Hi I am planning on installing my sub amp on my sub box.
I am wondering what would be the best thing to use for connectors so I
can easily unplug the current wires. My amp draws 80 amps, I baught
some home style plugs(male and female) from the hardware store for
extensions but they are rated at 20 amps for 120volts. Will this work?
Or will it heat up? I wanted to use one pin for + other for negative
and ground pin for remote on....

No don't use it, since wires for AC and DC are different. I assume that wire
for 120 volts is 120V AC. AC carrying wires are less in number but thick, on
the other hand DC carrying wires are large in number but thin.

Some electrical engineer on this group might be able to explain the why part
for you and me :-)

--
The best is yet to come
V

wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi I am planning on installing my sub amp on my sub box.
I am wondering what would be the best thing to use for connectors so I
can easily unplug the current wires. My amp draws 80 amps, I baught
some home style plugs(male and female) from the hardware store for
extensions but they are rated at 20 amps for 120volts. Will this work?
Or will it heat up? I wanted to use one pin for + other for negative
and ground pin for remote on....

"Vivek Kapoor" wrote in message
...
No don't use it, since wires for AC and DC are different. I assume that
wire
for 120 volts is 120V AC. AC carrying wires are less in number but thick,
on
the other hand DC carrying wires are large in number but thin.

Some electrical engineer on this group might be able to explain the why
part
for you and me :-)

--
The best is yet to come
V


I'm an electrical engineer and I can't explain why you would post such
inaccurate information.

Wires for household AC and automotive DC can be interchanged. Typically the
wire run in the walls of the house are solid wire. The wires that run from
a plug to an appliance is stranded so it can be bent and twisted with ease.
Automotive wire is also stranded so it can be snaked around the interior of
a car. The difference is household AC is high voltage (120V). Automotive
DC is low voltage (12V). Wires can carry voltage without any problems, it's
the current that causes wires to burn out. The high voltage power wires
that you see outside are thousands of volts and they carry very little
current and can stretch over miles. Power consumption is the current
squared times the resistance. As current increases, the power increases by
the square. If you can keep current down, then power consumption stays
down.

The problem you'll encounter is not the construction of the wire, but the
gauge of the wire. You're probably looking at 12 ga wire and 12 ga wire
can't carry 80 amps of current without a significant voltage loss. When you
say your amp is rated for 80A, you're just repeating the fuse ratings, no?
80amps of current draw will really make your alternator work.

This article should give you a good idea what size power wire you should
use.
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-gXgQ7RE...ech/kb147.html

Someone is going to chime in with "but what about the skin effect?!" The
skin effect doesn't have any effect until high frequency. 60 Hz is not
considered high frequency. DC has a frequency of 0.

-Bruce

No don't use it, since wires for AC and DC are different. I assume that
wire
for 120 volts is 120V AC. AC carrying wires are less in number but thick,
on
the other hand DC carrying wires are large in number but thin.

Some electrical engineer on this group might be able to explain the why
part
for you and me :-)

The "why" part is easy: someone lied to you.

Seriously, it doesn't matter. The only reason why more strands is a better
option in car audio is because it tends to be more flexible. At the
frequencies we're concerned with (20-20kHz, or even higher - like 100kHz -
if you're talking about an unfiltered PWM frequency through the power wire),
factors like skin effect and cable reactance just don't play a significant
role to warrant a different cable design.

In article ,
"Vivek Kapoor" wrote:

No don't use it, since wires for AC and DC are different. I assume that wire
for 120 volts is 120V AC. AC carrying wires are less in number but thick, on
the other hand DC carrying wires are large in number but thin.

Some electrical engineer on this group might be able to explain the why part
for you and me :-)

How is wiring different?

Currently I'm using Romex for speaker wire.


To the OP: IMO The extension cord plugs shouldn't be used, simply for
the gauge of the connectors and your current draw needs.

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage....DID=7&CATID=39
&ObjectGroup_ID=187

"Breakaway" connectors will accept up to 1/0ga wire. These connectors
are two conductor rather than the three conductor extension cord plugs,
but there is no free lunch in life.

hth,

--
Cyrus

*coughcasaucedoprodigynetcough*

Thanks for the info. When I said 80 amps yes I did state what were on
the fuses 2 x40. If I pump the amp 3/4 of power I am drawing 60 amps
right? Also my wire I did use is 4ga, from the battery till the amp. As
for my connectors I baught like I said they are rated at 20ga and I was
planning to solder my 4 ga wire directly to the screws. Will this still
verheat after all the plug is a piece of solid metal. Or else I will
take Cyrus's advice and get those connectors from partsexpess. thanks
for the link.
thanks to all who replied...

well i want to know which ampli connect to a 800 watts xplod subwoofer
? i made the box vent one hole of course. Thanks

wrote:
Thanks for the info. When I said 80 amps yes I did state what were on
the fuses 2 x40. If I pump the amp 3/4 of power I am drawing 60 amps
right? Also my wire I did use is 4ga, from the battery till the amp. As
for my connectors I baught like I said they are rated at 20ga and I was
planning to solder my 4 ga wire directly to the screws. Will this still
verheat after all the plug is a piece of solid metal. Or else I will
take Cyrus's advice and get those connectors from partsexpess. thanks
for the link.
thanks to all who replied...

Bump!

--
The best is yet to come
V
"Bruce Chang" wrote in message
m...
I'm an electrical engineer and I can't explain why you would post such
inaccurate information.

Wires for household AC and automotive DC can be interchanged. Typically
the
wire run in the walls of the house are solid wire. The wires that run
from
a plug to an appliance is stranded so it can be bent and twisted with
ease.
Automotive wire is also stranded so it can be snaked around the interior
of
a car. The difference is household AC is high voltage (120V). Automotive
DC is low voltage (12V). Wires can carry voltage without any problems,
it's
the current that causes wires to burn out. The high voltage power wires
that you see outside are thousands of volts and they carry very little
current and can stretch over miles. Power consumption is the current
squared times the resistance. As current increases, the power increases
by
the square. If you can keep current down, then power consumption stays
down.

In article . com, wrote:
Hi I am planning on installing my sub amp on my sub box.
I am wondering what would be the best thing to use for connectors so I
can easily unplug the current wires. My amp draws 80 amps, I baught
some home style plugs(male and female) from the hardware store for
extensions but they are rated at 20 amps for 120volts. Will this work?
Or will it heat up? I wanted to use one pin for + other for negative
and ground pin for remote on....


Neutrik connectors are hard to beat, or can they be beat?

You can wire two sets of contact on a four pole connector
to get 80 amps peak.

I once mounted an amp on a box, and shook the amp to pieces!

greg

Neutrik connectors are hard to beat, or can they be beat?

You can wire two sets of contact on a four pole connector
to get 80 amps peak.

I once mounted an amp on a box, and shook the amp to pieces!

Yikes! If your box is shaking more than the rest of the trunk, then you've
done something seriously wrong (or you're driving a tank).