i know this sounds like a noob question...but how would i wire up 2 amps. would i need to run another power wire from the battery to the amp or is there another way of doin it. Sorry if this sounds noobish, but i really dont know how to do it. i know how to wire a system up. just dont know how to wire up more then one amp. i have one running my subwoofers, and i have another one that i want to run my door speakers and my rear speakers....let me know.

 

no u dont need to run it from the battery again.

 

Get a power distribution block. You can get one from sounddomain or crutchfield. You plug in a 4AWG cable into it, and from there, you can plug in both power cables. It sort of acts like a splitter. As for the ground wires, make sure you ground them in the same place to prevent ground loop hum.

remember to get a new fuse on the main power cable to compensate for the increased load. Just add up the amperage of all of the built in fuses onboard the amplifiers, and get that fuse for the main power line.

http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.....html

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by djhpr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
remember to get a new fuse on the main power cable to compensate for the increased load. Just add up the amperage of all of the built in fuses onboard the amplifiers, and get that fuse for the main power line.
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I do NOT recommend doing that at all. :!: Reason being, if the fuse is too big, it will not blow if the cable chafes through.

Use the RMS wattage of the amps, and work out the total current draw for both amps. Then get a fuse thats above that rating by about 10 amps.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by igor &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I do NOT recommend doing that at all. :!: Reason being, if the fuse is too big, it will not blow if the cable chafes through.

Use the RMS wattage of the amps, and work out the total current draw for both amps. Then get a fuse thats above that rating by about 10 amps.

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Igor was correct...there is nothing wrong with doing it that way. Now if there was
a dead short...the fuse will . Even if the wires were to "chaff"...its
would still short the fuse out.

Just a thought

 

yeah i agree with igor too... my friend is running 3 amps... about 5000 watts total and he just added up all the fuses on the amps.. he found it to be easiest just to put a circuit breaker in... saves money if you blow the fuse all the time

 

things to get

1 or higher farad CAP (I recommend Lightning Audio, low priced and Works great)
2 distributor blocks, (1 to 4 for power, and a 1 to 2 or 4 for the ground)
A good fuse
one 4 to 0 guage wiring for the main power
two 4 to 8 guage wires to go to the amp

one 4 guage ground
two 8 guage ground

hook that sucka up and youre good to go

 

I say get a big fuse for all the amps amps and tinier fuses when the power wire seperaties into the differnt lines. That way you can tell where the short was too.

 

You will probably need to run a larger power lead from the battery, unless you went for overkill the first time. If the cable is too small, you will notice the amps running hotter than usual. This is because they have to work much harder to get their juice. Its like trying to suck a milkshake through a cocktail straw. And remember, always have the same size ground cable as your power cable.

 

ok this is wut i was told to do at my local dealer.
this is wut ive used and it seems to be fine.

i have an 4 gauge power wire running from the battery
its going to the cap that i installed (1 farad), and that
it is running to a power distributor block.
from there i have 2 8 gauge wires running from the block to the amps.
i also have 2 8 gauge wires as my grounds.
the ground wires are grounded in 2 different locations.
the ground for the cap is in the same spot as one of the amps. the other ground in a totally different location.

ive had it running for about 4 hours last night. and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. i was told that i didnt have to buy any fuses for this setup at all. the amps are a 350 watt Kenwood, and a 240 watt Pioneer amp. i got them for free so this is wut i have to use until i can get some alpine amps. the kenwood is running my 10" alpine type-s sub in a bandpass box. im happy with the way my brand new Focal Access 690 CA speakers sound with the amp powering them. They are perfect. just the sound that i wanted to acheive. Next on the list is to get some Focal 6.5" speakers for the doors. after that is complete. then comes the material for elminating the rattling in my car. if anyone knows how to do this, let me know or post a tutorial about from another website. Im gonna be looking at taking the entire interior out and rerunning the wires and putting stuff to elminate rattling. i will post pics up shortly of wut i did for my setup. any question PM, IM me at deathklone or email me at hamidnj@comcast.net

 

here are some pics of my install. bear with me though because i finished up the install at 10 pm last night. so i havent had anytime to remodel the whole thing. i need to hide those wires like a ************. but you guys should get the point.

http://www.we-todd-did-racing....DE%3D this is a pic of the distributor block. the blue wire is the power wire coming from the cap which is coming from the battery. and the two red wires are the power wires going to the amps.

http://www.we-todd-did-racing....DE%3D heres a pic of the 1 farad cap that i installed as well.

http://www.we-todd-did-racing....DE%3D heres a pic of the wiring job on the Kenwood amp. sorry for the blurryness. it might look like a really fucked up wiring job but its not as bad as it looks. ive been wiring systems for almost 8 months now. so i know wut im doing. just didnt know how to wire up two amps. never did it before.

http://www.we-todd-did-racing....DE%3D heres a pic of the wiring on the Pioneer amp.

http://www.we-todd-did-racing....DE%3D heres a pic of the total setup as one. let me know wut u guys think. i will be redoing the wiring to have them run up through the middle of the car by next weekend. but overall the install came out good.

 

There is one major thing I see wrong with the way you described it(I dont have time right now to look at the pictures). Grounding your amps at different points is a BIG no no. It causes what is called a ground loop. This is a voltage differential in the grounds which usually manifests itself as "alternator whine." It is a constant drone that changes pitch with the RPMs. It is most easily heard when there is no music, like in between songs. You should buy a ground distribution block.

 

run one 1/0 power wires to a power distribution block that will have a fuse for every out put. run a power wire for each amp from that block to the amp. get a ground distribution block and run a 1/0 gauge wire VERY short from the ground point to the block. run a ground to match each amps power wire to each amp (i.e. amp#1 uses a 4 gauge power wire, use a 4 gauge ground wire). that should be the cleanest and neatest install.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by stillencivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok this is wut i was told to do at my local dealer.
this is wut ive used and it seems to be fine.

i have an 4 gauge power wire running from the battery
its going to the cap that i installed (1 farad), and that
it is running to a power distributor block.
from there i have 2 8 gauge wires running from the block to the amps.
i also have 2 8 gauge wires as my grounds.
the ground wires are grounded in 2 different locations.
the ground for the cap is in the same spot as one of the amps. the other ground in a totally different location.

ive had it running for about 4 hours last night. and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. i was told that i didnt have to buy any fuses for this setup at all. the amps are a 350 watt Kenwood, and a 240 watt Pioneer amp. i got them for free so this is wut i have to use until i can get some alpine amps. the kenwood is running my 10" alpine type-s sub in a bandpass box. im happy with the way my brand new Focal Access 690 CA speakers sound with the amp powering them. They are perfect. just the sound that i wanted to acheive. Next on the list is to get some Focal 6.5" speakers for the doors. after that is complete. then comes the material for elminating the rattling in my car. if anyone knows how to do this, let me know or post a tutorial about from another website. Im gonna be looking at taking the entire interior out and rerunning the wires and putting stuff to elminate rattling. i will post pics up shortly of wut i did for my setup. any question PM, IM me at deathklone or email me at hamidnj@comcast.net</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats EXACTLY what i told you to do, but dude, two ground locations is baaad bad bad bad...Get a tiny distributor for the ground, and have them go to directly one spot...you dont need grounds going to who the hell knows where...

good job, a little messy with the wires, but nothing another hour or two and a drill wont fix... Be sure to hide the wires under the carpet, maybe the amp drilled to the back seat so you can lay the seats down and control them from the front cabin...

 

i was thinking of doing that. but this weekend im taking the whole interior out and rerunning wires. just to be on the safe side.

 

also thanx alot guys for the help with this setup.