Powering amps and car pc

red_parchel · 03-22-2007, 01:39 AM

OK, well my "power issues" have bee discussed over here http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=81446 a while back, but now i'm throwing a PC into the mix, i've got 2 orion hcca amps (2500D-driving subs & 4004-driving components) i've got two 4awg wires going into the 2500D(as per the manual) and one 4awg wire going into the 4004(as per the manual), I need to get power for my pc as well, my question is this can/should i put a distribution block on one of the 4awg wires and take a "lil" juice off of that?

and which wire should i "tap"? i know the power all comes from the same place ... so does it make a difference? other option run another power line back from the battery ..

pc isnt TOO much of a power hog: 1.5ghz via c7, one 3.5" sata hdd, usb touch screen and a OPUS 120 watt PSU

thoughts? experience? pc shuts off when bass hits?

thanks Red

2k1Toaster · 03-22-2007, 01:48 AM

When possible always run another line. I am unfamiliar with the current your amps draw, but if the manual says minimum dual 4awg, then the answer is no. If it says reccommended dual 4awg to 6awg wire, then you should be ok.

If you already have 3 huge holes in your firewall, what is 1 more little one?!

And the PC wont draw that much, but it is just neater. I doubt you would want to replace those multiple big wires with an even thicker single wire to a distro block because that would get overly expensive.

I say just run a little wire direct from the battery.

red_parchel · 03-22-2007, 01:27 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by 2k1Toaster

If you already have 3 huge holes in your firewall, what is 1 more little one?!

I say just run a little wire direct from the battery.

haha, my B&D FireStorm cordless drill isn't too great at punching holes in the firewall ... HAHA - [background] I'm at college without all the tools of the home garage until may[/background]

how little is wire everyones running? 8awg? 16? smaller?

2k1Toaster · 03-22-2007, 03:15 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by red_parchel

haha, my B&D FireStorm cordless drill isn't too great at punching holes in the firewall ... HAHA - [background] I'm at college without all the tools of the home garage until may[/background]

how little is wire everyones running? 8awg? 16? smaller?

8-10awg is standard. I use 4awg for my via.

klp45 · 03-22-2007, 05:57 PM

Running 12awg to my m10000

EricE · 03-22-2007, 06:22 PM

For my M10K, I hooked into my 0 guage I ran for my amps. No issues at all. But then 0 is big stuff. Personaly I would hook into one (or both) of those runs of 4awg and run it off of that. But that is just me. I tend to cludge things up untill is causes problems and then spend ungodly amounts of time trying to fix the problems. If you want to avoid that, run a new wire for your PC.