Wire Kit Question

[krimsonviper]

I'm going to be installing a system into my new 3, and I'm going to do this right and clean. For my budget, that's gonna take awhile because car audio isn't cheap. With that said, is it better to use 1 big wire amp kit and split it into 2 using distribution blocks, or 2 individual amp kits designed for the amps? Why?

[zerepdivad]

I always run a bigger wire and run to a distribution block. I've never ran 2 power wires to the battery. What exactly are you looking to be running anyways?

[krimsonviper]

I'm going to be running a 300/4 and a 500/1. I've done the one big power wire, but just kinda curious why no one runs 2 power wires. I've only seen one vehicle run two, and I think it's just because it's easier to run one, instead of two.

What really sparked it was I was looking at amp kits and 4awg kits are half of what zero gauges are, and I just kinda sat there like, is it better to have the one big wire?

[AppleBonker]

For reference (pulled this from wiki, fwiw) - 1/0 AWG has a cross-sectional area of 53.5 square mm where 4 AWG is 21.2 square mm. The extra area allows more current to flow. Between these two options, the 1/0 is a better solution.

The only cars I've seen with multiple runs of 1/0 were SPL cars with more than two batteries in multiple locations. That would be overkill for what I assume you're trying to accomplish.

I found it easier to run one length of 1/0 for my install. I had to drill through the firewall, and one hole is easier to drill than two. With multiple runs of wire, you also have more fuses to worry about. For all the above reasons, stick with the 1/0.
Modified by AppleBonker at 2:36 PM 2/15/2010

[krimsonviper]

Awesome. Good to know man, thank you!

[Broadfield]

Since I do this type of stuff for a living, and for ages at that, I have a little different perspective then most. The reason I see a lot of people using dual runs of power is for the simple fact that they added onto their system. In a lot of cases, a customer will start out with a 1000 watt sub amplifier setup, but still run their mid-highs off of head unit power. So a single 4 AWG is run for the sub amp. Then later down the road when they have the funds for a 4 x 150 4-channel amplifier, they add another 4 AWG for it. Because it would not make economical sense to pull out a perfectly good 4 AWG. A lot of my customers build their systems as they go.

A good rule of thumb by-the-way is that two cables of the same gauge, is equal to one cable three less in gauge. So two 4 AWG would be equal to one 1 AWG(not to be confused with 1/0 AWG). Or two 8 AWG is equal to one 5 AWG.

Edit: Also, two runs of 4 AWG is cheaper than one run of 1/0 AWG, and all of the distribution to go with it. Obviously it's a different story if you are actually pulling enough current to warrant the necessity of 1/0 AWG. Because in all reality, a single 1/0 AWG is pretty much equal to three 4 AWG
Modified by Broadfield at 12:22 AM 3/8/2010