Amp Power Wire Advice

[kjweston]

Where have you guys run your amp power wire? I had mine going around my door seal which obviously breaks the seal. and that was fine until summer hit. FL summers means rain lots of it and all at once. So every time it rains my whole drivers side floor is flooded. does anyone know where an easy place to run this wire is? please LMK. Thank you in advance for advice

 

[Marlon_JB2]

http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/showthread.php?p=394030#post394030

 

[Powerslave]

Depends how powerful your amp is. If it is over 400 watts, you should pull from the battery. Since mine is only 120Watts, I am getting power from the radio power wire. I ran two Bell Burial Grade drop cables, each with four .20 solid conductor wire. I have power, ground, and remote on one cable (1 wire left), and rear L/R speaker signal on the other cable for the amp. I always use this type of cable, it is heavily insulated, not shielded. This cable will last forever in the vehicle.

You can pull <= 400 watts of power from the Front or Rear cig lighter power. If <= 200 watts, you can use stock radio power line. You can wire a switch for a remote to the amp's remote in, or if you have an aftermarket HU, use it's remote or power antenna lead for that.

If over 400 watts, run a wire to the Battery, power AND ground, very simple...

 

[JLRockies]

Yo have to go to the battery. A 120 watt amp connected to the radio harness is a fire waiting to happen. Vehicle fires are no laughing matter. I've been in two vehicles that have caught fire because someone thought they were an expert.
Wires going through door jams.... fire waiting to happen.

 

[LibertyOrDeath]

Seriously....
Any amp needs it's own separate dedicated power line.

It might work fine now but as things age they degrade. Components use more power, wire can carry less energy, etc.

 

[Powerslave]

Yo have to go to the battery. A 120 watt amp connected to the radio harness is a fire waiting to happen. Vehicle fires are no laughing matter. I've been in two vehicles that have caught fire because someone thought they were an expert.
Wires going through door jams.... fire waiting to happen.

Yeah, right, 120Watts, which is only 10 amps at most for a GOOD Mosfet powered amp. Cheap ones with 7AMP fuses are LESS. Seeing as it has been this way for just over FIVE months now? I will be desperately WAITING for your huge fire, that won't happen. Yeah, that and a weak battery will cause my engine to run crappy, Phhh...

I had a 400 Watt amp hooked up to my power seat lead in my Avenger, huh, no fire, what did I do wrong there? What a shame, I was hoping for a fire...

I do not THINK I am an expert, because I AM an expert. I know what guage wire can handle what current. The HU only uses so much, plus the AMP? Yeah, if you suck at math you may be in trouble... For some reason, again, I just seem to to everything right...

Fact is, not one vehicle I have ever owned has caught fire due to wiring. The only time I had a fire? My interior lights went out, and some dope used a lighter to try see under the dash and he caught the insulation on fire, only so briefly. This was a 1984 Pontiac Phoenix 5sp, NOT the hatch-back.

I could list every car, starting with a 1969 BMW 2002, that have ALWAYS had loud stereos, with no fires, and my wiring technique. Do I take offense? Why not, you question what people do, when you don't know any better. I will continue to wire the way I wire, based on MATH, maybe something you need to try... Maybe you ALL need to take a course on electricity, because apparently, some people don't know spit about it.

 

[Marlon_JB2]

I don't understand why this thread went this direction, when the OP asked where to run the wire.... not an inferior place to get power from...

 

[jp1]

My amp power wire goes the same exact route that Marlon used. From the battery, through the small hole in the firewall, under the kickpanel, under the trim, and then to the back. It's a small amp and it's mounted on the rear seat.

 

[drawnon]

holy testosterone batman...

 

[kb0nly]

I don't understand why this thread went this direction, when the OP asked where to run the wire.... not an inferior place to get power from...

Because powerslave hasn't experienced the battery problem and thinks we are all stupid.. It's the greater than thou complex...

All i can say is i have experienced it and believe it, give it up dude, you don't have to bring it up in every post.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

Powerslave, you have a private message. Can't we just be nice?

 

[sharpy]

i ran mine thru here. at the top. plenty of room....just leave a little extra on the inside so u can route it outta the way. then i followed the carpet edge all the way to the rear. plenty of room under the platic trim 4 a 4 ga wire.

 

[kb0nly]

i ran mine thru here. at the top. plenty of room....just leave a little extra on the inside so u can route it outta the way. then i followed the carpet edge all the way to the rear. plenty of room under the platic trim 4 a 4 ga wire.

Is that the grommet for the steering column?? I think it is looking at it. That should be fine as long as its not rubbing against anything important on the interior side.

 

[kjweston]

haha powerslaves testosterone levels are pretty superfluous. But thanks guys, I ended up running it through the small hole in firewall. Now no more flooded drivers side floor when it rains hard.

 

[LibertyOrDeath]

Roadmaster head unit, Audiovox amp. Ok yeah that's not gonna cause a fire. Ever.

 

[kb0nly]

haha powerslaves testosterone levels are pretty superfluous. But thanks guys, I ended up running it through the small hole in firewall. Now no more flooded drivers side floor when it rains hard.

Isn't it nice of Jeep to include that unused hole on the firewall?? I sure thought so, made some installations a breeze for me.

 

[Powerslave]

Roadmaster head unit, Audiovox amp. Ok yeah that's not gonna cause a fire. Ever.

They won't due to wires melting, they are junk, low powered, and OVER RATED, units... If they cause a fire, it probably will caused by the HU or AMP themselves, because they are junk (that may be what you meant?). I would never use that stuff (anymore). Maybe they have improved over the years, but you won't see them in my vehicles anymore; that and Radio Shack crap.

How you can tell If an amp is a good amp? A 300 Watt one would have a 25 AMP fuse. Have you seen the ones (300 watt), where they're only like 15 AMP fuses? Those are incorrectly rated junk... I got a 120 Watt amp, and it has a 10AMP fuse in it, as it is a mosfet powered amp. It was connected to the radio's stock power lead since April 09. No signs of heat damage; I had to remove the radio recently for an antenna issue.

If I ever bump up the wattage, I will use the battery directly, but not for something as small as a 120Watter. Using the battery is always a good idea, but, I already had the thing apart, so wired it there, no problems at all, and never will have problems there. Don't worry, if it does catch fire, I will be sure to record and post it for you all to tell me you told ME so.

 

[ms5490renegade]

my amp wire runs from the trunk, under the drivers side door panels, behind the kickpanel, through the firewall

 

[kb0nly]

It's not Radio Shack anymore...

The Shack

That's their new official name. But i still call it The Rat Shack...

 

[kjweston]

Isn't it nice of Jeep to include that unused hole on the firewall?? I sure thought so, made some installations a breeze for me.

yeah, i wish i had known about this little hole before i ran my switch/relay wires behind my door seal and rtv'd the sh*t out of it.