KeukaZ71

i am upgrading my amp from a 600w to a 1000w RF power amp. right now i have 8 gauge wire for my 600w punch amp. my dad works at an electrical company and brought me home some 4 gauge CABLE. not sure if this stuff will work. it is called "Rome Cable". it is like industrial wire, it has 20 thick wires running through the cable. unlike traditional power wire we use for car audio, which has many thin wires running through the cable. the cable is pretty stiff and heavy duty and has the thickness of a 4 gauge wire, but will it work for a car audio amp?

NightHawk

iTrader: (1)

The structure of the wire isn't a big deal, but with a 1000w amp I wouldn't use 4 AWG wire, I would try 2AWG or even 1/0 AWG wire--you can't have wire too big but you can sure as hell have wire too small. You could probably get away with the 4 AWG wire, but I only had to melt the wiring in a car once to never go with wire that I'm not totally sure is up to the job.

hawk664

4ga wire will be enough for your set-up, but I would not use the wire you have, it is not best suited to your needs. This wire is meant to handle high voltage currents where a small amount of resistance is not a big issue. Sure it will work, but just invest the small amount of money and get some car audio 4ga. You will notice this wire has much smaller strand to better conduct the rather low 12v current without having too much resistance.

SMOKINV8

iTrader: (6)

I'm not an electrician or anything, but I'd gamble that the car audio grade 4ga cable uses smaller strands inside, so it's more flexible. I'm sure it would work for what you want to use it for, but you'll want a distribution block, and a short length of car audio grade cable to attach it to your amp. Trying to get those huge strands to fit in a crimp connector wouldn't be an easy task. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" />

KeukaZ71

thanks guys, i think i will fork over a few extra $$$ and buy some car audio wire. not worth messing up my amp by saving $20 of wire. probably will call RF 1st. the amp calls for 4awg though. you think i would notice a difference if i went to 2 gauge?

FAST/A LOVER

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by hawk664:
<strong> 4ga wire will be enough for your set-up, but I would not use the wire you have, it is not best suited to your needs. This wire is meant to handle high voltage currents where a small amount of resistance is not a big issue. Sure it will work, but just invest the small amount of money and get some car audio 4ga. You will notice this wire has much smaller strand to better conduct the rather low 12v current without having too much resistance. </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">First:hawk664 hit it on the head. The more numerous smaller strands carry the lower DC voltage more efficiently. The larger romex style wire is made for AC.
Secondo you only have one amp? If you are running two amps and one calls for 4 AWG, then you definitely need a larger wire. Even if it's only the one amp, the length of the main run of wire must be factored in. To make a long story short, like Nighthawk said...Better safe than sorry. If you're not sure of your needs, it never hurts to go one size or even two sizes larger. The amp is only going to pull as much as it needs at a given time.
Most recommend no more than 17ft of 4 AWG wire for 1000 watts, and your one amp probably will put out more, at least in short bursts...just FYI
Hope this helps! <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_cheers.gif" />

<small>[ April 10, 2003, 09:29 PM: Message edited by: FAST/A LOVER ]</small>

Beeler422

iTrader: (3)

Your 4 gauge wire is just right. I'm running a 2000w amp and a 600w amp, both with 1 awg wire into the distribution block and 4 awg wire to each amp. The more strands in the wire, the better. Make sure you get a copper, oxygen free wire. Don't use the wire you have.

<small>[ April 11, 2003, 10:08 PM: Message edited by: Beeler311 ]</small>

SMOKINV8

iTrader: (6)

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Beeler311:
<strong>The more strands in the wire, the better. </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">What does the strand count have to do with the conductivity? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="images/icons/confused.gif" />

Beeler422

iTrader: (3)

The increased number of strands in the wire decreases the resistance and allow more current to hit the speaker. The audible difference is a tighter, stronger bass.