GEN 2 Size and location of good amp ground

[Nerdles1]

I currently am running an alpine pdx-v9 and have it grounded to the back wall under seat clip. I am going to add a JL rd1500 to power a couple of JL 13tw5 subs. Should I beef up the ground and go to the frame? Was thinking of going with 1awg from frame to a block that would split off to 2 4awg wires to ground each amp. Or is it better to just run grounds back from battery. Thx for any suggestions


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[dhmcfadin]

Run a 1/0 power and ground directly from the battery to the distribution block and back. At knowledge fest 2018 in Dallas, they spoke about this specifically in the new f150's, chevy's, and rams. Quote from the conference, "The frames are obviously still steel but with the composites, glues, and vibration dampening materials infused into the frame, the frames and bodies of all new body style trucks is equivalent to a 4 gauge wire".

 

[smurfslayer]

Won’t a multi-tester tell you if you have good ground or not?

 

[dhmcfadin]

Won’t a multi-tester tell you if you have good ground or not?

A multi meter will tell you voltage but it won’t tell you the level of resistance for a particular amperage which for 3000 watts can easily be over 200 amps. Resistance equal heat, heat equals melted wires, melted wires can equal a burned down truck.

 

[smurfslayer]

Right, you can get resistance across both points, but -- what’s your “2nd” or known point. got it. yeah, I hear what you’re saying about resistance, heat, melted wires - in fact, I’ve witnessed that, albeit not at that power level. That was almost a car-b-que but wouldn’t have been had the installer, a buddy of mine, put in an inline fuse. it would’ve popped right away and we’d have known pretty quick there was a short. Of course, knowing him, he’d have probably cut the wire and spliced out the fuse after 2nd busted fuse and we’d probably still have nearly toasted that car.

next, after a little math I was about to ask if 2 x 4awg was going to be enough and I see @dhmcfadin already addressed that.

 

[Shogunn of Panama]

Coincidentally, I just installed my set-up yesterday. Ran 1/0 from battery to distributor block that split two 4awg to two jl xd1000 amplifiers. I used the same location (under rear seat wall clamp) as a ground with 1/0awg, distributor Block split to two 4awg grounds. No issues thus far with that location. Mind you, I’ve only got about 30 minutes of music testing/tuning.

 

[Nerdles1]

Run a 1/0 power and ground directly from the battery to the distribution block and back. At knowledge fest 2018 in Dallas, they spoke about this specifically in the new f150's, chevy's, and rams. Quote from the conference, "The frames are obviously still steel but with the composites, glues, and vibration dampening materials infused into the frame, the frames and bodies of all new body style trucks is equivalent to a 4 gauge wire".

What did you mean by run a 1/0 power and ground from the battery to the distribution block and back. Not sure what you meant by and back. Were you trying to say from block to amps?


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[dhmcfadin]

What did you mean by run a 1/0 power and ground from the battery to the distribution block and back. Not sure what you meant by and back. Were you trying to say from block to amps?


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I should have worded it differently.

Run power and ground directly from the battery to your distribution block at you amp rack (if you are using one). I was just trying to drive home not ground to the frame and making full runs with your power and ground.

 

[dhmcfadin]

What did you mean by run a 1/0 power and ground from the battery to the distribution block and back. Not sure what you meant by and back. Were you trying to say from block to amps?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I should have worded it differently.

Run power and ground directly from the battery to your distribution block at you amp rack (if you are using one). I was just trying to drive home not ground to the frame and making full runs with your power and ground.

 

[dhmcfadin]

What did you mean by run a 1/0 power and ground from the battery to the distribution block and back. Not sure what you meant by and back. Were you trying to say from block to amps?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I should have worded it differently.

Run power and ground directly from the battery to your distribution block at you amp rack (if you are using one). I was just trying to drive home not ground to the frame and making full runs with your power and ground.