STEREO - How long power wire from Battery to trunk ?

[GT Wagon]

Anyone know offhand about how many feet I'll ned of power wire to run from the battery to the trunk of a MY97 Wagon ?

[badbasser98]

Guess it depends on exactly how you run it... I'd just measure the length of your car, then add five feet to that and you should be set with alittle extra just incase.

-BB98

[Wiscon_Mark]

the 20ft wire I got with my amp kit worked great

you can look at my DIY writeup to see how I wired it too

[GT Wagon]

Thanks for the input guys ! The reason I ask is someone is selling some wire and its in 11 / 12 foot lenghts. Why on earth he cut it like that is beyond me but its just long enough that it might or might not work. I'll have a look at your write-up Mark

[Wiscon_Mark]

enh, I don't think 12 feet would do it. At least 16, but take a string and find out what you'll need and then make your descision

[HFSDevil]

Just remember, its always better to have too much then not enough.

[Wiscon_Mark]

precisely

[GT Wagon]

Well that's what I'm thinking. Considering the cost of wire isn't a major expense I'm probably better off buying excess and trimming. I've been planning on going with Knukonceptz (sp?) wire as its well priced and they have a good reputation from what I read. Sadly enough its worth importing the wire from the US into Canada. Even paying shipping etc.. its still much cheaper than buying from my local stereo shop.

[Wiscon_Mark]

hey, they sell 25ft rolls of 4 ga. wire for 15 bucks at most larger hardware stores, at least around here. You could assemble your own amp wiring kit easily enough at a fairly low cost

[bakergtt]

I got 25ft of 4 awg just to make sure i had enought but i only used about 19-20ft cuz i had a piece of it left over about the length of my arm span. I also have pics but not step by step photos or instructions but if you need help dont hesitate to ask me either.

Adams tip of the day:

Just make sure you fuse each end of your main power line with a 150amp fuse

Good luck and have fun

[Wiscon_Mark]

150 amps? That's a lot of MFing current!

[GT Wagon]

150 amps? That's a lot of MFing current!

People overrate the size of the fuses they really need. For the longest time I've been running Phoenix Gold MS series amps, an MS275 up front and an MS2125 on the subs. The MS2125 has two 40 amp internal fuses. Typically I've been using a 60 amp fuse up front and have yet to blow a fuse. To make good use of a 150 amp fuse you've got to be running one hell of a system at peak capacity.

[bakergtt]

well thats what they gave me at the stereo shop so thats what i am using

[GT Wagon]

well thats what they gave me at the stereo shop so thats what i am using

You'll be fine :-) The sole purpose of the fuse up front (should be within 12-18 inches of the battery) is to protect against the power wire grounding out anywhere between the battery and the fused distrobution block in the trunk. A good example would be the wire getting pinched under the rear seat, without the fuse up front it could heat up and start a fire.

It really doesn't matter what the amperage of the fuse is so long as its no less than the draw placed by the amps downstream. A short in the wire will blow a 5 amp fuse the same way it will blow a 150 amp fuse.

[Huffer]

I got 25ft of 4 awg just to make sure i had enought but i only used about 19-20ft cuz i had a piece of it left over about the length of my arm span.

WHOA - you have a 5ft arm?!? Dayamn!

[bakergtt]

Yeah my fuse actually is part of my positive termanel connector. with out the fuse there no power will get off the battery. its the same thing at the power box i have in the engine bay. no power getting to anything in the car with out a fuse.