420A HELP, all grounds/power

[jalby2021]

Long story short. Redoing 1999 Eclipse RS. Will have a 2000 watt Amp powering 1 18" 1200 (2400max) watt Sub needing a 0 gauge power wire (no other speakers installed or will be installed.)

My issue is everything in the engine bay is ALL factory and the audio place said I should upgrade all the grounds, battery cables & get bigger battery.

What size cables, ground wire & battery should I use?

 

[steve]

If you're going to feed it with a 0 gauge wire the grounds between the amp and the chassis and from the chassis to the battery should also be 0 gauge.

What's the fuse size on the amp?

 

[jalby2021]

If you're going to feed it with a 0 gauge wire the grounds between the amp and the chassis and from the chassis to the battery should also be 0 gauge.

What's the fuse size on the amp?

The 0 gauge is what comes in package & SKAR has a 200 fuse between battery & amp. What about battery & cables? I was told a MT-75 or Group 31 would work...

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

I used a group size 24 battery for a while, and even swapped vehicles. It powered various sound systems (with 12" subs) and accesories without a hiccup. I believe it was a 950 CCA. And the damn thing lasted 9 years before it died for the first time. It fit nicely under the hood of a 2g, and the terminal orientation is correct. Just want to make sure it is properly secured or else the terminals will short on the hood when you hit a bump.

 

[jalby2021]

I used a group size 24 battery for a while, and even swapped vehicles. It powered various sound systems (with 12" subs) and accesories without a hiccup. I believe it was a 950 CCA. And the damn thing lasted 9 years before it died for the first time. It fit nicely under the hood of a 2g, and the terminal orientation is correct. Just want to make sure it is properly secured or else the terminals will short on the hood when you hit a bump.

Do I really need a 0 gauge power wire from amp...speaker is only a 1200 watt

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Do I really need a 0 gauge power wire from amp...speaker is only a 1200 watt

It's been years since I practiced electrical work, so I can't say for sure. That does sound a bit oversized though. As per requirements I would guess that you could probably get away with a 2 AWG size, and that's what I usually installed as power supply for my systems that were 750-1000 watts. I would assume this shop is recommending such a wire size to cover their own ass. It's not really a concern to use oversized wire in this case, but using something too small could be detrimental.

Something else I just considered is the rating of the amplifier. Your amp power wire needs to be sized according to the requirements of the amplifier and not the subs. The requirements of the subs will determine the size of their power wire, but not the amp.
Amps are rated according to their output, not input. Your power wire needs to be sized according to what the amp will draw, not produced. Do you have a technical sheet that may tell you how much your amp draws?

I've also found on a Google search some charts that tell the max wattage to be produced by each wire size. That is helpful, but you need to determine the draw of the amp to use this information.

 

[jalby2021]

It's been years since I practiced electrical work, so I can't say for sure. That does sound a bit oversized though. As per requirements I would guess that you could probably get away with a 2 AWG size, and that's what I usually installed as power supply for my systems that were 750-1000 watts. I would assume this shop is recommending such a wire size to cover their own ass. It's not really a concern to use oversized wire in this case, but using something too small could be detrimental.

Something else I just considered is the rating of the amplifier. Your amp power wire needs to be sized according to the requirements of the amplifier and not the subs. The requirements of the subs will determine the size of their power wire, but not the amp.
Amps are rated according to their output, not input. Your power wire needs to be sized according to what the amp will draw, not produced. Do you have a technical sheet that may tell you how much your amp draws?

I've also found on a Google search some charts that tell the max wattage to be produced by each wire size. That is helpful, but you need to determine the draw of the amp to use this information.

I have this....

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[BLACK'98DSM]

According to what you've sent, the power wire should be 1 AWG. And 0 for the ground. You've answered your own question

 

[steve]

1/0 is 0 gauge wire. The size larger wire is 2/0 (00).

I can't imagine needing or wanting a 2k watt sub amplifier in a 2G DSM ( I can hear all the buzzing and rattles now) but based on what I learned a long time ago your trying to limit the voltage drop and temp rise across the wire when the amp is drawing close to 200A.

When I put my system in I had two amps, one 4 channel and a 2 channel bridged for a sub. Between them they were fused for 160A and after measuring the round trip distance between the engine bay and the hatch I came up with something like 25 ft. The various charts suggested using 0, 00, or 000 100% copper wire depending on the voltage drop and temp rise acceptable. If I was going to use CCA wire (never happen) that would have pushed the requirements up even more because it has higher resistance that 100% Cu.

Since I doubted I was going to be running that amps at full power constantly (or even for more than a song or two) I ran 0 gauge from the battery to the fuse block next to the battery and the same back to the amps location along with two short 0 gauge cables for the grounds from the amps to the chassis bolt in the rear and from the firewall to the battery.

There was no way the factory 90A alternator was going to provide 160A I put the biggest battery I could fit on the stock tray. Back then that was a Optima Redtop Group 25 to fit the factory post locations.

Ultimately you have to decide what you're trying to achieve and what you're willing to pay for it.

 

[jesse12345]

I do alot of car audio for people and even with a 150 amp alternator it still draws loads from a 1500 watt rms amp. My first upgrade would be alternator and battery with that amp.