Amp Installation

Installing an Amplifier can be an important step in creating your system. You are going to need to make sure you choose a good secure location that looks good provides proper operating conditions for your amp to work in. You can even create a location to showcase your amp if you would like.

Materials
-Drill
-Screwdriver
-Bolts/Screws

Location
Choosing a location will be the most important part of your amplifier installation. Some things you will want to consider are: Accessibility, Wiring, Cooling, Space, and Show. For the installation of my amplifier, I choose to build a box out of MDF to house the amps. Some other areas to consider are: Under a front seat, on the trunk floor, or on the back of a seat. As I mentioned, I made an MDF box for my amps to sit on, that will show them off. Show is a very important part of any system and you should try to make everything look as clean and professional as possible.

Once a good location has been chosen you will need to figure out the best way to mount it. Many installs I have seen mount the amp to the back of a seat. In that case you can just use screws or lag bolts to screw into the back of your seat. If going into the floor of your trunk or car, you will need to drill and bolt, while looking out for anything that may be in the way.

Keeping Cool
One of the main factors for amps breaking, is overheating. You should mount your amps in a location where they will be cool and have adequate ventilation. Most amps have some for heat sink (the fins) on the front that keep it cool. Make sure you mount the amp in a way where the fins are towards the top of your car, or if you are mounting it on a sidewall so the fins are vertical. This will ensure that the heat dissipating from the amp is able to rise up away from the amp. If your amp still has problems with overheating, you can get fans to blow air over the top to radiate heat away. Never mount an amp upside down, with the heatsink facing the ground. Heat rises! So it will just go back into the amp.

It is possible, and a very good idea to use 12 volt computer fans in places to ensure good flow between two areas and keep air in movement and circulation. You can even get clear fans that light up, and add a bit of style and show. Just remember, that some fans out there are not quiet and can get get quite loud.

Wiring The Amp
This guide doesn't go over the steps of wiring the amp up, that is in this tutorial. But you should mount your amp in a location that is easily accessible for the wiring. Keep the wiring clean and uncluttered, if need be you can create the slit in seat/carpet to feed the wires into to make them hidden.

You should go out and purchase a wiring kit while you are purchasing your amp, the wiring is one of the most important parts of your amplifier, without good wiring the amp is pretty much useless. Make sure you use a good low gauge (thicker wire) to ensure that you are carrying enough power to the amp. Small wires could overheat, and even catch fire! For more information about wiring, see this tutorial.

My Amp!


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