2 Amp wiring questions (newbie)

[qwkracer 10+ year member]

i am planning on installing 2 amps in my car. the amp powering my subs is a Hinfonics BX1500D monoblock amp. The amp Powering my mids and tweeters is a Autotek Super Sport 600 watt 4 channel amp. I am very new to car audio and im a little confuse on the install.

1. do i run 2 power wires from the battery to amps? will this drain my battery faster?

2. My co-worker told me about a "distribution block." if i understood him correctly, this product allows you to use one power cable running from the battery and spliting to 2 or more smaller gauge wires at the other end right?

3. Will using a distibution block "lessen" the amount of power going to each amp?

4. Both my amp requires a 4 gauge power/ground wire. will it be OK if i run a 4 gauge power wire, use a distribution block that spilits two 8 gauge wire at the end of the block? or should i go with a 0 gauge split to 4 gauge distribuition block?

5. Are there any advantages or disadvantages for useing 0 gauge over a 4 gauge?

thanks alot

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[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

go with 1 guage from the battery to dirstro block and then 2 4 guage outputs. running 2 amps that size with only 4 guage going from the battery to the distro block and then 8 guage to the amps will be too small. on mine i ran 2 seperate wires. one 8 guage for my us acoustics and one 4 guage for my sub amp but a distro block will work fine for your setup. get a fused one 2 and put the proper fuse in each terminal going to the amp. take the combined fuse toatl and put that under the hood. always under fuse and don't over fuse though.

 

[qwkracer 10+ year member]

go with 1 guage from the battery to dirstro block and then 2 4 guage outputs. running 2 amps that size with only 4 guage going from the battery to the distro block and then 8 guage to the amps will be too small. on mine i ran 2 seperate wires. one 8 guage for my us acoustics and one 4 guage for my sub amp but a distro block will work fine for your setup. get a fused one 2 and put the proper fuse in each terminal going to the amp. take the combined fuse toatl and put that under the hood. always under fuse and don't over fuse though.

now im confused about the fuse part, lol.

if i use a dist. block, i need to fuse the main power wire from the battery PLUS each wire going to the amp after the distribution block?

how can i tell how big of a fuse(or total) to use? do i add up the fuse thats connected to the amp?

(for example, my Hifonics AMP has two 60 fuses. i se 120 fuse under the hood?)

 

[cyberbob25 10+ year member]

If you go with the distribution block, then what iceteebone is saying is to get a distro block that has a built in fuse holder. Basically, it has one large input, and a couple of smaller outputs, with fuse clips between.

If running only one wire from the battery to a distro block, the fuse by the battery should be just slightly higher than the total sum of all of your amps built in fuses (ie, 60+60+the fuses on your other amp). Then the fuses at the distro block should be fused at or slightly higher than the sum of all fuses on each particular amp.

 

[qwkracer 10+ year member]

thanks. can you guys recommend a good fused distibution block?

there are these two blocks i am looking at from sounddomain made by rockford fosgate. One uses AGU type fuses and the other uses MAXI type fuses? which is better and whats the difference?

here are the links to both.

http://www.sounddomain.com/sku/ROCCPPFDU4

http://www.sounddomain.com/sku/ROCCPPFDX4

thanks for the help guys

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

go with an anl fused distro block since that hifonics 1500D will take at least a 100 amp fuse. agu only goes up to 80 amps and maxi i think is either 50 or 60.

 

[DJ FURY 10+ year member]

Check out ebay man for fused dist blocks.Very cheap.I use stinger and got mine off ebay.Cheap!