amp wire kits????

1836 Views 27 Replies 12 Participants Last post by Idahoan T-Bird, Aug 23, 2002

MadMax

Discussion Starter · Jul 30, 2002

hey yall

i was lookin for an amp kit for a 2000 watt amp. i figured out that if i buy the wire seperate....the power wire will cost me 22 bucks alone, and I can get a kit with everything at a better price. I went to wal mart and the biggest they had was a 1100 watt thing. it said it had 4 guage wire. isnt all 4 guage the same? wouldnt that work? that was 23 bucks. and on ebay they have a 2000 watt kit for bout 23 bucks with 12 dollars shippin.

somebody help me out here and show me a kit that i need!

thanks

corey

1 - 20 of 28 Posts

Robinson

· #2 · Jul 30, 2002

i think if you are seriously pushing out 2000 watts of power, your going to want like a 2 gauges wire if not 1/0 or whatever it is. i had 4 gauge on a 200 watt amp and i thought it was choking. for that kind of power your going to need some thick cable.

Fdawg03SVT

· #3 · Jul 30, 2002

if 2000 watts is the max power your rms power must be about 1000 watts which would make 4 gauge acceptable but you'd probly be better off with 2 guage. if the 2000 is the rms power i would recommend 1/0 gauge.

JoelBender

· #4 · Jul 30, 2002

hmm I guess I should have switched to 2 guage a long time ago..................

MadMax

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jul 30, 2002

well damn....

i was using 16 gague wire on my old 1200 watt amp. lol... hmm.... the power i could have harniced.

do u really think i should get 2 gague wire? i havent seen that before, and everybody else is telling me to get 4.

what are the advantages of the 2..over the 4?

madmax

Sir William

· #6 · Jul 30, 2002

resistance, resistance, resistance

To paraphrase the Borg, "{trying to sound good with} Resistance {in your power cable} Is Futile!"

Get at least 2 gauge. If you can find it, 1/0 would be better. Yes, it's expensive, but unless somebody gave you the amp, you've already got a lot of money in the system. What's a little more???

MadMax

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jul 30, 2002

lol

that 4 gague was 1.25

how much is the 2

and the 1/0??? i bet thats like 5 bucks a foot!!!

hhaa

Sir William

· #8 · Jul 30, 2002

News flash. If you want to save money and don't care that your cables are the beautiful glossy red and black, welding cable is VERY flexible and MUCH cheaper than car audio power cable. Any welding supply store and some auto parts stores can sell it to you. I've bought 2/0 cable from Napa before even. They only have black, but it was a gloss finish. Just be careful and not mix up which is which. BIG sparks from 2 gauge or bigger cable.

MadMax

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jul 30, 2002

will the welding cable work just as good as the other stuff? what gague should i get of that? the 1/0 or the 2/0?

and do u know bout how much that stuff is a foot?

dode

· #10 · Jul 30, 2002

J-Rob said:
i think if you are seriously pushing out 2000 watts of power, your going to want like a 2 gauges wire if not 1/0 or whatever it is. i had 4 gauge on a 200 watt amp and i thought it was choking. for that kind of power your going to need some thick cable.

Only if you have the most inefficient amp on earth. A 200 watt amp shouldn't draw much more than around 10 amps.

John

dode

· #11 · Jul 30, 2002

MadMax said:
will the welding cable work just as good as the other stuff? what gague should i get of that? the 1/0 or the 2/0?

and do u know bout how much that stuff is a foot?

Welding cable will work just fine. Got any idea how much current a decent sized welder uses? Lets just say that it is significantly more than you will be using. Anyway, you will be fine, and I would go with 1/0. That should be fine.

John

MadMax

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jul 30, 2002

thank yall very much. im going to danville, va today to buy the wire if i can find a place up there.

Ill let yall know how everything goes when I get the amp.

thanks a LOT guys!

MadMax

Joe Average

· #13 · Jul 31, 2002

i find that jumper cables work really well for power wires for amp installs. 4 gauge cables are pretty cheap and you can get to installs from 1 set.

MadMax

Discussion Starter · #14 · Jul 31, 2002

omg....are you serious?????

i have a set sittin out at the carport i can use for that. will that work okay???

corey

Joe Average

· #15 · Jul 31, 2002

yeah, i'm serious. i've been doing it this way for the last 15 years or so. the cables can carry 500 ampres. that's more than enough for any stereo i can think of. the only down side is the insulation is pretty thick and it can make it tuff to get the wire into some spots.

dode

· #16 · Jul 31, 2002

All I have to say is one word:

GHETTO

JoelBender

· #17 · Jul 31, 2002

hey look, lets do things the proper way here, yes you can use jumper cables, but why ruin the cables? you might need them one day. Plus jumper cables would probably have to be spliced to reach from the battery to the trunk, and that is not safe to do on a main high current power wire

dode

· #18 · Jul 31, 2002

Also, a set of 4 gauge cables is gonna cost you more than the actual wire. I mean, just think about it.

John

ben_cline

· #19 · Aug 19, 2002

Won't cost you more if you already have some spare jumper cables.

G

· #20 · Aug 19, 2002

jumper cables not good idea... I'm seeing a fire right under your butt when that wire comes apart at the splice. Not that expensive to get welding cable and do it right. Much safer too. Take it from a former navy emergency welder

(NEC 3351)

1 - 20 of 28 Posts

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