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Thread: 10 gauge power cable |
    
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| Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 06:26 am: |
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Hi
Im a little bit worried i have bought a wiring kit not big enough, this 1 has a maxinmum of 500 watts written on the packet and a 40amp fuse on it, its gunna need to support about 400 watts rms (the fuse on the amp is also 40amp) Maybe this is a stupid question but iv been looking around websites and they say that the maximum 10 gauge is good for is 30amp, so should i have bought 8 gauge cable??
cheers guys |
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Silver Member Username: Fishy
Tamarac Ft.Laud,
FL
USA
Post Number: 845
Registered: Sep-04
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| Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 07:39 am: |
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8 guage would be better, but from a safety standpoint you'll probably be ok. 10 gauge wire is good for 55 amps open air. From here:
http://www.epanorama.net/documents/wiring/wire_resistance.html
Voltage drop from your alternator to your amp is what you might be concerned with. It all depends on how long a run you're using. 10 feet of 10 gauge(or 6 feet of 8) corresponds to about a .5v drop in voltage at 40 amps which isn't that big of a deal as long as you have an adequate alternator(14 volts) and you just run your system when the engine is on. You could run into problems while playing your system for extended periods of time with the engine off(<12 volts) however, but that could be problematic even with 8 gauge.
The only thing you may be sacrificing is a bit of power if your amplifier has an unregulated power supply. In this case power output is dependant on voltage, but to be honest I don't think you'd notice any difference with 8 gauge. Just keep that run of 10 gauge as short as possible.
-Fishy
[note] I wouldn't run anything else off that 10 gauge wire or you might finding yourself replacing that 40 amp fuse at the battery a lot. You could try using a 50 amp instead, but then you'd be pushing the safety envelope a bit in case of a short. |
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| Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 12:14 pm: |
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thankyou mate, well the power cable is 5m (16ft) long and i will be running a Alpine MRD-M301 where is maximum rating is 350 RMS at 2Ohm, however i said 400 to allow some leway. I wont be using the system when the engine is off either, i reckon i could get easily trim the wire to 12 foot and i would still be left with some to play with. Whats the worst that could happen lol? |
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| Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 12:14 pm: |
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thankyou mate, well the power cable is 5m (16ft) long and i will be running a Alpine MRD-M301 where is maximum rating is 350 RMS at 2Ohm, however i said 400 to allow some leway. I wont be using the system when the engine is off either, i reckon i could get easily trim the wire to 12 foot and i would still be left with some to play with. Whats the worst that could happen lol? |
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