golfkid777

I am currently working on getting my stereo installed in my GS300. I am going to be running 1 2000 watt amp for the subs and 2 500 watt amps for the components. Simple question is do I need 0 gauge wiring to be run back to the distribution block? Or will the 4 gauge Wire i already have work fine? Please let me know!

Thanks in advance, I am not super wire savy.

Mark

88supramki

it would be best to run 1/0

okiaristo

and a big cap

golfkid777

Got a 10 fared going in, butI I will go run and grab some 0 gauge.

MJHSC400

I think you could get away with just adding a second 4ga as it's more flexible and easier to run-- but adding a battery in the trunk along with that 10Farad cap would possibly eliminate the need for anything bigger than the 4ga you already have-- assuming it's true 4ga--- (not wal mart 5ga marked as 4ga)-- I'm sure you didn't cheap it though--

A good read on this subject--

What kind of amps are these? That's big power-- just curious--

Looks like you'd have a .3v drop at 15ft over 0ga pulling 250a continuous -- but it's likely you'd be pulling more like 300+Amps with that much power-- Class D would make a big difference--

Either way a battery in the trunk would possibly enable you to keep your single 4ga --

okiaristo

he shouldnt be running the full power all the time, actually it will be rare. yes he will have a drop but it will be small, even .3V doesnt raise the amperage up too much. for wow factor 2 0Ga will be good but as far as needed, i dont think so. it is equal to 4 4ga wires so he has a lot of current capacity with less resistance. just get really good OFC wire with good connectors and make sure everything is clean... good looking out though

MJHSC400

Battery in the trunk= good
2 Batteries in the trunk= better

a battery plus a 10f cap= enough

4ga would be adequate with any of these--

BUT-- you gotta have a STRONG alternator to make any of this work-- 250A plus--

MJHSC400

Without the battery in trunk in the equation, assuming your sub amp is a class D, and your other two are class A/B -- your avg. amp efficiency is 55%, when creating 3000w @ 15v~ (avg.) , your current draw will be 400A from the battery/alternator--

This will be a 0.6 voltage drop over a single 0ga cable-- which is too much according to the NEC standard of maximum allowable drop of 2%-- where .6v/15v = 4% voltage drop-- , but at 12v the drop would be 5%, more than twice what you want it to be--

MJHSC400

Of course all these estimates are assuming you aren't competing spl-- Also, besides not knowing what these 2000w and 500w amps acutally are, we don't know what kind of speakers you've got or plan to use with all this power--

Assuming you'll have enough mids and hi's to efficiently transform all that power into sound, as well as enough sub to turn 2000w into a usable range of operation, you'd only then be able to actually use all that power without blowing all your speakers, and you'd need to take all the precautionary measures listed above-- That's why it would be necessary to know not only what actual amps you're using, but what actual mids and hi's you'll be using to actually determine how much current you'll be able to use without damaging your speaker department--

If your competing, most guys with this much power use more than just a single battery in the trunk, more like 3 extra batteries and a few caps--

golfkid777

Wow, this got techinical fast..... So like i said electrical is not my strong point, this is the first stereo I have done. All 3 amps are eclipse audio, subs are eclipse, and components are mb quarts. Almost all wiring is street wire, nothing cheap there. This is the first stereo I have done in a car of mine and i want it to be done proper. If there is possibly any way to do it without a battery in the trunk that would be great, the little space left is going to be precious to me. I will also not have this thing running at full volume rarly ever, but want to be able to when the need arises without worrying about anything.

golfkid777

Subs Ecplipse SW8000 10". I am pretty sure they can handle the power.

golfkid777

Also, this is not going to be used for any sort of competition ever. I just want something that is quality all around and can be very loud if I ever want it to be, which will be a very rare happening.

MJHSC400

Eclipse and MB are great stuff-- But--

How many and what model? Components; Subs; amps --

I have run a pair of MB 5.25 components with a punch 225.2 (650w rms) , as in two sets-- THis was enough to power them, but it would overheat the amp and eventually cut it off-- I think I had some volt drop issues, but it never fried anything but my ears--

Your Setup
Let me guess-- you've got an amp per component set, right? And a pair of subs for this 2000w amp-- right? maybe 3 subs??

This is starting to look more sensible--

golfkid777

Yes, they are 1 amp per set of components and 1 amp for 2 subs. The amps for the components are 250 RMS watts each and the sup amp is I believe 1200 rms.

MJHSC400

Wow -- That just changed everything-- Those subs will hammer-- but you don't have more than 1700w there-- Now then, is your sub amp class D??

Also-- Are your 250w amps 125x2 @ 4ohm or 2ohm stereo?? This also will make a huge difference as they're class A/B amps--

All this will tell us what power/current draw is really happening, and in turn what power wire is truly needed--

In short, just add a second 4ga wire and you'll be fine-- actually overkill, which is good--

BUT-- I'm estimating that you'll be drawing 220A at max power-- which will either get turned down very quickly as it's just plain painful loud, or start to dim your headlights to the point of killing your ignition and damaging your battery--

The 10F cap will help, but a 200A alternator is called for on this one--

You can get away with skipping the trunk battery, but I would still consider a thin style mini battery-- like a half size optima yellow top-- or the equivalent-- which would be easy to hide in the trunk somewhere out of sight--

That would also drop you back down to a single 4ga-- IF you install the 200A alternator--

Then you'd be good to go--