Cabling and Build Advice

[BRUN]

right, ive got an Alpine MRP-F240 amp for my 4 speakers and an Alpine MRP-M350 for my 12" Type R Sub in the Alpine box

now, can i get away with 4AWG cable run from the battery into a splitter givin 2 x 8AWG lenghts

??

spoke to an ICE place the other week and they said it was fine, been to see em today and he said run a length of 4AWG and a seperate length of 8AWG and forget the splitter (which ive already bought)

i also wanted a false floor and two very basic boxes making simply to mount the amps onto, they wanted £140 for EACH box and £90 for a basic floor, £140 for a floor with the amps in it........£140 for them to take the Sub out of the Alpine box and make a custom one perfect for the sub

now this company is very good at what they do but is notorious for trying to sell you stuff when you have already bought somethin else and just want something doing with it, he told me the Alpine amps and sub ive got arent much good which annoyed me when i repeatedly told him i didnt want anything bangin just a very very simple neat install

i ended up gettin pissed off an shocked at the prices an not buyin my 4AWG cable so thought id post on ere ask your advice an then order some online....

 

[Daz]

Just make sure the cable you use can cope with the current.

Search on Google.. AWG is american so I dunno.. Heh.

 

[BRUN]

well the sub amp is 700W Max and the 4 channel amp is 360W Max, so id think 4AWG cable would do it though id probably be best runnin 4AWG to the sub amp also as i might be on the limit with 8

 

[adiclio16v]

speak to col about the false floor and boxes hes sh*t hot at that im sure hed do it for ya if u asked

ive got his number if u havent got it

adi

 

[Rorrie]

build the install yourself - not that hard - time consuming - but sooo satifing - will post my install pic tomoz - almost finished with flase floor 2 side walls and sub box tht runs lenght of seats - all components under persex windows

 

[BRUN]

yea i got his number Adi

anyone know about the cabling ?

 

[Lunner]

I would work on the theory that the bigger then better, having too large a guage cable wont hurt, but having to small a one will.

 

[BRUN]

yes but 0AWG is like £12 a metre !

 

[John V6]

Try here :-

http://www.ask.co.uk/ix.asp?q=A%2EW%2EG%2E&ac=none&xx=0&qid=19850087156C884BAD79AFA6CDC319B1&p=0&s=1&sp=ix&fn=t&b=30&fo=1&r=10&io=4&fp=4&fr=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Erbeelectronics%2Ecom%2Fwtable%2Ehtm&adurlhttp://www.ask.co.uk/ix.asp?q=A%2EW%2EG%2E&ac=none&xx=0&qid=19850087156C884BAD79AFA6CDC319B1&p=0&s=1&sp=ix&fn=t&b=30&fo=1&r=10&io=4&fp=4&fr=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Erbeelectronics%2Ecom%2Fwtable%2Ehtm&adurl=

 

[Lunner]

Hummmmmm

Electrical cable wise two core 1mm can take over 1000W, i will find out specifically how much at work 2morrow, i work in a DIY shop

 

[Lunner]

Cooker cable which is flat and about 1.5cm accross is only 6mm, and that takes 30A, which is like full force mains electricity.

 

[John V6]

Depends on voltage.

 

[BRUN]

im not usin cooker cable in my car LOL

im thinkin i might be best usin 2AWG cable to the splitter and then 1 length of 4AWG and 1 length of 8AWG

 

[Dave16v]

Cooker wire isnt shielded against electro-magnetic interferance or against reducing it because it isnt twisted. It also isnt as flexible.

Hey while were at it why not use twin and earth for the speakers! jk.

Voltage is nothing to do with it either it is current you need to be worried about.

BRUN you would be perfectly fine with the cores you have picked.

Wiring is very similair to plumbing it all has to pass through the fuse (call it a bottle neck) at some point so as long the wire can carry more current than the fuse you arent going to blow your amp. The thicker the core the better and also the wires will produce less heat.

If you can make sure your earth wire is thicker than your live wire just to be on the SAFE side. literally.

 

[Lunner]

just for the record i wasnt suggesting he used ooker cable but FT&E is a good idea for the speakers

 

[Dink]

hey ive got mains voltage cables supplying my amp

the only diffence between the two is one is more flexable that the other

 

[Dynamic Devil]

I have got 4AWG running from my battery in the front to the battery in the rear then fed into a distribution block which has 8AWG coming off and havent found a problem yet.

Hope this helps

 

[visceral]

see below

 

[visceral]

Quote: Originally posted by visceral on 30 December 2003


Brun - I got tonnes of 6mm2 multi strand (red and black)

Its free if u want it, much as u like!

Failing that mate, I might be able to get some scrap cable offa mate - will carry mucho amperes!!!

how much will u be needin? at what size?

 

[MAXIBOY]

just looked up my gauge chart depends on amps drain will need to know the wattage of your amps

 

[BRUN]

6mm2 is tiny mate, i need at least 20mm2 but ill be orderin 35mm2 square to be on the safe side for the battery to splitter cable...

 

[Pete]

Custom boxes from autoaccostics (sp?) are about £120 ish so £140 is a little steep.