im installing my stereo system soon. i have a few ?s on what gauge to use on certain places. im sure it has all been answered before, but i couldn't find the answers in search i was looking for. i will be running a 1 farad cap, a 600x1 kicker amp, and a kicker 10L7 sub. what size cable should i run between the negative battery post and ground? im thinking 2. what total power capability can a 2 gauge handle? i may put in a amp for the highs/mids later and i only want to run the power wire once. i know 4 gauge is right for the 600 amp, but i want ample cable for say a 300w amp added on later. what gauge wire should i run between the amp and the sub? 16, 14? thanks audio gurus

 

4ga should be fine but I would probably run dual 4ga.

http://www.streetwires.com/Flash/powerwire.html

I would run 12ga from the amp to the sub.

 

Just curious, but why are you going to run a Cap. First of all, you aren`t running enough power to even justify one. Also, those aren`t really what they are made out to be. I`m not a stereo guru by any means, but from what I know about caps they are not really needed in most stereos. They only give you short boosts in voltage until they are able to recharge. I`m running a memphisbelle 1300 with 4 guage wire and an optima battery and I have absolutely no problems whatsoever. No headlight dimming or voltage drops at all. I think you should save your money on that and put it towards something else

 

1. the cap was only like 50
2. i plan on getting HIDs hopefully
3. it looks good(audiobahn)
4. a new alt is way more than a cap

 

All you need for your amount of power is a good battery such as a red top optima like I have. When I first started building my system, I had 2 Rockford Fosgate amps. The 4 channel was a 300 watt and the 2 channel bridged was 800 watts into 2 ohms. I also had the factory battery in the car. I had headlight dimming. When I switched over to my memphisbelle 1300 I put in a new red top optima and I have no voltage drops whatsoever anymore.

 

already running a red top. was not about to put another factory battery after mine decided to leak acid. i also am notorious for overbuilding things

 

I am the king of overbuilding things, but I also like to be rational about things when I get too deep into something doing things that really don`t need to be done. To each his own though. Just thought I`d help you save a few bucks. Goodluck on your install

 

its too late on saving money anyway, everything except the wire in in my room already. i may sell it, but doubtful

 

Well, if you have it, then run it. Capacitors are like rechargeable batteries. Everytime the bass hits, then the cap has deleted it`s power and it has to recharge, so it`s just really another item that`s going to use up power from your battery.

 

That link is cool as heck! Sure wish we had that when I was an installer - we had to actually know that stuff!

 

use 4 gauge wire u will be fine. also the battery's u guys are talking about....the optima red top is not a stereo battery, it is a under the hood starting battery. the optima yellow top is a good stereo battery.

as for the battery, cap...they all draw power from your alt. the alt is the heart of everything, if u do not have a alt to keep up with your system and prvide the right amount of amps, it does't matter how many batteries or caps u put it you will never be good. when u add these item u are just adding more strain on your alt.

 

Yes/No. They are like a Battery, but they work like an Under-Flow device: Kind of like the Vacumme Canistors, or the Oil Things that discharge during Cold Starts (I'm high on Percs and Spelling comes 2nd).

Which is worse: a Battery or a Capacitor??

They both Require Energy form the Alternator.

Anyways, The battery is worse. They will draw a charge roughl the Same as a capacitor, but they don't discharge as readilly as a Capicitor. So with just a Battery Change, all you did was put a Slighlty better Designed Battery in place with a better Charge/Discharge rate, BUT not as good as a Cap.

Since You follow the Cap as another Device to draw current away from an AMP you are A Memphis guy. I was/Am too. For SPL purposes or where large continuous Current is needed, the Cap will hurt. It does begin to fight for Recharge Current also. So it becomes a Sap on the Current, become Resistance, and causes a voltage Spike in the Negative.

Here is a good link to see what it look likes and a great Explaination.

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/scrip...Z2U9MQ**&p_li=

You should be fine with 4 ga if you have a smaller AMP for the Mid's/high's. But you are probably going around 50w per ch. so I would upgrade to 2 4ga or 1 2ga. I have 4ga Flat Power Wire from Memphis. It was an Awesome wire for under Carpet installs. I need to check to see if it is still for sale.

 

Not needed but a cap can be used.
A cap provides extra protection when his battery cant discharge fast enough. His amps will run cooler and theres is nothing wrong with that.

 

If you are going to add serious amounts of Draw to your system, an Alt is needed, but you see to be totally fine with just the Cap and Wiring upGrades.


Don't forget the Main Wires to upgrade:

Alternator to Battery

Ground Term (Battery) to Chassis

 

I am an old school stereo guy. I come from a time where Orion amps were the ****, so all the stuff out on the market now I really know hardly anything about. Caps were coming out when I quit messing with stereo stuff. So I don`t know a whole lot about them. I do know that your alternator is your main source for power to your electronics. Anyways, in my younger days I worked for an electrical engineer building synchronized strobes for C130 cargo plans. We built the synchro unit and then built power supplies along with the strobe lights themselves. The power supplies housed 8 capacitors. I can`t really remember there actual size, but they were roughly the size of d cell batteries. All together they provided about 200 amps of power. Enough to stop your heart in a flash. In one of our tests, we would charge the caps and then remove their power source, then we would fire them. They were good for one flash and the caps were discharged completely. The flash they produced through the strobes were brighter than the sun.
I have just recently been turned on by memphis stuff and I love their products. I started building my system with SQ in mind rather than SPL. I`m not into competition. I added the memphis amp just here recently to replace those crappy sounding rockfords I have. So it was built off of what I had already installed. I am still in the tuning stage and still have a ways to go to get it sounding right for me. Although, it sounds pretty darn good now. It has come to my attention that my preamps from my headunit are only producing about 1.3 volts and I need about 3 to properly supply my amp, so I am in the process of trying to decide how I want to do that. I have thought about doubling up my power wire from the battery, but would have to dig back into the car to do so. Not looking forward to that again. I was unaware of the flat 4 gauge memphis has. I`ll have to see if my stereo guy has that or can get it cause it`s pretty tight in there with what I have now. Thanks for the info though

 

Ok. Now I see why you would imagine them as a Resitance, rather than what they have evolved into. All of todays Caps for this Purpose are Low-ESR or Ultra Low-ESR Capacitors.

So you were a Tech on a C-130. I'm airborne so I love those Rough Planes.

Never had to Hesitate to Jump out of one! Lol



Memphis is a good Brand. I like there Class D amps for Subs. The 3004 is a good Class AB amp, just not up to snuff with some of the top amps, but the Memphis Bell is a nice amp.

They do have to versions Now: 1 is basically a Shared Pwr sply, 1100D, and 3004 (75x4, 500x1 4 ohm, 120x4 2ohm, 800x1, 1100x1 1ohm) and the Little brother (50x4, 250x1) anyways it's the 2004 and the 500 in a common Chasis.
You have Probably seen the Wesite So I'll quit.

Glad to have you back in the Hobby.

 

the12volt has a TON of extremely useful information about many things pertaining to, well....12volts....

Here is a chart pertaining to the wiring issue

 

makoshark : if u are looking to up your pre-amp voltage, i believe audio control and a few other brands sell line drivers that can help u with that.