Upgrade wire and alternator

 

Gold Member
Username: Bnd_rulez

Phoenix, AZ USA

Post Number: 1232
Registered: Mar-05
I am running 4 gauge from the battery to the dblock on my current system but I plan to run about 1500w soon and get a bigger alt.

Do I need to upgrade the wire?

Would a 160A alternator do alright, or should I get the 200A?

Thanks, David.
 

Gold Member
Username: Adddisorder

Palm Beach, Florida

Post Number: 5823
Registered: Jan-06
get the 200a you could probably cut it with a 160 but why bother. also i would suggest running 2g or really 1/0. that is like the max you want to run on 4g so if i were you get bigger wire.
 

Gold Member
Username: Nd4spd18

Northwest PA

Post Number: 5715
Registered: Jul-06
200 amp alt


And yeah for 1500w you really should have 2 gauge or bigger. Just do it right and use 0 gauge.
 

Gold Member
Username: Bnd_rulez

Phoenix, AZ USA

Post Number: 1249
Registered: Mar-05
Thanks for the advice.
 

Gold Member
Username: Th3pwn3r

Post Number:...

Post Number: 6660
Registered: Jul-06
And keep in mind that you can always pull the wire out of the vehicle when you get a new car so it's not a waste in any way. It's better in the long run to get a thicker gauge wire so that you don't have to waste more money on upgrades later on when you want to run more power.
 

Gold Member
Username: Bnd_rulez

Phoenix, AZ USA

Post Number: 1320
Registered: Mar-05
I have left 4g and RCA's in my last two trade ins. Also left my speakers because they were 2 years old and wanted something new.

Haha, I'm just lazy that way.
 

Gold Member
Username: Th3pwn3r

Post Number:...

Post Number: 6671
Registered: Jul-06
Well... that seems like a waste of money if you ask me but to some people it's not worth wasting the time to remove the stuff.
 

Gold Member
Username: Bnd_rulez

Phoenix, AZ USA

Post Number: 1324
Registered: Mar-05
Always short on time. Seems like when I get new vehicles, it's kind of a spur of the moment thing.

New kit from Knu only cost like $60 so c'est le vie.
 

Gold Member
Username: Th3pwn3r

Post Number:...

Post Number: 6673
Registered: Jul-06
Haha, it probably takes 15 minutes to tear wiring out, 20 if you're being really careful with batts and everything haha.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Eldog

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Post Number: 49
Registered: Jan-08
I'm in the same situation as Gov

I'll be running a ZX650.4 and a ZX1500 in a smaller 89 Eldorado and I need to know EVERYTHING I NEED Rob, from how many distros, what gauge wiring and how much I need, RCA's, all of that. I am getting a 200 amp alternator here cheap but I want to get everything before I see him. I don't know shyt about electrical.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Eldog

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Post Number: 50
Registered: Jan-08
I truly facked up somewhere as to where I just wanted to post something and it looked like I changed Govmint Cheese's thread name. I truly apologize for that Gov, my bad.
 

Gold Member
Username: Th3pwn3r

Post Number:...

Post Number: 6679
Registered: Jul-06
"I'll be running a ZX650.4 and a ZX1500 in a smaller 89 Eldorado and I need to know EVERYTHING I NEED Rob, from how many distros, what gauge wiring and how much I need, RCA's, all of that. I am getting a 200 amp alternator here cheap but I want to get everything before I see him. I don't know shyt about electrical."

Alright. You're going to need wiring to upgrade your big3 first off. Then you'll need some 0awg wire to come from your batt to the rear and run that into a distribution block. From the distribution block run wires to your mono and stereo amplifiers. You can also run a 0awg ground wire and then attach another distribution block at the other end and ground both of your amps through the distribution block. Then you'll need to run your remote wire(16awg wire will do). You'll need 2 sets of rca cables to come from the front to the rear. One set will be for your mono amplifier and another set will be for your 4-channel amp and you can use RCA Y cables from that point to feed all 4 channels their signals or you can run a total of 3 RCA cables from the front head unit, either way will work. You'll need a fuse holder and the proper rated fuse for your wire from the front batt to the rear amps. You'll also need 0awg terminals for your wiring. The mono amp should have a 0awg input but I'm not sure if the 4 channel will accept 0awg so you might want to also pick up some 4awg wire for your amplifiers to be fed from the rear distribution block. To figure out how much wire and feet you'll need it would be a good idea to measure. 13 feet SHOULD be more than enough of 0awg to do your big 3, I'd get 7 feet of positive(red wire) to come from the alternator, 4 feet of negative 0awg to go from alternator case to chassis and another 2 feet from the battery to chassis SHOULD do it. It never hurts to have too much but it sucks when you have too little. For your main power line from the front batt to the rear distribution block 15feet should do it but it won't kill you to order extra. You'll need another 5 feet or more of negative 0awg for the rear ground depending on where you decide to make your grounding point for your amps. I'd get probably 15 feet of positive and negative 4awg wire just in case you might need it. Don't forget about speaker wire from your amps to your subs and or speakers.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Eldog

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Post Number: 52
Registered: Jan-08
Good look Rob, I copied that.
 

Gold Member
Username: Th3pwn3r

Post Number:...

Post Number: 6680
Registered: Jul-06
Haha, you're welcome man. Oh and if you're looking for grounding terminals take a look at the Streetwires GT20.

http://www.sportcompactonly.com/StreetWires/Cables/A-V-Accessories/Audio-Video/p art_c-277_b-426_p-160973.htm?s_cid=SHOPFR100&st=90

I just googled that really quick but I only paid 9 dollars for mine haha, I had 2 of them but one either got lost or stolen because I haven't seen it a loooong time :-(
 

Gold Member
Username: Bnd_rulez

Phoenix, AZ USA

Post Number: 1342
Registered: Mar-05
It's all good man.
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