Question About Gauge?

[tooyoungtoodie]

Hey, I want to buy another amplifier installation kit. I got a question, What is the different between 4 gauge, 8 gauge, 10 or 12 gauges? I surely don't know. How do you know what kind of gauge you have? I know that my amplifier is 400x4 so 16000watts with 4 channel. When I bought the amplifier package, it came with 2 subwoofer speaker, 500 each, and the package say it can handle up to 38000watts, is it true?

[tooyoungtoodie]

this is for mi 94 camry

[MrSo0h0o]

no way is your amp 400x4 RMS... tell us the brand and number of your amp and we will find out the real specs on it.

about the gauge of wire, the more power consumed by the amp, the larger wire u need(smaller numbers= larger wire; goes all the way down to 00 wire) anything under ~300-400RMS you could easily use 8gauge. between ~400-800 use 4 gauge. and on.. on MOST applications, 1/0 and 00 gauge wire is usually just for show.

[whocares04]

400x4 typically means it sends 400W divided to 4 channels...so 100W a channel or if u use just 2 channels, each get 200W; and only 1 channel get 400W.

how many amps are u running, just one? and if the 400x4 amp then 8ga. should be fine, if not 10ga.

go by what the RMS (recommended power) is for the speakers not max power...prolly 500W RMS, maybe 3800W max

plus ur multiplication skills are off...400 x 4 = 1600.

[pk_kk]

if its wired @ 1 ohm it'll be different. some bastards do that to make der specs higher. like rockford dey give you rms @ 2ohms well i'm rinning a 4gauge stinger wire @ 2ohms into my rockford amp and pumping my audiobahn sub. i think gettting good wires is worth it i say anything from 2-00 gauge is good for Mr. tooyourtodie

[Toysrme]

The lower the gauge, the thicker the piece of metal (in our case, the wire). The thicker the wire, the less voltage drop across it.



If you run a wire that is too thin for the electrical load you are trying to carry, it will simply heat up and melt.


*edit* typo - fixed

[88 LE]

Originally Posted by Toysrme

The thicker the wire, the less current drop across it.

You mean voltage drop.

Current flows through wire. The thicker the wire, the more current it can handle.

[MrSo0h0o]

it all depends on the specs of the amp.. assuming from the description of this amp, its probably some lightning audio crap so i would say nothing larger than 4gauge

[Tercel GTS]

Originally Posted by MrSo0h0o

goes all the way down to 00 wire

I don't know how large it does go, but I have a roll of 4/0 (0000) in my garage.

[MrSo0h0o]

how purposeful is that in car audio though? lol.. i dont think its logical to run such large wire unless you are producing 10kw of power, in which you would need ~1000amps produced by alternator(s) which doesnt quite make sense IMHO such large gauge wire is just for show