Amp Wiring

The purpose of this tutorial is to go over the techniques and methods of getting power to your amplifiers from the battery. Power to your amps is one of the most important parts of your system, if you aren't getting enough juice your system won't be able to work to its max capacity. This tutorial assumes you have already installed your amplifier where you want, if not review this guide.

Materials
These are the materials I used on my 1998 Dodge Neon R/T, some where trimmed down and some parts are optional. If you are unsure what size and length wire you will need look at the tables below. They will help you determine the gauge that is right for you. Use a tape measure to find the distance from the battery to your amp to find length, and besure to tack on an extra 5 feet or so.

-20 Feet of 4 Gauge Power
Wire
-10 Feet of 4-8 Guage Ground Wire
-10 Feet of 8 Gauge Amp Wire
-20 Feet RCA Cable
-20 Feet 16 Gauge Remote Turn on Wire
-Speaker Wire
-Inline Fuse
-Distribution Block (Optional)
-Battery Connector (Optional)
-Various Wire Connectors
-Wire Crimper
-Various Screwdrivers

1. Getting the Materials
Choosing the right materials for the amps wiring is very important. You will obvoious need all the wires ready before you can begin to listen to your new system. There are several kits out there at your local electronics stores that will get you going with practically everything you need. I suggest you pick up one of those if you can, but there are many much cheaper solutions. Look out on eBay but make sure you carefully look over whats included in the auction, and check the sellers feedback. If you are unsure what gauge kit to buy, look at the following tables to see what would be right for you.


Recommended Wire Size

RMS Watts

Wire Length
4 Feet
8 Feet
12 Feet
16 Feet
20 Feet
100
10 Gauge
10 Gauge
8 Gauge
8 Gauge
4 Gauge
200
10 Gauge
8 Gauge
8 Gauge
4 Gauge
4 Gauge
400
8 Gauge
8 Gauge
4 Gauge
4 Gauge
4 Gauge
600
8 Gauge
4 Gauge
4 Gauge
4 Gauge
2 Gauge
800
4 Gauge
4 Gauge
4 Gauge
2 Gauge
2 Gauge
1000
4 Gauge
4 Gauge
2 Gauge
2 Gauge
2 Gauge
1400
4 Gauge
2 Gauge
2 Gauge
2 Gauge
1 Gauge

Current Draw By Power
 
Power and Ground Wire Current

RMS (Watts)

Current (Amps)

Wire Gauge

Max Amps
100
16
1/0
350
200
32
2
225
400
64
4
150
600
96
8
100
800
128
10
60
1000
160
12
40
1200
172
14
25
1400
188
16
15

2. Battery Connection
Unhook the negitive side of the battery, and then the positive side of the battery. This will ensure that you do not get a short while wiring up your amp. Take your power wire, and strip off part of the sheath covering the wire. Take a crimper and crimp on a large ring terminal that will screw on to your factory battery terminal clamp. If you purchased a new battery terminal clamp, just plug it into that and tighten the screw. You will also need to move your existing power cables to the new clamp.

3. Fuse Installation
Take the inline fuse and install it on the power wire, about 6" away from the battery is best! Some kits that come with the fuse come with them already pre-installed on the power wire. If yours is not, you will need to cut your wire about 6" from the end, and then strip the cover from both sides. Plug in both ends of the wire to both ends of the fuse and tighten the screws.

4. Firewall
You will need to locate a good place for the wire to pass through the firewall. On most cars there will be a grommet with wires already running through. If there is a good amount of space in there, you might beable to run your wires through that. If not you will have to drill a hole through your firewall to feed the wire. Drill a hole wherever you can confirm that there are no wires, or obstructions that would get in your way. Once a hole has been drilled, besure to install a grommet to ensure that there is no damage to the powerwire from the firewalls metal edges.

5. Running the Wire
On most cars there is a running sill in your door that is clipped on, or screwed on that you can easily run the wire down. If the wire is too big, or you don't have room, you can run it next to the door down under the carpet, or down the center consol if yours goes back, then under the carpet. Hopefully you have room and can easily run the wire to your amp location. Secure the wire with duct or electrical tape if you need to.

6. RCA Patch Cable, and Remote Turn On
Aslong as we are still in the passenger cabin, lets wire up the radio to work with your amp. Remove your radio from the dash so you have access to the wiring in the back. Hopefully your radio has a remote turn on lead, and RCA jacks in the back. Otherwise this is going to be hard, I suggest purchasing an aftermarket radio if you don't already have one, or look for kits for your existing radio. Take your RCA cables and plug them into your subwoofer connector on the back of your headunit (stereo). Run these wires to your amp as you did with the power wire, but make sure they are atleast 12" away from the power wire. It will create interference if they are too close to eachother.

Crimp the remote turn on wire to your radio and run that wire down to the amp as well, you shouldn't run it with the RCA cables, but if you are out of options try to seperate them as well as you can.

7. Ground Wire
You will need to take your gound wire that you have a look for an area in the amp's location that would be a plausable mounting point. Look for any bolts that are ground to the chassis to use, such as a seat bolt or another ground wire. Crimp a large connecter onto the ground wire and put it through the bolt. If necassary, drill a hole into the chassis to bolt the ground to. As with the firewall besure to make sure you aren't drilling into anything important like a gas tank, or brake lines.

8. Distrobution Block
If you have multiple amps, or other things you want to connect power to, you will want a distrobution block. Take your power wire, and plug it into the connector, and tighten the screw. Then take 8 gauge wire (usually) and plug it into any of the other holes and tighten the screw. Secure the distrobution block somewhere in the car, such as the next to the amp.

9. Connect to Amp
Now that you should have the wires you need running into the amplifier area, it is now time to hook them up into the amp. Take your various wire connenectors, and crimp them onto the 3 power wires (depending on AMP, connectors may be uneccasary). Plug your power into the +12VDC, the Ground to ground, and the remote turn on lead. Plug in the 2 RCA connectors, and you are almost ready.

10. Powering Up
Make sure all your power connections are tight, and there are no places where exposed wire is visible, and there is nothing shorting out. You are now ready to test the amp to ensure that everything is wired right. Rehook up your battery by placing the positive clamp on the battery, then the negitive. You should now have power, but the amp shouldn't turn on until your radio turns on. Go in your car, and start it. The amp should turn on and everything should be working fine.

If you have problems check the amps ground and fuse near the battery to ensure those are both in good condition. If you have a voltmeter, also check the remote turn on lead for 12volts.

11. Speaker Wiring
I will not go over speaker wiring in too much detail. There is information on how to wire your subs here on the site, otherwise use a good grade of speaker wire, usually 16 or 14 gauge is good. Just run it over to the speakers/subs and wire it up as you have determined from the diagrams.

12. Power Up
You can now power up your car, and listen to the sounds of your new amp! If you car exxcessively rattles you can purchase sound deadener kits, to limit the vibrations.


©2001 - 2005 AJ Quick