Thought I would do a post dedicated to Power Cables....
Seems a few on here have set idea's but quite possibly little experience....
There are two basic parameters used when working out which size cable you require;
1, The SAFETY angle, (bare minimum)...
2, The PERFORMANCE angle, (limits voltage drop)...
I would always recommend you follow the PERFORMANCE angle, this covers SAFETY and limits voltage drop....
A FEW POINTERS;
1, Always ADD an extra Battery to Chassis Earth to match your new power cable, (You can't take out what you can't put back in)....
2, Keep power & earth cables as short as possible, (power cable should follow shortest route from battery to amps)....
3, Car Chassis are good for earthing approx 350amps, (if total max boot draw is in excess of 300amps then I recommend earthing back to battery via multiple cable runs)....
Heres a cable chart based on Performance
To work out your amps power requirements the easiest way is to simply add all on board fuses together, so an amp carrying 3 X 40amp fuses would have a max draw of 120amps, if working out a main batt to boot power cable simply add all on board fusing from each amp to give an overall max draw, then simply fit the correct guage cable for that given length.....
You can, with experience, modify power cables in accordance with actual source material being played, there are so many variables you can take into account that it can get confusing.....
Its a similar concept when marketing staff or sales staff start preaching about amplifier output, for example how many have been caught out with the old 4 X 60w head unit rubbish, I think the most powerful unit I've come across was delivering 4 X 15w rms on 0dB tones, (which dropped to 4 X 9w rms on music)....
Amplifier output is logarythmic, they don't start pulling huge draws until output is approaching high volume levels, for example an amp at half output will be drawing much less than half a similar amp at full tilt....
Another example;
Boot system playing 0dB tones at full tilt = 100amp draw
Boot system playing music at full tilt = approx 50amp to 60amp draw
Seems a few on here have set idea's but quite possibly little experience....
There are two basic parameters used when working out which size cable you require;
1, The SAFETY angle, (bare minimum)...
2, The PERFORMANCE angle, (limits voltage drop)...
I would always recommend you follow the PERFORMANCE angle, this covers SAFETY and limits voltage drop....
A FEW POINTERS;
1, Always ADD an extra Battery to Chassis Earth to match your new power cable, (You can't take out what you can't put back in)....
2, Keep power & earth cables as short as possible, (power cable should follow shortest route from battery to amps)....
3, Car Chassis are good for earthing approx 350amps, (if total max boot draw is in excess of 300amps then I recommend earthing back to battery via multiple cable runs)....
Heres a cable chart based on Performance
You can, with experience, modify power cables in accordance with actual source material being played, there are so many variables you can take into account that it can get confusing.....
Its a similar concept when marketing staff or sales staff start preaching about amplifier output, for example how many have been caught out with the old 4 X 60w head unit rubbish, I think the most powerful unit I've come across was delivering 4 X 15w rms on 0dB tones, (which dropped to 4 X 9w rms on music)....
Amplifier output is logarythmic, they don't start pulling huge draws until output is approaching high volume levels, for example an amp at half output will be drawing much less than half a similar amp at full tilt....
Another example;
Boot system playing 0dB tones at full tilt = 100amp draw
Boot system playing music at full tilt = approx 50amp to 60amp draw
