what gauge power wire should i run to an 800 watt orion amp,3 jl 10s,6 1/2 door speakers and head unit

 

2

 

4 ga at a length of under 15 feet should be good to 125A. That should be plenty. It's a bit easier to find then 2 ga.

 

Your local welding supply store sells it for about .80-$1.25 a foot. Its just as good if not better than what most car stereo shops sell.


[Modified by nsxxtreme, 7:00 PM 7/11/2002]

 

welding cable is not what you want to use. first of all it is very rigid, meaning you will have troubles running it because itt doesnt want to bend. second of all it usally has very few strands which defeats the purpose of using a larger gauge cable.

 

Obviously you have never bought welding cable. Welding cable has very fine strands. Finer strands then what they sell in the car stereo shops. I wouldn't recommend something unless it was just as good if not better than what you normally buy. Just tring to give a tip that most people don't know about. I think we are going off topic so unless the original poster expresses an interest I'll let this die.



[Modified by nsxxtreme, 6:47 AM 7/12/2002]

 

i work in a install bay and the only welding cable that i have seen (customer supplied) was like 4 to 0 gauge with like 5 strands. sorry about the misunderstanding.

 

I'm not sure I understand what size wire I'll need to run from my battery to my trunk. I currently have 8ga running from the battery to my amp (KAC-819), and I'm pretty sure this is sufficient for the one amp. If in the future I add a KAC-849 should I pull the 8ga and replace it with 4ga?

Also, what is the best place to purchase said wire? I don't necessarily have to have a big name brand, but I don't want junk. I just found 4ga Monstar Cable for $2.50 per foot...yikes!

 

what guage to use depends on what kind of power your running.. and how long your running it... but I'd go w/ 4 guage for your 800 W system.. if you think your going to expand in the future you might as well go w/ thicker wiring so that you don't have to rip it all out in the future..

anyway here is a little chart for you :

http://www.the12volt.com/info/recwirsz.asp

I use Phoenix gold wire I forget how much/foot it was as I bought it a few years ago.. it wasn't cheap though...

btw does any1 have a pic of what welders cable looks like? maybe I'm not going to the right stores (in CA) but i've never seen it before...

 

The bigger the better. (Especially if the upgrade bug bites.)

 

remember, the length of the wire run is measured from the power source (battery) to the unit (amp) and to ground. Which means if you had a wire from your battery to the amp and it was 10' and you had 3' of ground cable, the distance is 13' when using a wiring chart. Check the charts at the bottom of this page for some good info. http://www.ancorproducts.com/technical.html Welding cable is made of many very fine strands of conductors, a quality cable should be very easy to bend and flex, even if it's as big as your thumb, the fewer strands used to make the cable the lower the grade.

 

I'll post a picture in a day or two check back later. I think I have some normal 4 gauge to compare the welding cable to.

 

Here is the photos sorry for the low res pic but I took pics with my Logitech camera.

The wire is called veri-flex welding cable #2 the jacket can withstand -40deg C to +90deg C

I have a picture of it next to a store bought four gauge. The strands are the exact same size just more of them.

 

cool thanks.. now at least I know what welders cable looks like.. cuz I've seen you guys talk about it a few times...