Help with wiring kit!

[wingwang99]

Hey everyone, i wanted to know if this wiring kit would be ok for a 4 channel x 60W amp???

If not what should i be paying, i know jaycar have a kit for $45 but it looks very similar to this one... and before anyone asks no i don't have the amp yet planning on getting it this week...

Car Audio Sound Speaker Amplifier Amp Wiring Cable Kit - eBay Accessories, Interior, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 27-Oct-08 21:34:00 AEDST)

[Luke0011]

for 16 bucks, thats a bargain. Let me know how much they sting you for postage

[holdenboy]

I thinks its $10.95 postage, but by the looks of it the cables are only 4.4m in length....ok for most installs but i think the power cable may not be long enough to reach the boot of a commy.

In short, that amp wiring kit will be OK, if the power cable reaches where you wanna mount the amp. RCAs should be fine.

[danja]

4.4 will be cutting it close, but should be enough so long as you position the amp to cater for the shorter cable. The other option is to use a distribution block when it gets to the boot (but then again there isn't much point splitting an 8ga power cable.

If you ever plan on running a sub by the way, you'll want a 4ga power cable, in which case I'd recommend a kit like this:
4 GA + 8 GA PROFESSIONAL AMP WIRING KIT (RRP $149.00) - eBay Accessories, Cables, Audio, Video, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 28-Oct-08 20:42:21 AEDST)

It's only a bit more expensive, and will be enough for all but the most ridiculously high powered systems. I've bought one of these exact kits in the past. Good quality and value.

[Vg-ute-mad]

4.4 will be cutting it close, but should be enough so long as you position the amp to cater for the shorter cable. The other option is to use a distribution block when it gets to the boot (but then again there isn't much point splitting an 8ga power cable.

If you ever plan on running a sub by the way, you'll want a 4ga power cable, in which case I'd recommend a kit like this:
4 GA + 8 GA PROFESSIONAL AMP WIRING KIT (RRP $149.00) - eBay Accessories, Cables, Audio, Video, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 28-Oct-08 20:42:21 AEDST)

It's only a bit more expensive, and will be enough for all but the most ridiculously high powered systems. I've bought one of these exact kits in the past. Good quality and value.

He is right! It will save you the pain of upgrading to a 4ga later on.

Thats a great wiring kit that and it went damn cheap!

[Phreddy]

4.4m of power cable is WAY too much of a stretch. I generally use about 5.5m for a boot install, but I do leave some slack in certain places so as not to possibly cause troubles down the track.

[danja]

4.4m of power cable is WAY too much of a stretch. I generally use about 5.5m for a boot install, but I do leave some slack in certain places so as not to possibly cause troubles down the track.

Oops, Phreddy is probably right here, I was thinking of some 4.2m RCAs I just made, which were just right, but obviously they don't have to travel so far.

[rcnugget]

also the RCA's are actually fatter than the power cable, im guessing its a 10/12 gauge power cable, maby ask the question to the seller

[Phreddy]

Really depends on which side of the car you run the power cable on - if you run through the firewall on the driver's side, obviously there's no need to allow for crossing the width of the car. Many people use the free grommet behind the glovebox to get the cable through, so that does add a couple of metres in getting the cable from the driver's side (where the battery is) acroos to where it needs to be.

I recently did an install in a VY S sedan - it was an auto, so I ran the 4G feed through the clutch grommet and down the driver's side - the amp was mounted under the parcel shelf slightly to the passenger side, so there was somewhat of a cross-over. Keeping the cable nicely slack left me about 700-800mm left over from a length of just over 6 metres. I guess in total it was pretty close to bang on 5 metres.

In the big picture it doesn't really matter which side you run the cable, it jhust has to be taken into account when getting the supplies. It's a lot easier to cut a little excess length off a cable than it is to add another 30cm or so!

(anybody ever tried soldering 4G cable?? As fast as your iron can get the heat into the copper, it drains away down the cable! It's impossible to get the joint up to the right temp... Sort of breaking out the oxy set, anyhow... )

So you make your own RCA cables too Dave - I do for my own jobs, but for a general install I just buy the prefab ones. Quite frankly it doesn't make any difference IMO, just that if you do make up your own you can tailor the length just right. There's no saving in making them up unless we're talking the real cheap and nasty ones - not if you're buying the cable per metre at retail anyhow. If I was doing enough installs it might be worth buying a 100m reel of the shielded low-level cable - if I bought one now though they'd bury me with over half of it!

Anyhow, I'm rambling again....

Later!

[danja]

In the big picture it doesn't really matter which side you run the cable, it jhust has to be taken into account when getting the supplies. It's a lot easier to cut a little excess length off a cable than it is to add another 30cm or so!

(anybody ever tried soldering 4G cable?? As fast as your iron can get the heat into the copper, it drains away down the cable! It's impossible to get the joint up to the right temp... Sort of breaking out the oxy set, anyhow... )

Amen to that! I get most of my cables from Jaycar. 4ag is a shade over $8/meter as I recall (and Jaycar are usually on the cheap side!) You don't want that 4.5m cable to be 20cm too short!

I'm guessing thats why you were trying to solder them ay Phreddy?

So you make your own RCA cables too Dave - I do for my own jobs, but for a general install I just buy the prefab ones. Quite frankly it doesn't make any difference IMO, just that if you do make up your own you can tailor the length just right. There's no saving in making them up unless we're talking the real cheap and nasty ones - not if you're buying the cable per metre at retail anyhow. If I was doing enough installs it might be worth buying a 100m reel of the shielded low-level cable - if I bought one now though they'd bury me with over half of it!

Yeah, I'm a sucker for DIY, sometimes even when prefab would be better and/or cheaper! With RCAs, it's nice to be able to make them just the right length, and I've found it easier to get double shielded RCA cable than double shielded pre-made RCAs

You're right though, I reckon it actually costs more to DIY these things. Only thing I've ever bought 100m rolls of was CAT5 cable for the home network, not sure I'd be able to justify RCA cables... especially now I don't do so many installs as I used to... that said, I'm pretty much done installing the your mod! I've actually just got to wire in the amps and 3 more doors of speaker cable and we should be pumping Fingers crossed it all goes smooth, I might have a few neighbours interested (you know theres a reason my street has the name it does )

[666vt]

ahh... i just bought a sony xplod wiring kit at jbhifi for $120 reduced from $160.. was that a waste of money? i am planning on running the sub and front speakers off the amp, and rear speakers off the h/u. lol should i take it back and buy a cheapo one off ebay?

my kit has:

20 ft 4ga red power cable.
3ft 4ga black ground cable
16ft 18ga black turn on wire
30ft 16ga speaker wire
2 x 17ft black rca cable
6ft split loom tubing
1 agu fuse holder + 80amp agu fuse.

worth it?

[Phreddy]

No, I reckon you did all right there. one thing about getting the Sony kit, the components will be of reasonable quality. Some of the really cheap wiring kits can use some pretty dodgy copper in their cable contruction, and cheap and nassssssty terminals - plus you got the speaker wire, remote wire, it's prety much all you need.

By the time I bought in all the bits and pieces I wouldn't get away with it all that much cheaper, then there's an hour or so of work fitting connectors!

[the_random_hero]

ahh... i just bought a sony xplod wiring kit at jbhifi for $120 reduced from $160.. was that a waste of money? i am planning on running the sub and front speakers off the amp, and rear speakers off the h/u. lol should i take it back and buy a cheapo one off ebay?

my kit has:

20 ft 4ga red power cable.
3ft 4ga black ground cable
16ft 18ga black turn on wire
30ft 16ga speaker wire
2 x 17ft black rca cable
6ft split loom tubing
1 agu fuse holder + 80amp agu fuse.

worth it?

For Stinger/Kicker kits, you're looking at $200 plus, so you did alright there.

[666vt]

No, I reckon you did all right there. one thing about getting the Sony kit, the components will be of reasonable quality. Some of the really cheap wiring kits can use some pretty dodgy copper in their cable contruction, and cheap and nassssssty terminals - plus you got the speaker wire, remote wire, it's prety much all you need.

By the time I bought in all the bits and pieces I wouldn't get away with it all that much cheaper, then there's an hour or so of work fitting connectors!

ah thanks heaps man, i thought that i'd be best going for decent wiring, cheers.

[Tasmaniak]

Hey Phreddy, I actually used to have an iron capable of soldering 4ga. It s was an older style one that needed to be heated up over a blue gas flame but sure as **** mate, it would heat that puppy up. I never actually soldered cable together with it but I always used it when putting terminals on he end of cable....it would solder a terminal on the end of 0ga

[Phreddy]

I'm guessing thats why you were trying to solder them ay Phreddy?

Heh - yeah, but wasn't my install! A fella had come around to get some other work done, and asked me if I'd give it a go - he needed to join under the back seat to reach the boot. I couldn't get it done, so I just told him to buy one of those butt joiners - the compression type ones.

Hey Tas - yeh, with an iron like that it's a bit of a different story! Even a good high power electric iron (like a plumber's iron) would do the job, as long as it had enough power (say 150W or so) and a large enough tip. The problem with an "electronic" type iron is that there's not a hell of a lot of metal in the tip, very much less than the material you're trying to heat up - they just can't cope.

Hmmmm - rambling again.....

[Tasmaniak]

lol..would not even attempt it with the "electronic" iron....

[danja]

20 ft 4ga red power cable.
3ft 4ga black ground cable
16ft 18ga black turn on wire
30ft 16ga speaker wire
2 x 17ft black rca cable
6ft split loom tubing
1 agu fuse holder + 80amp agu fuse.

Yeah thats not too bad, like Phreddy says you've pretty much got all you need there. If you were to buy all that at retail from Jaycar you'd be looking at:

Power + ground cable ~$60
Speaker wire ~$5
RCA cables + plugs ~$65 (double shielded, includes remote wire - I'm fairly sure Sony RCAs are shielded too, so it's a fair comparison)
Fuse holder ~$15

So you'd be looking just under $150 for the lot!

I'd also add an extra $20-40 for sundries like battery terminals, cable ties, distribution blocks etc.

Hmmmm - rambling again.....

Nothing wrong with a ramble mate, it's a forum after all