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Quote:
Originally Posted by MOSFET
Wiring your amplifier directly to the battery should be fine - just
make sure the wires are as short as possible.
I totally agree. You can connect the negative connection of your amp
directly to your battery's negative post. You just have to make sure it is
connected with AT LEAST as thick a wire as your positive wire and as Lull
mentioned, as short as possible.
However, I suppose I should point out that unless the amp is litterally
sitting RIGHT NEXT TO THE BATTERY, you can likely save some money by using
the car's chassis as your return ground (as virtually all of us do) by
connecting a VERY thick (at least as thick as your positive cable) cable
from your negative terninal of the amp to an unpainted place on your chassis
as close to the amp as possible.
The reason I say this is that there is ABSOLUTELY, WITHOUT A DOUBT, no
larger return wire than the chassis of your car. USE IT!!!!, if you can.
ALSO, once the car is running you will be getting ALL your power from your
alternator, NOT THE BATTERY. Keep in mind, those who designed your car
probably did not expect someone to connected a large aftermarket amp to it.
What I'm saying is that once the car is running the return negative flow
must go to the alternator. THe car manufacturer likely did not use large
gauge cable to connect the neg. battery post to the chassis or engine block
(they, undoubtedly, used as thick a wire as was needed for normal,
non-aftermarket-gear-added, automotive use.
So by using large guage cable from the neg. connection of the amp to the
chassis of the car, you then don't have to worry about a poor negative
connection between the battery and chassis or engine block. By connecting
the amp's negative connection DIRECTLY to the chassis via large (thick)
wire, you ENSURE a good return of electrons back to both the battery (as I
mentioned), AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, to the alternator when the car is
running. So for that reason alone, I might choose to use the chassis as a
return ground no matter how close the battery is to the amp.
As I've said a hundred times, we all know with unregulated amps the more
voltage in, the more potential wattage out. What people DON'T understand is
that voltage is not a measure of electrical flow (like watts). It is only a
measure of the difference between two electrical potentials, most often
positive and negative. Folks tend to focus ONLY on raising the positive
side by using capacitors, large gauge power wire, ext. But you can raise
voltage (and hence increase watts produced) by LOWERING the negative
potential. Again, as the car's body is the largest "wire" in the car, you
should definately take advantage of this fact as almost all power will come
from the alternator when the car is running and by attaching the neg. output
of your amp to the neg. battery post, you have NO IDEA how large the wire is
that goes from it to the engine block/negative input of the alternator.
It doesn't hurt to do both come to think of it. Connect one large guage
wire from the neg. terminal of the amp to the battery and another to the
car's chassis. This should ensure the lowest negative battery potential.
MOSFET
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thanks MOSFET for the info
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