Ground Wire Size?

John Smith Bronze Member Username: Bkoz Post Number: 37 Registered: Feb-06	Posted on Monday, March 06, 2006 - 15:42 GMT My power wire for my amp is 5 awg. is it alright if my ground wire is 2 awg.?
John Gawrysiak Bronze Member Username: Chodecz Post Number: 15 Registered: Sep-04	Posted on Monday, March 06, 2006 - 15:50 GMT You must match the power and ground wires.
GlassWolf Platinum Member Username: Glasswolf Wisteria, Lane USA Post Number: 11345 Registered: Dec-03	Posted on Monday, March 06, 2006 - 15:58 GMT well, just remember that it's all one circuit from the battery to the amp to ground, and back to the battery.. so the gauge of wire is determined (throughout the circuit) by the length of the wire (total) and current it carries. going bigger than required doesn't hurt anything.
John Smith Bronze Member Username: Bkoz Post Number: 38 Registered: Feb-06	Posted on Tuesday, March 07, 2006 - 13:57 GMT but does it help? i have a 5 awg. power wire and a 8 awg. ground will it make a difference?
mat hooker Bronze Member Username: Adddisorder Post Number: 79 Registered: Jan-06	Posted on Tuesday, March 07, 2006 - 20:27 GMT yeah your ground in this case needs to be atleast 5awg or sure go with 2...but you gorund cant be lighter then your power...so change it
Optidriven Silver Member Username: N2audio Lawrence, Ks USA Post Number: 709 Registered: Mar-04	Posted on Tuesday, March 07, 2006 - 21:32 GMT It's a matter of resistance and the resulting voltage drop - which depends on the current you're drawing and the length of the ground wire. For example, if your ground is 5' and your amps can draw 100A -- 2 ga would drop less than .08v 5 ga about .16v 8 ga about .31v The only one that raises an eyebrow is 8 ga, and if your ground is shorter, or your system draws less than 100A the effect will be even less. It just doesn't make much sense to run the long 5 ga wire to avoid a big voltage drop only to go small on the ground.
\|\/\|aTT \|F Silver Member Username: Matt12490 Benicia, California USA Post Number: 429 Registered: May-05	Posted on Sunday, March 12, 2006 - 05:08 GMT if i have 2 amps... is it ok to ground both of them to the same bolt on your car or should it be to 2 different bolts?
B Gold Member Username: B101 Queen City, NC USA Post Number: 1651 Registered: Sep-05	Posted on Sunday, March 12, 2006 - 13:59 GMT same is ok, diffrent would be better. U mighten notice the diffrenece with your ear.. but yea, bigger ground will be better.. same size or bigger!

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