# a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your amps



## coomaster1 (Jul 22, 2010)

*a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your amps*

Hi, What would be the best way to connect 4 gauge wire and bigger gauge to your positive and negative screw terminals on your amps. The 4 gauge wire and bigger will not fit under the screw terminals on most amps. Is there something you can connect to the wire that will allow me to keep the gauge of wire big,and allow me to connect it securely under the screw down power and ground terminals on the amp. So I will be able to keep the 4 gauge and larger flow proper.It would kinda defeat the purpose of free flowing power and ground if you can only install a little bit of the big wire under the amp screw terminal.What are people doing to fix this problem the easiest and best. Thanks


----------



## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*

Cut of enough of the strand bundles so that the remaining is the gauge that fits. Do this carefully and cleanly.

Don't use what are called cable reducers.










A perfectly round pin in a perfectly round pit will have a very small contact patch to transmit the current. 










You'll only have that small end to end length, the set screw itself (if it is even conductive), and the end of the pit to make contact. Plus the hard surface and unsupported bottom side of the reducer could cause the screw to vibrate loose.


----------



## hilander999 (Jul 6, 2011)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*

Any amp that needs enough current to require a 4g cable, will be designed with terminals that will fit 4g wire.


----------



## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

hilander999 said:


> Any amp that needs enough current to require a 4g cable, will be designed with terminals that will fit 4g wire.


That+1 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## brandon. (Jul 11, 2012)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*



hilander999 said:


> Any amp that needs enough current to require a 4g cable, will be designed with terminals that will fit 4g wire.


Came in here to say this. There are amplifiers that fit 0ga without issue.


----------



## coomaster1 (Jul 22, 2010)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*

Not all amps have big enough positive and negative terminals to connect the 4 gauge and bigger wire under,That's why I posted this question.and I am not interested in swapping all my amps out just because another brand of amp accommodated a heavier gauge wire easier. I'm just interested in people that have the best answer to solve the question I asked.


----------



## brandon. (Jul 11, 2012)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*



coomaster1 said:


> Not all amps have big enough positive and negative terminals to connect the 4 gauge and bigger wire under,That's why I posted this question.and I am not interested in swapping all my amps out just because another brand of amp accommodated a heavier gauge wire easier. I'm just interested in people that have the best answer to solve the question I asked.


hilander999's point was if the amp required 4ga cable, it would have a 4ga terminal, not to upgrade your amp just to have a 4ga terminal.


----------



## coomaster1 (Jul 22, 2010)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*

Is there an easy way to change to a 4 gauge terminal.I didn't really want to modify anything with the amplifiers. I was hoping to keep them all original.I was just hoping to modify the wire or do something that would make it easier to install the larger wire more easily under the small power and ground screws.Thanks


----------



## hilander999 (Jul 6, 2011)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*



coomaster1 said:


> Is there an easy way to change to a 4 gauge terminal.I didn't really want to modify anything with the amplifiers. I was hoping to keep them all original.I was just hoping to modify the wire or do something that would make it easier to install the larger wire more easily under the small power and ground screws.Thanks


What fuse is installed in the amps?
This will tell you what gauge wire you need for a proper instalation.
Run the 4g from the battery to the where youy amps are and use a fused distribution block from 4g to 8g which should fit in the terminals.

You do not want to change anything on the amp itself. If there was a need for 4g wire (130 amps) then the amp would already have a larger terminal.

Why don't you describe what your problem was and save a great deal of time and money fixing it the right way instead of just throwing money down a hole as a bandaid for a larger problem.

We would all like to see pictures of what your setup looks like right now.
Adding 200ft of 4g cable is only going to make it harder to troubleshoot latter and has no performance gains whatsoever.


----------



## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*



coomaster1 said:


> Is there an easy way to change to a 4 gauge terminal.I didn't really want to modify anything with the amplifiers. I was hoping to keep them all original.I was just hoping to modify the wire or do something that would make it easier to install the larger wire more easily under the small power and ground screws.Thanks


Why don't you want to do what I suggested?


----------



## coomaster1 (Jul 22, 2010)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*

So if I get this correctly.To run the ground and power wires for the 5 amplifiers the easiest and best, I can just have one long power wire and one long ground wire running from the positive and negative on my battery to the trunk where the amplifiers are .Hook those 2 wires to what you call a distribution block, and then there will be spots on the distribution block to run all my positive an negative amp wires to it. Is this correct.


----------



## coomaster1 (Jul 22, 2010)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*

Hi, t3sn4f2 I think I will use your idea after all.The only difference is I will space half the wire on one side of the screw terminal and the other half on the other side of the screw terminal essentially making the end of the wire look like a Y.I should be able to get all the wire to fit under the screw terminal and will probable put a small dose of solder on the wire so it will stay that way.Some times the simplest idea is the best. thanks


----------



## brandon. (Jul 11, 2012)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*



coomaster1 said:


> So if I get this correctly.To run the ground and power wires for the 5 amplifiers the easiest and best, I can just have one long power wire and one long ground wire running from the positive and negative on my battery to the trunk where the amplifiers are .Hook those 2 wires to what you call a distribution block, and then there will be spots on the distribution block to run all my positive an negative amp wires to it. Is this correct.


No, you don't want to run your ground up to your battery.

Run a 0ga wire from the battery positive to the trunk. This will attach to a distribution block which have X number of outputs in a smaller gauge.

For example 0ga in and 3-4ga out, or a few 4ga out and a few 8ga out. The outputs connect to your amps.

For your ground, don't go longer than 12 inches, and just connect it to the chassis in the truck (seat belt bolt, or just drill a hole/sand the paint off).

Your ground can have a distribution block as well, but you can't use the same as your power.

These are nice distributions block for a damn good price.

http://www.knukonceptz.com/productMaster.cfm?category=Distribution / Fuse Blocks


----------



## hilander999 (Jul 6, 2011)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*



coomaster1 said:


> So if I get this correctly.To run the ground and power wires for the 5 amplifiers the easiest and best, I can just have one long power wire and one long ground wire running from the positive and negative on my battery to the trunk where the amplifiers are .Hook those 2 wires to *what you call a distribution block*, and then there will be spots on the distribution block to run all my positive an negative amp wires to it. Is this correct.


These come in all shapes and sizes for any configuration...
Power Distribution Blocks | Distribution Blocks | Car Amplifier Installation & Accessories | Car Audio/Video Installation & Accessories | Car Audio, Video & GPS at Sonic Electronix


----------



## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*

One of the reasons not to use a ground wire from the bat to the back is that the metal chassis of the car, although made of steel that is 5 times less conductive than copper, _has_ a functional gauge that is 50 times greater than even a 0 gauge OFC cable.

Also I would not mount a grounding lug to a seat belt bolt. That is a critical fastener in the car and putting what is essentially a soft metal washer (ie the ground terminal) in between the bolt and the frame would be a bad idea IMO. Any slip up in the install like leaving the ground cable loose enough to wiggle and vibrate could thin out the lug face over time or even loosen the bolt. Besides, a high strength mounting point like those are going to be welded to lesser conductive paths like frame rails instead of large surface area ones like floor pans. I know they are still welded to the pan but with spot welds that reduce the conduction points. Plus it's just ****ing tacky to see a ground terminal on a seat belt frame.

Mount the ground to an open metal skin away from borders and accessory and/or accessory grounds. That way the current flows out of the lug into a large open area of metal where it can have less resistance to the larger majority of metal chassis leading to the front of the car.


----------



## Dre20xl (Jan 28, 2011)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*

if your talking about splitting the end of the wire into a Y you should be using 4 gauge spade terminal. I think the others think you have direct wire inputs like the something you see on a 5K sub amp, i bet you have the old skool screw with the big square washer type.

Stinger SPT8124 4 Gauge Spade Terminal, 4 Pack (2 black, 2 red)


----------



## Fast Hot Rod (Apr 19, 2007)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*

Since when did hooking up a wire to an amp become "Technical and Advanced" discussion? 

Really?


----------



## coomaster1 (Jul 22, 2010)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*

I'm sure those 4 gauge spade connectors will make for a lot easier connection to the amplifiers. Will the power and ground flow as good to and from the amps with those added.


----------



## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*



Dre20xl said:


> if your talking about splitting the end of the wire into a Y you should be using 4 gauge spade terminal. *I think the others think you have direct wire inputs like the something you see on a 5K sub amp*, i bet you have the old skool screw with the big square washer type.
> 
> Stinger SPT8124 4 Gauge Spade Terminal, 4 Pack (2 black, 2 red)


I did. In that case I would not use my recommendation. Spade type terminals are for spade connectors. Wire straight into them is a rig. They don't have isolation insulation to keep loose strands from shorting to anything around them.

Use the spade connectors that fit you amp and then if you want use my folding over wire technique to get your wire to fit properly into the crimp end of that spade connector. Then crimp it properly, ie with a crimper and not a hammer and your garage floor.


----------



## coomaster1 (Jul 22, 2010)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*

Thanks for the update


----------



## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*

*facepalm*


----------



## FuzEboX (Sep 14, 2009)

*Re: a simple way to connect 4 guage wire securely to the + & - terminals on your am*



coomaster1 said:


> I'm sure those 4 gauge spade connectors will make for a lot easier connection to the amplifiers. Will the power and ground flow as good to and from the amps with those added.


----------

