# 8 guage wire enough for about 1000 watts of amplifier power ?



## mikemareen (Apr 20, 2006)

allirighty guys, I currently have a 8 guage power wire running from my battery to the trunk. 

I really don't want to re-wire everything.

I have a 8a guage power wire running to a distributor block in the trunk and it then splits to two 8 guage power wires, one to a clarion apa4320 (80x4 rms (40 amps)) and the other will go to a orion 8002 (200x2 rms 80 amps)

is there a chance of damaging my amps with 8 guage wire? will it really make a difference if I kept it at 8 guage ?


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## SQ_Bronco (Jul 31, 2005)

http://www.bcae1.com/wire.htm


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## HIS4 (Oct 6, 2005)

mikemareen said:


> allirighty guys, I currently have a 8 guage power wire running from my battery to the trunk.
> 
> I really don't want to re-wire everything.
> 
> ...


I would run at least 4 gauge for that setup. At full load (or even 70% demand) on your amp ratings you are over the rated capacity of 8 gauge. If you hook up your 8 gauge and experience a large draw for a long period of time, there is a chance you could melt the wire and possibly start a fire.


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## mikemareen (Apr 20, 2006)

HIS4 said:


> I would run at least 4 gauge for that setup. At full load (or even 70% demand) on your amp ratings you are over the rated capacity of 8 gauge. If you hook up your 8 gauge and experience a large draw for a long period of time, there is a chance you could melt the wire and possibly start a fire.


has anyone actually melted their power wire in a situation such as mine ?

I have doubts about this because I have seen 4 guage wire that had less strands then normal 8 guage wire, the thickness was all plastic.


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## HIS4 (Oct 6, 2005)

mikemareen said:


> has anyone actually melted their power wire in a situation such as mine ?
> 
> I have doubts about this because I have seen 4 guage wire that had less strands then normal 8 guage wire, the thickness was all plastic.


If it had less strands then the strands were probably thicker. Total cross sectional area is what is important. And yes, I have seen wires melt before. It's not pretty. I have also seen fuse holders melt into a solid piece of plastic without blowing the fuse before so it is possible.

Usually what happens is the outer jacket of the wire melts away from excess heat and then once the jacket is gone, the bare wire touches something else that metal causing an arc and igniting either carpet or some other fabric to start the fire.


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## mikemareen (Apr 20, 2006)

HIS4 said:


> If it had less strands then the strands were probably thicker. Total cross sectional area is what is important. And yes, I have seen wires melt before. It's not pretty. I have also seen fuse holders melt into a solid piece of plastic without blowing the fuse before so it is possible.
> 
> Usually what happens is the outer jacket of the wire melts away from excess heat and then once the jacket is gone, the bare wire touches something else that metal causing an arc and igniting either carpet or some other fabric to start the fire.


no I am talking overall thickness in diameter. I'm talkin talking about strands.


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## HIS4 (Oct 6, 2005)

mikemareen said:


> no I am talking overall thickness in diameter. I'm talkin talking about strands.


Same deal. Overall thickness can be affected by strand size. The use of less larger strands will usually result in a smaller diameter cable than a cable with a lot of little strands. It's because when there's more strands, that means there is more airspace between strands that contributes to the overall size of the cable. Again, total cross sectional area of the copper strands is what's important. Try looking at a solid copper 12 gauge conductor and a stranded copper 12 gauge conductor. The solid one will be considerably smaller. It's because there is no gaps between strands that add to the overall diameter of the cable. The issue of what's better is debateable. Since you're dealing with almost identical cross sectional areas, the current capacity of each wire should be virtually the same. However, some argue that smaller strands are easier to work with because they are more flexible. Others argue that larger strands are better because they are less prone to breaking than the smaller strands.

In any case, the risk of causing a fire is not worth trying to be cheap or lazy about running properly sized cable.


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## IceWaLL (May 30, 2005)

besides what was said by others you should run 4 guage just because if the wire is suited best for say up to 600 watts theres no way you're going to be able to pull more current thru that wire. 

I know because ive tried, plus im an electrician. whats the point of having a 1000 watt amp when your wire can only handle about half of that much... the rest wont make it thru the wire OR turn into HEAT melting the casing on the wire and causing a fire. Ive seen it done...

dont be lazy or cheap. run as big or bigger wire then whats needed. overkill never hurts. (except your wallet)


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

4 Ga welding cable... Cheap! I prefer Harris Welco-Flex.

Chad


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## chuyler1 (Apr 10, 2006)

I'd say you are OK for moderate listening levels. However, if you intend to crank rap and hip-hop music for hours on end...you should consider upgrading to 4ga.


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## crash813 (Aug 23, 2005)

Just run a second 8 awg wire. Feed both amps directly. Much easier then pulling out the single 8 and reruning a 4. I did this with 2 4awg wires instead of running a single 0awg. 

Running too small of wire is going to result in your amp not making its rated power and/or the wire melting.


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## MarkZ (Dec 5, 2005)

Bah! You're fine. If the wire's already run, don't worry about it. There's no way in hell anything's going to melt unless your amps go kablooey, and hopefully then you're fused anyway.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

Just fuse it for wire safety at the source and try it. if it cracks the fuse then replace the wire if not, roll it. Both of my systems are under-fused at the battery by a lot. I have yet to blow a fuse, the amp pulls less than you think if run in a respectable manner.

Chad


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## mikemareen (Apr 20, 2006)

yeah I'm fused up, one at the battery and two at the distributor block (one for each amp) and of course the fuses on the amp.

thanks guys


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## notacop (Jan 27, 2006)

Like chad said if you keep a 40 or 60 amp fuse up at the battery you will be fine. you will only risk damaging the wire once you start drawing too much current. The lower fuse will prevent that from happening. If you blow the fuse you need bigger wire.


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## Diru (May 23, 2006)

Double edged sword.....

Most SMPS in amplifires pull more current as the voltage drops. The SMPS duty cycle goes up to try and keep the rail voltage up, this make for hotter running amp.

The potential for something bad to happen increases.

Not a good idea to use that 8ga.


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## MarkZ (Dec 5, 2005)

Diru said:


> Most SMPS in amplifires pull more current as the voltage drops. The SMPS duty cycle goes up to try and keep the rail voltage up, this make for hotter running amp.
> 
> The potential for something bad to happen increases.
> 
> Not a good idea to use that 8ga.


The current doesn't increase much. That's why the power drops so much when you compare the 12.5v and 14v conditions.


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## jperryss (Mar 15, 2006)

When I upgraded from 8g to 4g, I was able to tie one end of the existing 8g to the new 4g (with lots of electrical tape!) and pull the new wire through the car using the existing wire. It was one step to go from under the hood to the interior, then another from the interior to the trunk. All I had to remove was the kick panel.


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## mikemareen (Apr 20, 2006)

jperryss said:


> When I upgraded from 8g to 4g, I was able to tie one end of the existing 8g to the new 4g (with lots of electrical tape!) and pull the new wire through the car using the existing wire. It was one step to go from under the hood to the interior, then another from the interior to the trunk. All I had to remove was the kick panel.


wow nice idea.


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