Positive wires

kinkyllama · Post by **kinkyllama** » Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:06 am

What Gauge wire should I replace the alternator to battery with? Is it one wire going straight from the alternator to the battery?

Also, other than upgraded stereo wires for amps how many wires should there be connect to the postive post? My car has 3 or more...

Danny

TheGreatAndPowerfulOz · Wed Feb 22, 2006 12:41 pm

Lets see ...

1) I used 4ga wire and it seems to be working very well.

B) Yes, one wire from the alternator to the battery. Follow the stock one and just use the same terminal bolt.

III) I'll have to look because I don't remember.

kinkyllama · Post by **kinkyllama** » Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:33 pm

TheGreatAndPowerfulOz wrote: III) I'll have to look because I don't remember.

Ok cool. Also what are they and what gauge are they?

Im trying to buy a new battery terminal but its hard to find one to fit all these options.. I have a 0g for the alternator, 4g for subs amp, 8g for speakers amp, then the other few wires that are like 8ish gauge

JohnnyC · Post by **JohnnyC** » Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:14 pm

Not sure if this info will help or if you don't already know it... but thickness of the wire is not as important as the load it can carry. Electricity only travels on the surface of the wire (which is why they make them braided or twisted and not solid). So just make sure whatever wire you get can handle more then the required load tolerances for the line you're running.

kroz123 · Post by **kroz123** » Wed Feb 22, 2006 8:10 pm

kinkyllama wrote:
TheGreatAndPowerfulOz wrote: III) I'll have to look because I don't remember.
Ok cool. Also what are they and what gauge are they?

Im trying to buy a new battery terminal but its hard to find one to fit all these options.. I have a 0g for the alternator, 4g for subs amp, 8g for speakers amp, then the other few wires that are like 8ish gauge

0g is too much, I wanted to replace mine 2 but mine was 4g already so i didn't change it.

kinkyllama · Post by **kinkyllama** » Wed Feb 22, 2006 9:13 pm

rr__kroz123 wrote:
kinkyllama wrote:
TheGreatAndPowerfulOz wrote: III) I'll have to look because I don't remember.
Ok cool. Also what are they and what gauge are they?

Im trying to buy a new battery terminal but its hard to find one to fit all these options.. I have a 0g for the alternator, 4g for subs amp, 8g for speakers amp, then the other few wires that are like 8ish gauge
0g is too much, I wanted to replace mine 2 but mine was 4g already so i didn't change it.

I think it'd still help.. the ground wires seamed to be plenty big but when I upgraded just the stock one it seamed to help a bit. I have the wires anyways so might as well

TheGreatAndPowerfulOz · Wed Feb 22, 2006 11:56 pm

JohnnyC wrote:Not sure if this info will help or if you don't already know it... but thickness of the wire is not as important as the load it can carry. Electricity only travels on the surface of the wire (which is why they make them braided or twisted and not solid). So just make sure whatever wire you get can handle more then the required load tolerances for the line you're running.

I'm sorry to say this, but what you just said is completely wrong ... and please stop spreading this misinformation to others.

What you are talking about is called "Skin Effect" and it *ONLY* takes place in an AC circuit (not DC) when dealing with high frequency oscillation, such as radio frequency transmission.

If you have been told by a technician at a car stereo shop, as I have been told in the past (and got mad at him), that DC travels on the surface of the strands, then he is wrong and needs to have a basic electrical theory book thrown at him.

DC travels through the thickness of the conductor, not the skin.
Brading or twisting thin strands of wire to be used in a DC power circuit are only there to make the cable flexible and managible.
The very best possible conductor for DC power would be a solid bar rather than a stranded cable, but since we can't easily machine out perfect fitting solid copper bars in the shape we want to supply power where we need it, we use flexible cable instead.
The thickeness of the wire, or more to say, the physical amount of copper in the cable, is very relative to the amperage it can conduct.
There are no thinner copper wires that can conduct more amperage than thicker ones, no matter what brand or how many strands it says it has.
Also, no matter who makes it, copper is still copper. Period.

Here is some reading to back up what I am saying:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_effect
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~jcgl/Scots ... page1.html
http://fermi.la.asu.edu/w9cf/skin/index.html

I suggest using Flexiprene welding cable. It is more flexible than colored stereo amplifier power cable (yes, even Monster and Rockforrd Fosgate) and is MUCH less expensive; i.e. $5+ per foot for the name brand cable versus $1.60 per foot of the welding cable.

For most things, 0ga (or 1/0 (pronounced 1 ought)) is overkill, but will in no way reduce the power or grounding capabilities of your electrical system.
If you want to use 0ga, then by all means, do so, but it most likely is overkill.

Even with my big stereo system (which is not currently installed) I only have 4ga for all the power and grounds under the hood, but I have 0ga from the battery to the back of the car where it connects to the distrobution block and runs 4ga to the amplifiers.

Anyway, 4ga is fine. Welding cable is less expensive and is made for high temperature and high amperage draw rates. 0ga will not hurt anything.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

Cliff

daewoomofo · Post by **daewoomofo** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:06 am

listen to Oz, he knows his car audio. why did you take your stereo system out Oz?

TheGreatAndPowerfulOz · Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:12 am

I should clarify; the sub & box and sub amp are out so I could have room in the back of the car to carry my wheels when I had the body flared out a few weeks ago and I have not gotten around to putting the box back in yet.

Besides, the box is HEAVY and I am lazy. LOL ... the empty box ie 75 pounds and the sub is anotehr 40 pounds.

I'll get around to it some time in the next few weeks when I get sick of listening to music without bass.

daewoomofo · Post by **daewoomofo** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:18 am

what all do you have? lets see some pics!

JohnnyC · Post by **JohnnyC** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:22 am

Interesting, I was told differently and didn't know that DC worked differently then AC does when traveling along a wire... That being said... correct me if I'm wrong on something, by all means, I really appreciate that, but don't be condescending to me... I was only trying to help...

TheGreatAndPowerfulOz · Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:30 am

I know this is off topic, but the thread should get back on topic soon. Sorry for hijacking the thread!

My box is out in the shed (protected by my big dogs! LOL) and it's dark. I'll get some pics tomorrow & post them.

The box is made of MDF (medium density fiberboard) and is 5.2 cubic feet of internal air volume, which has been calculated to be correct after the displacement of the subwoofer, the port and the internal bracing of the box.
The port is L shaped into the box and is tuned to 24Hz.
The sub (not the one I really want) is a 15-inch Power Acoustik FUBR. It is only temporary until I get the Adire Audio Brahma 15 mark-II sub.
My sub amp is a Lanzar Vibe (pre 2001 model) 1200D digital mono amp that was bench tested to be around 1320 watts RMS @ 1 ohm.
The component amp (front channel) is a Lanzar Vibe 800 which produces 200 watts RMS per channel at 4 ohms, but I have the gains set to around 125 watts RMS per channel.

..

Anyway, back on topic ...
For the under-hood power and ground cables, I would reccomend using solder-on ring terminals.
When I soldered the terminals on mine, I had to use a torch to heat the wire enough for the solder to bond properly. A soldering gun just does not get hot enough.

daewoomofo · Post by **daewoomofo** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:40 am

yeah, another good upgrade is a deep cycle battery like an Optima. i have some 0 guage welding cable in my garage that im gonna use for my ground upgrades. im leary about useing it for the power lead cause if it shorts anywhere it will weld its self to the ground and proble burn my car down, 4 guage is more than enough, and thanks Oz i also thought that current traveled on the out side, i now know different!

kinkyllama · Post by **kinkyllama** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 3:56 am

Thanks guys for the input.

I thought 0 or 0/1 would be better for the alternator cable than 4g.. I thought thats what you recommend to me some time ago. I have no idea what kinda amps the alternator gives to the battery though.

Also for those of you who cant find welding cable (i had a really... REALLLY hard time) I recommend kickers hyper flex cable if you wanna dish out a couple extra bucks.. its just amazing how flexible it is.

I've already got a yellow top, all the ground wires upgraded, and even a CAP. Yeah ive know all the things about caps.. i dont really NEED one but since I have two decent sized amps I like one on a cap so they pull power at different times. Plus I had one laying around

Danny

TheGreatAndPowerfulOz · Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:32 am

A stock Lanos alternator makes 85 amps at full output.

Flexaprene welding cable is more flexable than ANY car stereo power wire I have yet tried.

Yellow top battery = good. (not the best, but much better than an OEM battery)
Capacitor = ... debatable subject. LOL (I wouldn't use one)