Good info. The fuse by the battery is to protect the wire. If the wire develops a short, it can get hot and catch fire. This usually catches the vehicle on fire. The fuse by the amp is to protect the amp. So if the amp shorts internally it will pop the fuse and not let the amp catch fire. Any time your wire drops to a smaller size, like with a distribution block, each smaller wire needs it's appropriately sized fuse to protect the smaller wire. This is why so many distribution blocks include fuses. They don't design them that way just because it's convenient, it's because it's a needed safety element.
This is all true however you want the fuse to be located closer to the battery NOT to the amp. Whenever there's an issue in a component that causes the wiring to begin to heat up it begins heating up at the battery and working it's way towards the component, this is the reason manufacturers put that fuse right at the battery terminal this way the fuse pops as soon as the issue raises and it prevents not only damage of components but also prevents the wiring from being damaged as well. Far to many don't understand this and end up with the results of things catching fire.
Something I see a lot of people do is overestimate how much amperage they're going to actually pull. They think just because they have a 3K amp, it's going to draw 300 amps. The only way it's going to draw that much current is if you're playing a test tone with a frequency right at your port tuning, with the volume all the way up and your impedance is right at the amps limit. (Like wired to 0.5 ohm and the impedance rises to 1 ohm) My best advice is for people to go out and buy a DC clamp meter and actually see what kind of current is being drawn. Watch how the current goes up and down depending on frequency, etc.
yea, thats a great plan. of course, the clamp will only ready what you ARE pulling, not what the amp WANTS to pull. in the video i explain what you said, and offer that a 3k would require 150a on music with adding a bit of storage
@@CarAudioEnthusiastsI don't know what you mean by what the amp WANTS to pull. Do you mean what it's CAPABLE of pulling if you change your impedance, battery, alternator, etc...? I'm not sure that would be relevant. What matters is what you ARE pulling. At least in my opinion.
what i meant was, the amp meter will only read the amount of current flowing through the wire, if you only have say 100amps of free output from the electrical, and you crank the amp hard, youll pull all 100amps, and the meter will read 100amps. but if the amp wanted more power than was availible, and you had say 200amps free to pull , then when you cranked it, the meter would read a different amount.
@@CarAudioEnthusiasts The difference would be quite small. We don't actually need an exact number of the amperage being drawn, we just need a close approximation. The difference between 100 and 110 amps is negligible. If we think it's drawing 100 amps and it's actually 50, then that's significant. Assuming we don't have massive voltage sag, the amperage readings should be close enough. The main thing is we shouldn't guess. We can learn a lot by measuring. 👍
@@CarAudioEnthusiasts Well almost all batteries are capable of putting out 800 plus amps some even over 1000cca (CCA or CA rating) so there always is the available amps in reserve. the amplifier always will have the amps available it is asking for unless you have been playing long enough and went beyond the batteries AH but by then you will also have a voltage drop. Saying that an amp is asking for more amps than your car can supply it is just incorrect. Other factors can cause this situation you describe though like to small of wire and length of wire or a bad ground and with the ground you can have the correct wire size but only grounded to the frame most don't do it but you should run a ground wire to the rear frame and also back to the front and ground it to the engine block preferably to the alternator mounting bolts. the best ground is using a distribution block and landing it to 3 points the rear of the car frame then to the engine block and also the front battery. the reason for this is a lot of newer cars don't have a solid frame like the old days they also use aluminum more often there is body bushings and a lot of connections through the body. I have clamped a lot of systems 30 year installer here, and most don't use anywhere near 100 amps per 1000 watts my personal car I'm running 3 class A Zapco AP amps two 6.150s and a 2.600 running two 12s in a sealed box, they are not efficient like class D's amps. at full volume I only pull an average of 72 amps on music rarely see it spike at anything over 100amps, if I am playing some Techmaster PEB I have seen it pull 90 to 170 amps bouncing all over in between. I am running a stock 130a alternator with group 34 XS battery up front and another XS 34 in the trunk 2/0 Runs of OFCT Sky high XL wire. Yes, I am running a SQL system it is different than a SPL system I get that I'm not running 5K at .5 ohms or anything. Still good advice not hating on you good video and for everyone that reads my comment it is always better to have more power than you need you don't want to turn on your stereo for 5 minutes with your car off and then need a jump. get as much reserve as you can AH is important and oversize your wire always.
Thats pretty much how I run my silverado. Stock alt and 1 extra battery. No problems running a 1500 watt sub amp and two 400 watt 4 channels. Take out the extra batt and the sub amp will go into low voltage protect.
Im loving my ixous cap, im running a smart 3k with only a 50 amp lead feeding it. Im tracking this type of stuff right now. Car audio is a new game these days.
@@arnoldsalazar5851 an ultra or super cap, stores energy FAST and releases it FAST, so it acts like a buffer, or shock absorber for the electrical system. it feeds the amp when it needs power in burst, and allows the alternator to do a steady charge instead of big power swings.
I played the old audio game, my bass amp was a 25w soundstream, mid bass a 12.5w soundstream, and a 50 x4 soundstream for mids and highs. Thats 275w @ 4 ohm, competed in 300 and down class, this setup hit 154spl with just 2 12s in a mini van. Ive never seen anyone do this with so little power and just 2 twelves
nice setup! in fairness though, the mesurement system changed s while back. so an oldschool 154 is about the same as a current 144db still crazy loud for 2 12s on that power though!
@CarAudioEnthusiasts well in all fairness, they soon outlawed those amps, they claimed they weren't fair, they are hi current amps and 1/4 ohm stable no fans,they make stupid power, but the rules then said you add the power the amps make @4 ohm together to find your competition class 0 to 300. 301 to 1000 and a 1000 and up classes. These amps quadrupled there power @ every ohm drop. 4,2,1,1/2,1/4
I have a 2015 Cadillac srx I got a 320 amp alternator and a Xs power d4800 and the Xs power d3100 and the big 3 to power the warhorse 3600.1 at 1ohm and I have the fuses it requires am I good to go
I think I'm pushing my setups limits but I'm not overdoing it. I have kicker cxa360.4 amp for door speakers (4) and kicker cxa800.1 for 1 subwoofer. But I don't have the gains to clipping and I don't max out volume, I would say 75% tops of the systems potential. Only thing is I think my alternator is only 90 amps, it's a Kia soul.
Orion HCCA 3k splx on a stock 140a. Wired into the dirt. 40ah supporting system and vehicle. (2 banger 10k) Lithium is the only way. High output alt isn't really needed until you break that 6-8000w range depending on wiring ohm load. How much OFC wire your running. No mixing of agm (doesn't help lithium. It hurts the performance under load)
02 lexus ls430 with a stock 130 amp alternator Big 4 with a yellow top optima under the hood xs power d925 battery in the back for a single fosgate t1 12 800 watt rms subwoofer wired to 2 ohms to a kicker cxa1200.1 amp all 0 gauge ofc wires. Voltage stays around 13 volt full tilt. Happy with my set-up 😊
Informative! Subscribed. 😊 I was running a 5k amp with 500 farad ultracap, 45ah lithium + large AGM with isolator. Never dipped below high 13volts. Upgraded to 7k amp and now dropping into 12volt range. Would 370 alt + 90ah make much of a difference? (Btw dual 0 gauge adapters. Amp has double pos/neg so 4 0gauge pos + neg. Ofc tinned)
I am a few weeks away from installing the gear I acquired. I have a 4Runner with 130 amp stock alternator. I am running 950 watts through 2 amps is the plan. For what it is worth my bass amp is a 700 watt Stinger and is around 85% efficient at 2 ohms. Will I be ok long term or should I get larger amp alternator in future when I can afford and until then keep volume down?
Add a digital volt meter and run it full tilt. See what your voltage sag is. Get a DC clamp meter and see how much current your actually drawing. I'd imagine your stock alternator should be fine.
A square d electrical slide chart is the way to go ask you local electrical equipment supplier if they would happen to have one usually they will give it the company square d gives them the carts they also always have one behind the counter as a reference 💯👍👌✌️😉🫡
Good info.
The fuse by the battery is to protect the wire. If the wire develops a short, it can get hot and catch fire. This usually catches the vehicle on fire.
The fuse by the amp is to protect the amp. So if the amp shorts internally it will pop the fuse and not let the amp catch fire.
Any time your wire drops to a smaller size, like with a distribution block, each smaller wire needs it's appropriately sized fuse to protect the smaller wire. This is why so many distribution blocks include fuses. They don't design them that way just because it's convenient, it's because it's a needed safety element.
This is all true however you want the fuse to be located closer to the battery NOT to the amp. Whenever there's an issue in a component that causes the wiring to begin to heat up it begins heating up at the battery and working it's way towards the component, this is the reason manufacturers put that fuse right at the battery terminal this way the fuse pops as soon as the issue raises and it prevents not only damage of components but also prevents the wiring from being damaged as well. Far to many don't understand this and end up with the results of things catching fire.
@Valverde713 I think you misread my comment. I'm not referring to a single fuse, I'm talking about two fuses.
Great informational video bro. I needed this to re fresh my memory😂😂. Good content 👌🏾
Appreciate it
Something I see a lot of people do is overestimate how much amperage they're going to actually pull. They think just because they have a 3K amp, it's going to draw 300 amps. The only way it's going to draw that much current is if you're playing a test tone with a frequency right at your port tuning, with the volume all the way up and your impedance is right at the amps limit. (Like wired to 0.5 ohm and the impedance rises to 1 ohm)
My best advice is for people to go out and buy a DC clamp meter and actually see what kind of current is being drawn. Watch how the current goes up and down depending on frequency, etc.
yea, thats a great plan. of course, the clamp will only ready what you ARE pulling, not what the amp WANTS to pull. in the video i explain what you said, and offer that a 3k would require 150a on music with adding a bit of storage
@@CarAudioEnthusiastsI don't know what you mean by what the amp WANTS to pull.
Do you mean what it's CAPABLE of pulling if you change your impedance, battery, alternator, etc...? I'm not sure that would be relevant.
What matters is what you ARE pulling. At least in my opinion.
what i meant was, the amp meter will only read the amount of current flowing through the wire, if you only have say 100amps of free output from the electrical, and you crank the amp hard, youll pull all 100amps, and the meter will read 100amps. but if the amp wanted more power than was availible, and you had say 200amps free to pull , then when you cranked it, the meter would read a different amount.
@@CarAudioEnthusiasts The difference would be quite small. We don't actually need an exact number of the amperage being drawn, we just need a close approximation. The difference between 100 and 110 amps is negligible. If we think it's drawing 100 amps and it's actually 50, then that's significant.
Assuming we don't have massive voltage sag, the amperage readings should be close enough. The main thing is we shouldn't guess. We can learn a lot by measuring. 👍
@@CarAudioEnthusiasts Well almost all batteries are capable of putting out 800 plus amps some even over 1000cca (CCA or CA rating) so there always is the available amps in reserve. the amplifier always will have the amps available it is asking for unless you have been playing long enough and went beyond the batteries AH but by then you will also have a voltage drop. Saying that an amp is asking for more amps than your car can supply it is just incorrect. Other factors can cause this situation you describe though like to small of wire and length of wire or a bad ground and with the ground you can have the correct wire size but only grounded to the frame most don't do it but you should run a ground wire to the rear frame and also back to the front and ground it to the engine block preferably to the alternator mounting bolts. the best ground is using a distribution block and landing it to 3 points the rear of the car frame then to the engine block and also the front battery. the reason for this is a lot of newer cars don't have a solid frame like the old days they also use aluminum more often there is body bushings and a lot of connections through the body. I have clamped a lot of systems 30 year installer here, and most don't use anywhere near 100 amps per 1000 watts my personal car I'm running 3 class A Zapco AP amps two 6.150s and a 2.600 running two 12s in a sealed box, they are not efficient like class D's amps. at full volume I only pull an average of 72 amps on music rarely see it spike at anything over 100amps, if I am playing some Techmaster PEB I have seen it pull 90 to 170 amps bouncing all over in between. I am running a stock 130a alternator with group 34 XS battery up front and another XS 34 in the trunk 2/0 Runs of OFCT Sky high XL wire. Yes, I am running a SQL system it is different than a SPL system I get that I'm not running 5K at .5 ohms or anything. Still good advice not hating on you good video and for everyone that reads my comment it is always better to have more power than you need you don't want to turn on your stereo for 5 minutes with your car off and then need a jump. get as much reserve as you can AH is important and oversize your wire always.
Thats pretty much how I run my silverado. Stock alt and 1 extra battery. No problems running a 1500 watt sub amp and two 400 watt 4 channels. Take out the extra batt and the sub amp will go into low voltage protect.
Im loving my ixous cap, im running a smart 3k with only a 50 amp lead feeding it. Im tracking this type of stuff right now. Car audio is a new game these days.
that cap made SOO much of an improvement in my rig
We’re u get the cap at ??
@@sosdeathvalley lucked out b stock amazon
Help me out here guys, loxus cap? How does this cap work, to where you guys are in awe about it. Thanks guys
@@arnoldsalazar5851 an ultra or super cap, stores energy FAST and releases it FAST, so it acts like a buffer, or shock absorber for the electrical system. it feeds the amp when it needs power in burst, and allows the alternator to do a steady charge instead of big power swings.
Bro this was very informative and well explained. I subscribed look forward to hearing more content
Thanks for the sub!
Thank you sir !
Most welcome!
Was waiting for this video to drop 👀👍
Hope you enjoyed it!
Thank you my friend. I Iove this channel
Thank you too!
I played the old audio game, my bass amp was a 25w soundstream, mid bass a 12.5w soundstream, and a 50 x4 soundstream for mids and highs. Thats 275w @ 4 ohm, competed in 300 and down class, this setup hit 154spl with just 2 12s in a mini van. Ive never seen anyone do this with so little power and just 2 twelves
nice setup! in fairness though, the mesurement system changed s while back. so an oldschool 154 is about the same as a current 144db still crazy loud for 2 12s on that power though!
@CarAudioEnthusiasts didn't know decibels changed 154 decibels then should 154 now I just said spl
@@dustydawson8977 the device used to score changed
@CarAudioEnthusiasts well in all fairness, they soon outlawed those amps, they claimed they weren't fair, they are hi current amps and 1/4 ohm stable no fans,they make stupid power, but the rules then said you add the power the amps make @4 ohm together to find your competition class 0 to 300. 301 to 1000 and a 1000 and up classes. These amps quadrupled there power @ every ohm drop. 4,2,1,1/2,1/4
@@dustydawson8977 o i remember
Good drop!
Glad you like it!
I have a 2015 Cadillac srx I got a 320 amp alternator and a Xs power d4800 and the Xs power d3100 and the big 3 to power the warhorse 3600.1 at 1ohm and I have the fuses it requires am I good to go
Damn I need more batteries. I just upgraded to two deaf bonce asa 6000.1. I’m getting voltage drop. I have 3 agm, super cap and 320 amp alternator.
yea, you could use a 2nd 320, and more storage as well.
I think I'm pushing my setups limits but I'm not overdoing it.
I have kicker cxa360.4 amp for door speakers (4) and kicker cxa800.1 for 1 subwoofer.
But I don't have the gains to clipping and I don't max out volume, I would say 75% tops of the systems potential.
Only thing is I think my alternator is only 90 amps, it's a Kia soul.
i agree with you
Orion HCCA 3k splx
on a stock 140a.
Wired into the dirt.
40ah supporting system and vehicle.
(2 banger 10k)
Lithium is the only way. High output alt isn't really needed until you break that 6-8000w range depending on wiring ohm load. How much OFC wire your running. No mixing of agm (doesn't help lithium. It hurts the performance under load)
I charge at 14.8 , powering 8k watts, send me some that can work with that, ill test, if all is well, ill advertise.
02 lexus ls430 with a stock 130 amp alternator Big 4 with a yellow top optima under the hood xs power d925 battery in the back for a single fosgate t1 12 800 watt rms subwoofer wired to 2 ohms to a kicker cxa1200.1 amp all 0 gauge ofc wires. Voltage stays around 13 volt full tilt. Happy with my set-up 😊
You are wired for at leat twice the power your using. My old truck had 1500 watts of amps with 4 guage wire to stock battery and was just fine.
@@bigbirdstube can't never have CLEAN POWER to help the amp work efficiently.
Informative! Subscribed. 😊 I was running a 5k amp with 500 farad ultracap, 45ah lithium + large AGM with isolator. Never dipped below high 13volts. Upgraded to 7k amp and now dropping into 12volt range. Would 370 alt + 90ah make much of a difference? (Btw dual 0 gauge adapters. Amp has double pos/neg so 4 0gauge pos + neg. Ofc tinned)
Welcome aboard!, yes would be a solid upgrade,
@@CarAudioEnthusiasts thanks. I have a 5th gen Camaro. As far as I've seen on internet so far, there's no bracket option for dual Alternators.
you may have to look sideways, like same engine different car, then possibly mod it a touch
@@CarAudioEnthusiasts die hard Camaro. 1 alt for now. If it ever HAS to be 2, I'm sure there's a way. Cross that bridge if I ever get io it.
I never recommend more than 1,000wrms total power on stock electrical.
agreed
Question do you think and skar tweeter Skar Audio TWS-01 can handle 80watts daily
so many variables, frequency cutoff, slope, music type..
@@CarAudioEnthusiasts ok
I swear by adding a Ioxus cap was like adding another smaller amp! My system sounded totally different.
agreed!
Short answer…. As much as possible
always the answer!
I am a few weeks away from installing the gear I acquired. I have a 4Runner with 130 amp stock alternator. I am running 950 watts through 2 amps is the plan. For what it is worth my bass amp is a 700 watt Stinger and is around 85% efficient at 2 ohms. Will I be ok long term or should I get larger amp alternator in future when I can afford and until then keep volume down?
Nice I wish my car have 130a alternator
itll be a bit close, and you may notice a bit of headlight dimming, but you should be fine
Add a digital volt meter and run it full tilt. See what your voltage sag is.
Get a DC clamp meter and see how much current your actually drawing.
I'd imagine your stock alternator should be fine.
Thanks. Next year or two I will try and do big 3 with 200 amp alternator.
A square d electrical slide chart is the way to go ask you local electrical equipment supplier if they would happen to have one usually they will give it the company square d gives them the carts they also always have one behind the counter as a reference 💯👍👌✌️😉🫡