Running powe wire
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=1771
Printed Date: September 15, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Topic: Running powe wire
Posted By: TheRapture
Subject: Running powe wire
Date Posted: July 08, 2002 at 9:05 AM
I need to run 2 0/1 gauge wires from my battery to the back of my hatchback to power a couple of amps... I have a '97 Acura Integra manual.... does anyone know where I can bring these 2 thick power cables into the car from the engine compartment???????? THANKS!
Replies:
Posted By: trusdamanr
Date Posted: July 08, 2002 at 12:10 PM
your gonna have to drill a hole in the firewall...... make sure you use a grommet also why dont you use a distribution block run one 0/1 wire from the battery and input it in to a distrubution block and two outputs to the amps this way you will drill one hole instead of two.....
Posted By: TheRapture
Date Posted: July 08, 2002 at 1:00 PM
Actually i will be using a distrabution block... the 2 wires are one positive and one negitive to the battery instead of running the negitive to the chassis because it conducts better and is a cleaner signal. 
Posted By: GlassWolf
Date Posted: July 08, 2002 at 2:57 PM
wrong, sir.
ground the battery as close to the battery as possible, and ground the battery to the chassis. also ground your amp as close to the amp as possible, less than 2 ft is ideal
remember cable is rated as to current carried, and distance carried. if you need 1/0 for positive, you may only meed 4ga for a short ground to be just fine.
see here:
https://www.the12volt.com/info/recwirsz.asp
If you're running 1/0 gauge, you are probably using high current amps, and thus I'd recommend you also look into a high-output alternator.
your car's alternator will have to provide the same current with it's HOT rating, as the total amplifier combined RMS power draw, plus what your car needs to run, plus at least a 10% buffer zone.
ya really need to have a good basic grasp of electricity to understand this stuff (I'm an E.E.) but trust me when I tell you a chassis ground is best. grounding amps to the battery is a very very poor idea. that will almost guarantee noise in the system, and worse yet, it actually weakens not only the power supply circuit for the response time of your amps.
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-GlassWolf
Pioneer Stage-4, Orion, DynAudio, Fi
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