems fine for my setup.  On the other hand, if I figure the maximum power output, it would come out at 840W and 8 gauge seems insufficient for that.  My guess is that the manufacturer's power outputs are over-inflated and that the total amp draw is a more reliable means of determining the wire to use, but I'm wondering what everyone else thinks.  It would only cost me about 20$ to run 4 gauge, but I'm not thrilled about widening the hole in my firewall, and running new cable unless the gain is significant.

the12volt 
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Joined: March 07, 2002
Location: Louisiana, United States
Posted: March 04, 2003 at 9:44 AM / IP Logged  
Yes, you are correct in your assumption, but when in doubt always go with the heavier gauge wire. With an RMS rating of 420 watts over a 14 foot run, I'd recommend 4 gauge. It's highly unlikely you will ever exceed a maximum sustained current draw of 60 amps with the two amplifiers you listed above even at their maximum output. Even if they could provide 840 watts of sustained output, current draw at 12 volts would be  70 amps, at 13 volts it would be 64.62 :)
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themagicone 
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Joined: October 01, 2002
Location: United States
Posted: March 04, 2003 at 10:12 AM / IP Logged  
you really dont need to run your deck off of a 8 guage power wire. If you dont want to use the factory power in the harness a 10 gauge to the battery would be fine, then the 8 gauge for your amp would be fine.
the12volt 
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Joined: March 07, 2002
Location: Louisiana, United States
Posted: March 04, 2003 at 10:18 AM / IP Logged  

My bad, I read your post as two amplifers, not as a head unit and one amplifier. 8 gauge will be fine for your amplifier.

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donkason 
Copper - Posts: 189
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Joined: December 27, 2002
Location: United States
Posted: March 17, 2003 at 7:22 PM / IP Logged  
Always use a bigger wire when in doubt. I would use a 4 ga. wire.

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