if u dont no what u r doing when it comes to car systems dont mess with it i fried my new deck today, all because i was trying to hook up 2 more tweeters, the auto shop is sending it out because its still under warrenty. bad thing is i have to go with out a system, u no how hard that is.lol
but just some advice for those people out there that like to mess with $hit like me.

 

True story. I fried 4 amps because I wired it different (and wrong) but they sure as hell sounded good while they worked!

 

Thats like a saying I use, "Friends don't let friends install car audio." lol

But seriously, use it as a learning experience. Once you learn to do it yourself, you'll save loads in installation costs. Trust me. My friends in my club and I do all our own work after trial and error and some burnt up eqipment years ago, now we can do installs that would run in the 1000's, now cost us 100's or less. All ya gotta do is follow instructions or suggestions by a trusted audio pro and you'll be fine.

Get new stuff and try again and don't shortcut anywhere. Unless you like using a fire extinguisher all the time, lol j/k. Chalk it up as learning.

 

Words to live by. I (fortunately) haven't blown up anything since I started doing installs on my own, and saving all that install money is a lifesaver.

My advice: sloooowww doooooooowwwwn. Everyone loves to hear new audio equipment, and wants to rush right through the install to do just that. Take your time, double check everything, and you should be good to go every time.

 

almost fried myself when i was hooking/unhooking my amps. forgot to (at the least) pull the fuse out of my main 4ga. both touched big spark, me scared . fuses everywhere are a good thing.

 

Yes, more good words of advice: "fuses everywhere." LOL, you make it sound like they're filling up the engine bay or something. :sillylol:

 

I managed to slash my main wiring harness on the bottom of the dash when i was installing mine. Every fusible link in the car melted. Good times...

 

well, not that many. hehe. but one on the amp (it comes with one anyway), one at the distribution block, and one at the battery. more than enough. but its better then trashing a battery and whatever else felt like blowing up at the same time.

 

Maybe eliminat or leave one fuse and install a circuit breaker inthere somewhere before your first fuse. Works wonders sometimes. Saves a lot of smoked wires and burnt plastic interior parts lol. Previous owner of my RS didn't see it that way I guess, lol. Whole pasenger side had remains of a cooked, too small, power wire.

 

Fuses and the right gauge wiring is very important. I've seen many customers come into the shop wanting to have their system "reinstalled" because they or their buddy tried to wire it up and caught half the car on fire. I've seen melted interior pieces from using too small of wire,because the wire will heat up and start melting the insulation and everything around it. You can't run a 1600 watt class-D amp with 12 gauge speaker wire(yep,I've seen it before).

 

Some may say it's overkill, but I will always run 4, 2awg or larger on any of my installs. Depending on what I'm pushing. 8 may be recommended my some, but I've seen that melt on small amps with a proper install. It amazed me, lol. But my personal installs are usually 1000-2000+ setup's. Whether it's an SQ or SPL.

I have also been a witness to the 12 and 10 guage "power" wire, lol. Not too cool. Smokey and melted. . . like a grilled chicken and swiss sandwich, lol.

 

i'll stick with fuses over circuit breakers. much cheaper (a proper CB isnt cheap). fuses are readily available (any rat shack has em, and all stereo places have em). one at the distro to save the amp from wire probs after the battery, and a fuse at the bat (under 18 in from bat) to save the bat. can never be too careful.

 

Me too,but 200 amp fuses start to get expensive when you start popping 'em at shows and competitions,so I went with a 240A circuit breaker. Simple flip of the switch.

 

that was the POWER wire?!?!??!?!

 

Plus, what's cool is, if you ever upgrade your amps, you don't have to yank the power wire to run a thicker one. I have 4ga wire, running through a Lightning Audio 100 amp breaker in the engine compartment, splitting at a Streetwires fused distribution block (2-way) near the amps, where two 8gauge wires give the amps their power.