amp kit, 4 guage power, 5 gauge ground?

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=135154
Printed Date: May 29, 2024 at 2:48 AM

Topic: amp kit, 4 guage power, 5 gauge ground?

Posted By: bigdaddy10up2
Subject: amp kit, 4 guage power, 5 gauge ground?
Date Posted: October 27, 2013 at 4:26 AM

Hello everyone I'm Jason,and as you can tell I am a rookie at this forum and Internet stuff. With that in mind I'm just going to throw it out there "I just got a question."I bought an amp installation kit its 4 gauge kit power wire is 4gauge but the ground wire is 5gauge will this make a difference and if so why?

-------------
The Big Daddy

Replies:

Posted By: oldspark
Date Posted: October 27, 2013 at 10:29 PM

It's usually to provide better bass notes by having a "fatter" buffer of low voltage current posted_image

, but might also be to ensure a good GND. A voltage drop along a ground can be damaging as well as a performance issue (noise etc).
Some will instead double up the GND - ie, two 4G in your case and hence have redundancy (if one breaks, the remainder still has full current capability).

Posted By: auto enhancers
Date Posted: October 28, 2013 at 1:15 PM

from what I am reading your 4 ga kit came with a smaller ground wire. That usually means it is a cheaper kit and they are trying to save money on it. you should have the same size wire on power and ground.
I would also assume this is a CCA wire kit not a copper wire kit.
as for what will this effect, hard to say without knowing everything going on. What amp, what car, what charging system, any upgrades. All these are basic need to know things. the more accessories you install in a car the bigger the demand for power.

Posted By: oldspark
Date Posted: October 28, 2013 at 4:45 PM

OOOPS - my bad. Thanks auto enhancers.
So therefore it gives better high notes? posted_image

I know I'm not used to working with gauges, but that's (I'm) ridiculous. Sorry.

Posted By: bigdaddy10up2
Date Posted: October 29, 2013 at 10:44 PM

Thanks for your replies I bought true 4gauge ground wire and it's all copper but I don't know what cca is unless you mean cold cranking amps but I think I will be fine I'm going to ground my cap and amp separatelyso I should be fine with what I've got now thank you for your Replies

-------------
The Big Daddy

Posted By: soundnsecurity
Date Posted: October 29, 2013 at 11:27 PM

CCA = copper clad aluminum. basically its aluminum wire thats coated in copper.

Posted By: oldspark
Date Posted: October 30, 2013 at 6:10 AM

No it isn't - it's Cold Cranking Amps for a car battery. posted_image

Tho CCA is good where weight saving is essential, I reckon use copper - that avoids most corrosion and fatigue issues.
(For batteries, high CCA is good for cranking, but other specs may be more important for "capacity" applications.)