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Thread: Power cable too small? |
    
Bronze Member Username: Bnh142
Post Number: 46
Registered: Nov-04
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| Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 01:37 am: |
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I originally had a 150 watt class D mono amp but now I have a 2 ch amp running 300 watts bridged mono. I have it on a 10 gauge power cable that is rated to 200 watts, which was installed with the original amp. Is it worth the trouble to change the cable to a thicker gague? The new amp reccomends 8 gauge. What would happen if I keep using the 10 gauge cable? |
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Bronze Member Username: Sparkey2027
Barnstaple,
England
England
Post Number: 61
Registered: Dec-04
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| Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 07:29 am: |
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10 guage will do it fine make sure the fuse is rated at 30 amps or above or it may blow. |
Bronze Member Username: Bnh142
Post Number: 47
Registered: Nov-04
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| Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 02:59 pm: |
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The cable came with a 30 amp fuse and the amp uses two 25 amp fuses. I have it hooked up with no problems although the amp does get very hot after about 30 minutes of cranking it. |
Gold Member Username: Carguy
Post Number: 1183
Registered: Nov-04
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| Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 03:16 pm: |
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What kind of amp do you have? Unless you have one of those crappy Sony amps, it shouldn't be that hot. |
Gold Member Username: Jonathan_f
GA
USA
Post Number: 3028
Registered: May-04
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| Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 04:36 pm: |
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You should be using 8 guage for that amp. |
Bronze Member Username: Bnh142
Post Number: 48
Registered: Nov-04
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| Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 05:36 pm: |
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Okay now one person told me its okay and another told me to change to 8 gauge. Can I get some reasoning please?
Also the amp is a Jensen that I got free off a friend. It sounds good and has been working for years but I think it wants to roast itself. It gets quite hot to the touch but not enough to burn or really hurt. The thermal protection circuit (it does have one) has never been triggered though. I wonder if I can rig some computer fans to the side of it... |
Gold Member Username: Jonathan_f
GA
USA
Post Number: 3034
Registered: May-04
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| Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 05:48 pm: |
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Here's a chart if you want to look at it. |
Bronze Member Username: Byrumjr
Post Number: 29
Registered: Jan-05
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| Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 06:23 pm: |
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You should use 8 gauge wire because the amp will most likely be over 10 feet from the battery. If the amp uses two 25 amp fuses you need a 50 amp fuse in the line from the battery. It needs to be no more than 18 inches from the battery.
You can buy amp fans or make one to cool down the amp. |
New member Username: Stjohnboy0000
Post Number: 5
Registered: Dec-04
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| Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 07:14 pm: |
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donald's right, unless you wanted to put your amp under, say, your passenger side front seat, you should upgrade to the 8ga |
Gold Member Username: Carguy
Post Number: 1186
Registered: Nov-04
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| Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 11:08 pm: |
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You still haven't answered my question. What kind of amp do you have? Most decent amps will run warm. Only the shi**y Sony and Pyramid runs that hot.
You don't need 8 gauge unless you're maxing out the amp. 10 gauge is good enough.
If you're going to up grade, upgrade it to 4 gauge or lower for the future. Don't waste your time and money on 8 gauge. Not worth it.
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Silver Member Username: Jeremyc
Kunsan Afb
South Korea
Post Number: 459
Registered: Jun-04
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| Posted on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 08:10 am: |
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Isaac he has a jensen, his friend gave it to him.
Jensen is a cheap amp, and thats why it is running so hot. The sise of the wire won't change that. |
Gold Member Username: Carguy
Post Number: 1189
Registered: Nov-04
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| Posted on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 09:27 am: |
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Really? Well then he must have one of those shi**y Jensen models. I have a jensen that still works great. I use it to experiment cause it can take some abuse. The amp runs warm, hot if I go lower than the min ohm requirement. To solve the heat problem, I installed a custom cpu fan.
Even Jensen is better than Sony AND pyramid.
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