running 2 amps

alero_bmxer · 05-04-2009, 07:44 PM

im not new to installing systems but i have never hooked up two amps. what is the best way to do it as far as the power and ground wire? i can do the remote and RCA but i dont know how to hook two power and ground cables into just one? do i just need a distribution block?

cherrington17 · 05-04-2009, 07:52 PM

yep. get 2 distro blocks. one for ground, one for power.

Valley olds · 05-04-2009, 07:56 PM

for power get a fused distribution block. The wire from the battery goes to the block, and 2 power cables go from the block to your 2 amps. As for RCA's, you have 2 choices. 1) You can get a set of rca's from your hu's rca jack to one of your amps input rca jacks, and get another set to put between that amps output to the other one's input. or 2) get 2 long RCA cables, and if your HU has 2 sets of RCA jacks, just use one set for each amp.

alero_bmxer · 05-04-2009, 08:09 PM

okay thanks a bunch guys...as far as the RCA cables i have a splitter for each

jackal2000 · 05-05-2009, 06:59 AM

i just ran 2 power cables and grounded them separately. call me old fashioned.

Ryan from Ohio · 05-05-2009, 08:41 AM

Running separate ground at separate location runs the risk of ground loops.

jackal2000 · 05-05-2009, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan from Ohio

Running separate ground at separate location runs the risk of ground loops.

you can't just drop some knowledge on me and leave it at that. it has been fine for years, but what damage could occur?

Valley olds · 05-05-2009, 01:47 PM

Some ground loops lead to engine noise from the speakers. It is pretty annoying.

Ryan from Ohio · 05-05-2009, 03:17 PM

Ground loops translate to noise, static, etc through the amplifiers.

Its mostly common in head units, but has potential to be an issue with amps.

Ground all amplifiers to a common ground point to ensure you wont have this problem.

cherrington17 · 05-05-2009, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackal2000

you can't just drop some knowledge on me and leave it at that. it has been fine for years, but what damage could occur?

oh he can... and he will!

Ryan from Ohio · 05-05-2009, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cherrington17

oh he can... and he will!

Hey, its one of those rules of thumb. They seem to be getting lost anymore.

BeeMain · 05-05-2009, 06:21 PM

you should always have a fuse just off your battery (within 18 inches or closer). If you are in an accident or do something stupid in the future and cut the power wire between the battery and the dist block you end up with a hot wire right off the battery, not good.

best thing is to run a single power wire off the battery, through a fuse as mentioned above and then to a fused distribution block. From the block run a power wire to each amp. gives you flexibility and the most protection. You can use a non-fused distribution block because your amps do have fuses.

For the ground it can be as easy as screwing both amps ground wires under one bolt (seatbelt bolt??) or to be neat and clean run the grounds to a ground distribution block (non-fused) and then from the ground block to the chassie. Make sure you have a good ground to clean nonpainted metal.

BeeMain · 05-05-2009, 06:23 PM

why are you splitting your RCA's? does your headunit have a front and back RCA's? lots of them have a sub rca as well, or 6 channels. what are your amps running? front/back? front/back/sub?

alero_bmxer · 05-05-2009, 10:34 PM

im not splitting them sorry...i have a converter cable that you plug the one cable into and it turns the one plug into 2 input plugs