Recommended gauge

DracoPCGuy · 02-01-2008, 07:00 PM

I am looking and contacting people who might know about my Tracker trying to figure the best way through the firewall to mount my amp and have power for the future carputer. Now I have to fuse the amp obviously...the Sony amp instructions say no further than 18 inches from the battery and it needs a 50 A fuse...but nothing about the gauge of the wire.

Here are my thoughts...and I need you input. I like to over plan for power. So I was thinking put a 2 gauge wire to the fuse. At Walmart when i was board one day i found their wire kits...they have ones with a fuse holder that split 1 wire to 2 fuses and 2 wires from that of lesser gauge. So I was thinking 2 gauge to fuse...4 gauge to the amp from the 50A fuse and the other ...er..."insert number here later"A to the carputer via 4 gauge also. What do you think?

Another odd this I noticed...the PSU's I have seen, they all seem to have really thin wires for the power and other wires. Is this right? i take it they don't need a huge gauge wire really.

epod86 · 02-02-2008, 01:06 PM

have a look at this FAQ.
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/advf...iew&advfaqid=5
It has a good table that shows you what gauges to use where depending on current draw and length. Generally you up those gauges if the wire is being hooked to something that is sensitive to noise (like an amp). Depending on where you're putting your components, that will determine the gauge you will need.

pokki · 02-02-2008, 02:13 PM

www.the12volt.com has power wire charts.

8 guage would be sufficient for that amp, so a single 4 guage for amp + car puter should be fine.

DracoPCGuy · 03-31-2008, 10:42 PM

I could have gotten away with 8 gauge for just the amp according to the charts i looked into but I decided incase I upgrade later I pulled 4 gauge. I just think its better rather than ripping out the 8 cause the new amo needs 4...so I am set with my mp3 player for the mean time. Thanks for your help. - http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/work...y-tracker.html -