This is my first post here, but I have been reading for a long time and the help from this site has been great with my install. I was hoping someone here might be able to help me with this one
I have 2 oldschool Orion amps, Xtreme 400.4 50x4 RMS @ 8 ohms and Xtreme 800 that I have bridged to 800x1 RMS @ 4 ohms. The 400.4 pushes my cabin speakers, JL TRS650-CSi and Polk db650 coax. The bridged 800 pushes 2 oldschool gold logo Kicker C12-8 wired in parallel.
Power from the battery is from 4 gauge knukonceptz wire with a 80A inline fuseholder. The distribution block is a knuckonceptz 4ga->8ga with two 60A fuses going to each amp. The 8ga going to each amp is about 1.5 feet.
This setup works great and sounds great too, until I turned it up to maximum volume. My distribution block melted and shorted the fuse clips together. Then my inline fuse holder on the main power wire melted a bit and popped that fuse.
The amps are still OK, I have tested them. I have not tested the current draw with a ammeter yet, it's hard to turn it up loud enough at night for testing. What can I do to ensure the amps can run at maximum sometimes without starting a fire?
Add up all your fuses together and that should be the size near the battery. A 4 gauge wire will handle up to 125A-130A. So if the total is around that number or lower, then you're fine. What you really need is a distribution block that is 0-4gauge in and 2-4gauge out. There are some out there. I know most are 4 gauge in and 8 gauge out. It's not good enough for 800w rms+ power amps. BTW, do you have adequate alternator for your amps? If not, it's getting all of the power from the battery.
Naga, sweet setup. I used to sell pretty much everything you're using lol anyway, fuses are too small, wiring may be too small as well depending on length both amps are class AB, so~60% efficiency. that's a total of about 120A of current. your main fuse should be @ 120A rating, not 80A. the 400.4 should have a 25A fuse, and the 800.2 should have a 100A fuse instead of two 60A. the 4AWG wire you're using is good for up to 8 feet. any longer and you need to move to 2AWG cable for the amount of current draw you have. that 800 watt amp should have 4AWG minimum at any length. the 400.4 @ 8 ohms, you can get away with 8AWG for up to 12 feet (from dist block to amp) that's all based on class AB amplifier current draw per watt, and current capabilities of wire based on AWG and length.
Thanks for all the help guys! That's some really good info on the current capabilities of the wire I'm using. I appreciate it the kind words GlassWolf, my system is circa 1990 but they don't makem like they used to right?
Unfortunately, the power plugs on both of my amps only accept 8ga wire. I don't know if I can get other plugs for them, the amps are pretty old. I've seen plug adapters, but they are big enough to short the incoming power to ground if I use them in both slots. I want to keep my ground at least the same gauge as power. This is the only reason why I used a 4ga->8ga distribution block, I wasn't able to find anything that had a bigger incoming and still went to 8ga.
Both amps are in the trunk. I'm pretty sure the power wire is longer than 8-10 feet, I will have to measure it again. If not, its right at that length. I know the sub amp has two 30A blade fuses in it, and the 4 channel has two also but I can't remember the amperage. My alternator is 120A but I think that's only at a certain RPM...maybe it's time for an Optima
So the first step is to upgrade the main wire to 2ga or 1/0, and get some new fuses. I also need a new distribution block, is there a way to get around the 8ga inputs on my amps?
I dunno. I find the thought of melted fusebocks kind of alarming. Seems like there may be a problem and using a bigger fuse at the battery might just make any future meltdowns that much worse.
is there a way to get around the 8ga inputs on my amps?
Just solder a short piece of 8 gauge(4 inches or so?) to a length of 4 gauge and cover it with some heat shrink. It may look a bit goofy, but voltage drop is proportional to length so you should be fine from that standpoint(4" of 8 gauge has the same resistance as about 10" of 4). Sure that 8 gauge is going to heat up more than the 4 gauge, but as long as you keep the run of 8 gauge very short you should be alright. I had an old school PPI cheater amp(400 watts, 35 amp fuse) and it came with about 10" lengths of 10 gauge for power and ground.
Oh, and an Optima is only gonna help run your system when the engine's off.
does the amp have one or two 8ga inputs for the power line> anyway if ya keep that 8ga short to the dist block for the 800.2 you should be ok. stick with a decently made d-block and you shouldn't melt it. if you use 2ga cable from the battery, you can use a 1/0-to-4 or 8ga block which will handle more current, then just use reducers to stick the 2ga in a 1/0 opening or 8ga in a 4ga opening on the block as needed. that'll prevent overheating issues on the block and wiring. the melting simply came from drawing too much current through the points that melted. you may want to ponder moving up to a 160 or 180A alternator as well.
yah I like the older stuff still, as most know. I'm using some old SX series amps in my own car.
On a whim I decided to test out a 140A breaker and a nonfused block that I bought, using my existing wiring.
I went slow at first, gradually increasing volume and stopping at every gas station to check everything out. Satisfied everything seemed to be OK, I cranked it and got on the highway for nearly an hour. Then I stopped again to check everything, the distribution block was cool, the breaker was cool, the wires were cool, and you could fry an egg on my amps.
The SQ out of the system was better than it it had ever been! The amps must really have been starving for power. I don't know if this setup is OK for the long run though, it was more of a test to see what would happen after I checked all my wires for shorts and whatnot. Does this setup sound safe enough? It sure supplies the amps what they need. Is 140A too big?
Fishy, I will definitely do the solder trick if this setup does not pan out. GlassWolf, the amps only have one power input.
jays
Unregistered guest
Posted on
i have one question, which would sound better, two 12 inch subs powered by an 800 watt kenwood. or the 800 kenwood, the two subs and then using a distribution block connecting my car speakers to a 350 kenwood
Ruben from AZ
Unregistered guest
Posted on
You aren't making any scense. A distribution block has nothing to do with your sound in the first place, it's just A power supply accessory. Your on the right track with the rest.
That same problem happened to me. My fuseholder completely melted and I had to break apart the pieces and get the fuse out. It looks really ugly now but oh well. I think the problem was my fuse in the fuseholder was bigger than the one in my amp. I could be wrong but thats just what I thought...
