2nd Amp Install

[wrightie]

wassup guys, i need a liottle help. Currently I have a kenwood amp hooked up to a 2.4 capacitor and want to install the new amp I bought to run another 12. Yep thats right 12 #3. 2 12s just isnt enough for me, I am a bass addict. If anyone has a wiring diagram this would help me alot. If not do I need to discharge the cap in order to hook this new one up? Can I run the 12v source from the other amp? do I need a distribution block? Help I am f**ked and am unsure what to do. If anyone has some advice please help.

Thanks in advance
Wrightie

[mikegett]

You want a distribution block for all multiple amp installs. First, we need to know what your current wires are and how they are run. Add in the type of amps, amperage rating, and rms.

[wrightie]

Alright here goes, from battery, 4gauge wire to cap, cap to amp. 12v from HU to amp. ground from body to cap, to amp. The cap is 2.4 farad. The amp is a kenwood 1000w peak 400 rms and the new amp is 1000w watt peak and it says 500 rms but I doubt that it is that high, oh ya both are mono block if that means anything to ya.

[wrightie]

dont laugh dude im am pretty useless at this. But I do want to learn and it definetly seems k\like you are the man to talk to about this.

I really appreciate your patience

[wrightie]

maybe if I told ya what the two amps are you can figure some of the things about them you need to know. I know (I suck) sorry.
Kewood KAC8101D
ROCKBOX M1009A

[bigd6983]

you dont absolutely need a distribution block i have 2 amps and i have a 4 gauge going into the cap and off the cap are 2 8 gauge wires going to my amp, then a 4 gauge ground wire off the cap and 8 gauge for both my amps.......

[mikegett]

You need to upgrade your wires. Running 900 watts RMS for fifteen plus feet is a bit tight. Go to one gauge or even zero for added upgrade potential. More than likely you will never need zero and it is a bitch to run. Your cap will be big enough for the two amps. I would just prefer to have a smaller dedicated cap for each amp. It makes the wiring a little easier. I don't know specifics on your setup, but you should have a fuse block or breaker close to the battery. The fuse rating should equal the total fuse rating of your amps. Run the one gauge from the fuse block to your capacitor. Run the one gauge from your capacitor to a distribution block. Use your old four gauge from your distribution to each amp. I differ slightly with grounding. It may be cheaper to ground at a trunk, but the best deffense against noise is your battery. Just like your capacitor the battery is a natural noise supressor. Running a ground to your battery will also eliminate any possibilities of ground loops which occur from multiple grounding points.

[wrightie]

What about for the 12v? can I just run it from the first amp to the second or do I have to split it before it gets to both? Do I have to discharge the cap before I do the install?

[mike2002]

going from 2 12's to 3 12's and is BARELY a difference in spl. basically if you have 2 12's getting 400rms each, and go to 4 12's with 400rms, you go up roughly 3db....so your talking like 1.5db more here. your better off getting different 12's if there not loud enough

are you trying to power 3 subs with 2 amps? so the "new" amp is just for the "new" sub?

cheaper route for upgrading the power wire is just run another 4 gauge. make it longer than your first one, then ohm the two out. and just cut the longer one till you get the same resistance for both. ground needs to be the same thickness as power, since its shorter it will have even less resistance (your ground wire IS basically your power wire, needs to be bigger)

you can daisy chain the remote wire, or split it off, daisy chain will probably look cleaner

what kind of 12's do you have?


edit....you could also run the ground for the HU back to wherever your grounding the amps, that helps reduce groundloop. dont think its really necessary in our cars, mine doesn' have a problem with it though. my ground wire is on the bolt holding the seat down, you see it if you fold the seat down, worked great and is hidden

[wrightie]

If Your amp is rated at 500 watts at 4 ohms and 1000 watts at 2 ohms how do you hook it up at 2 ohms? what exactly is daisy chaining? how do you discharge your capacitor correctly.

Wrightie

[jamcllw]

Depending how you wired your subs will tell you what Ohms your at. If you have two 4 Ohm voice coils wired in parallel you would have a 2 Ohm resistence. If you wired the same in series you'd have 8 Ohms. I agree with mike2002 you should get some better subs before you think about adding a 3rd.

[wrightie]

The subs I have right now are rated at 4 Ohms. I am assuming I cant hook these up at 2 ohms Right? I want more bass so the new amp I want to set ti up to run at 2 ohms. How do I do that? dont laugh I suck at this but am trying to learn.

Wrightie

[eag182]

According to your specifications mikegett, what wire guage would he have to use when grounding to the battery?

[bigd6983]

900 watts rms = alternator upgrade time........that means ur system is pulling roughly 80 amps and out stock alternator only puts out 105 amps max.......next month ill be getting my 160 amp.......

[mike2002]

im pretty sure stock is 95amps actually, maybe im wrong

your ground should ALWAYS be bigger than your "power". if you ran 4 gauge from your battery, a 4 gauge ground is fine because the wire is usually shorter because your grounding it in your trunk. if your running it back up to the battery, i personally would make it bigger. but i dont think running it to the battery is necessary, we have a good grounding point in the trunk

so you've got your 1 amp power 2 4 ohm subs, at 2 ohms. you want to add another amp for just 1 sub, and power that at 2 ohms? you need a dual 4 ohm voice coil sub. also be carefull, all amps can basically run 2 ohm STEREO, but they cant run 2 OHM MONO, they do 4 ohm mono. 2 ohm may put them into protect. you will be running in 2 Ohm mono if hooked up correctly

what id do is get a second kenwood amp, unless you have the MA audio one already, im not a fan of MA audio. since you already have 2 custom made boxes, just replace your subs with 2 12" DUAL 4 SUBS. run 1 amp to each sub. i think you've got kenwood subs? ive heard the kenwood excelon subs, and they've got some good bump to them, sell your regular subs and get the excelon's, you'll me MUCH happier with this than adding another sub, you wont notice a 3rd sub really
http://www.kenwoodusa.com/product/product....&productId=2437 (http://www.kenwoodusa.com/product/product.jsp?productTypeId=45&sortBy=price&productId=2437)

[mikegett]

Mike has a good point about the subs. The question is if you have already purchased the new sub. bigd6983, you don't figure amperage draw by adding up your amplifiers RMS rating. Two people with the exact same amps can have very different draws in current. The type of sub used, wire size and length, HU voltage, sub configuration in wireing and box size, and personal preference in volume will all affect the draw. It is a waste of time and money to just assume that the upgrade will be needed. Put the system into your car and test the pull with all audio equipment off and air conditioning on. This will be the cars working pull. Then test the amperage with your audio equipment on at normal listening. If your normal listening is withing 15 to 20 percent of the alternators max rating then avoid a upgrade.
A second four gauge wire could be added to the system but it can still cause some problems. When dealing with high amperage draws try to avoid multiple wire splices. Every place that wires are joined will form resistance. This resistance produces heat. The four gauge may be sufficient for under normal conditions. Adding the resistance will force the cable to draw more amps to avoid the increased resistance and could overload the cable. Not to mention that it puts added drain onto the electrical system. In order to avoid this, use the largest cable possible and splice it as few fo times as possible. This is where a distribution block comes in handy. They are made of high quality metals like nickel that conduct with low resistance. The added size of a distribution block allows for a more secure fit of the wire. TIP: If you have to squeeze a large cable into a small terminal ring the loss in power and increased resistance will occur. Avoid cutting the wire to make it fit into the terminal.
Running the HU ground to the amps is a good alternative to the cost of 1 gauge ground wire. Just be carefull. It will only become harder to do this as more electrical componants are added to cars. If they are grounded in the trunk as well it will cause ground loops. My taurus was horrible with this. The fact that our cars are sheet metal makes it harder to get a good ground. Ensure that a large bolt is used, grind any paint off of the area, and go for the largest piece of metal possible. If you have a bad ground point the amp will not pull its max amount of amperage. Think of it as a bottle neck where the current is slowed down. A ohm meter is always a good choice for testing your connections. If the ground has a larger resistance than the power wire then overall power lose will occur.

[mike2002]

im not sure if they all have it, but my old distribution block had multiple power inputs, i believe 3 or 4. if thats the case, i dont think multiple power wires would cause a problem. also dont know if your running a 4 channel too, that would kind of be the breaker if you need to upgrade the power wire.