One of my best friends is an installer at Tweeter, and this kid knows more about car stereo than anyone I have ever talked to...but there's something I wonder about.

When we installed my amp, he advised me to run Monster Powerflex 4 gague. However, the 4 gague only runs to a Monster distribution block, and 8 gague Powerflex is running into the amp. Doesn't running that 8 gague defeat the purpose of running 4 gague in the first place?? I mean, if the electrical current is restricted in 1 area, won't that kill the advantage 4 gague gave me at this point??

 

If you're running a single amp that draws low enough current to only need 8 ga. wire and not planning on ever adding another amp, it would be a waste. If you do plan on going with multiple amps, the bigger wire is insurance. I ran 4 ga. because I didn't know what amp I was going with, and one would need 4 ga., and the one I now decided on would be ok by itself on 8 ga..
The 4 ga. looks impressive, and there is little question that it will hold up.

------------------
Working on:
'84 Z28 LG4 305
Added dual elec fans.
145 MPH IROC Speedo
Building 430 HP 350
using primarily GMPP parts.
Block is in shop!

 

Thanks for the response...no doubt, the red 4 gague Powerflex does look cool..hehe.

Eventually I am planning on putting in a 2nd Eclipse amp, and my current amp will run 400 watts at 4 ohms bridged, and power an Eclipse Aluminum 10 DVC. This is all assuming I don't grab an IROC before I grab a sub....

I was just wondering if the 4 gague gave me any advantage at all at this point.

------------------
Jason E
'89 Camaro RS 2.8
Medium Grey Metallic/700R4, T-tops
Hypertech chip, 2 K&N filters/Modded air box
Eclipse CD, Eclipse 100x4 amp, Polk 4x6 fronts, Boston RX 6x9 rears
Alpine Alarm w/ Keyless entry
IROC tailights

 

Future yes, this point, NO!

------------------
j.wolfe
________
91 GTA
ET: 15.3@89.2mph in OD taking it easy on 190,000 mile engine!

 

Yes but no at the same time.

------------------
, Jon (91 RS too many mods to list)

 

no its not overkill, think about how short the 8ga wire is compared to the 4ga.. now keep in mind wire works like a resistor, the longer and smaller the wire, the more resistance.. so even with only one amp, your still ahead if you have to reduce the wire size to fit into the amp.. since the smaller wire is so short, it doesnt have that much resistance.. also, that 4ga will give you room to grow on, spend a little more now, save more money later by not having to tear out 20 some feet of 8ga to replace it with 20 some feet of 4 ga.. hope this helps...

 

not overkill, you shoulda used 0 gauge

 

Yeah, the current is limited to the overall resistance of the wire. So short runs of 8 gauge are fine. If the the current was limited to the smallest gauge wire used, then 8 gauge would even be overkill, because the circutry inside the amp is even smaller than that.

mike

------------------
custom 3rd gen kickpanels at http://www.lachernet.com/kickpanels

 

A good analogy for wire is a water hose. Running 8 guage all the way from your battery to your amp is like having a small hose. Running 4 guage from your battery to a block, then 8 guage from your block to your amp is like having a big hose with a nozzle on the end.

- Mike

 

simple answer
1 amp (prolly unless it has ASSLOADS of watts)
anything else, no...