Stereo Install

[h100vw]

Yeah disconnect the battery to stop airbag faults.

Gavin

[fuzion]

i dont know why, but people think the thicker the cable the better it is and a smaller cable cant handle that much ampage/volts..

then you look at the alternator cable, or battery cables, hell even normal power lines and not even close to the same thickness and run 10x more ampage/voltage.. lol

(not having a go at anyone here, just generally speaking)

[SoVeReIgN]

i dont know why, but people think the thicker the cable the better it is and a smaller cable cant handle that much ampage/volts..

then you look at the alternator cable, or battery cables, hell even normal power lines and not even close to the same thickness and run 10x more ampage/voltage.. lol

(not having a go at anyone here, just generally speaking)

Powerlines run AC rather than DC, and you'll find are made out of steel rather than copper so thinner gauge can sustain much more power. Your Alternator cable only needs to be thick enough to carry as much power as the alternator can produce (Usually <100amps) and the battery wire, well again, your car in normal operation wouldn't (very rarely - Maybe if the aircon compressor clicked on while you had your lights on, stereo pumping, fans on full etc) use more than 100amps. An above average stereo system can easily use much more than 100amps.

Your cables are something you definently don't want to skimp on - I've seen many installations where a low quality (power - RCAs are a whole different story) cable has caused all sorts of dramas. Amps going into protection when they can't draw enough current, causing distortion when they can't draw enough current etc... And if you skimp on fuses with a puny powercable it will become a fuse and burn your car to the ground!

From my very very rough memory, 8 gauge is only good for ~80amps, 4gauge for ~140amps etc. (safely)

In ANY car install I always recommend using no less than 4gauge cable, overengineering is safe and leaves some overhead for general use, and if you want to add anything else down the track

Ever seen those cars where the headlights dim to the bass? This is because the system is drawing more power than the alternator can provide (@~14.4V) and is starting to pull power from the battery (@~12V) - I know a Hyundai Excel's alternator is rated @ 90amps - I'd expect our cars to be 120 or so. If 40amps is the car's general running with the headlights on, theres 80amps from a stereo system right there and the full capacity of an 8gauge cable.
I know I've blown ~80amp fuses with only a mildish stereo system! I wish I could find a site I looked at ages ago which had a whole bunch of cable current ratings, but I'm at work - Don't have my bookmarks and google isn't helping

(Just trying to point out that in many cases, thin cable is not enough!)

Cheers,
Dave

[BlackVr6ix]

i dont know why, but people think the thicker the cable the better it is and a smaller cable cant handle that much ampage/volts..

then you look at the alternator cable, or battery cables, hell even normal power lines and not even close to the same thickness and run 10x more ampage/voltage.. lol

(not having a go at anyone here, just generally speaking)

its called voltage drop, if you have smaller gauge wire over a longer run you get resistance.

more resistance and less current can flow thru, which makes the voltage drop to make up for the lack of current.

believe me with big amps if you dont have big enough power feeds (and grounds) you can break/melt things, power side mosfets, power/earth wire, fuse holders i've seen it all.

[MRJZ]

i let others answer it for me...

[DutchAussie]

i dont know why, but people think the thicker the cable the better it is and a smaller cable cant handle that much ampage/volts..

then you look at the alternator cable, or battery cables, hell even normal power lines and not even close to the same thickness and run 10x more ampage/voltage.. lol

(not having a go at anyone here, just generally speaking)

Have a look at my site for cable sizes and more information on installing car wiring.

Regards,

Arie

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~avdw

[BlackVr6ix]

Those figures are pretty dam close to what i work with, thats a pretty good resource.

Thanks

[qsilverza]

Yerp I have 0gauge going into the back of mine. Plus I will probably lash out on a deep cycle battery and mount it in the boot.

Anyone got any pics of a decent install on a bora install ?

I plan to do a car-puter install plus all the rest that comes with it. Anyway, will post some pics when I have done some of it

Do the 2001 Bora Headunits any factory in,outs ?

Also, on Vw-vortex there is a faq on how to remove your airbags without bursting them. Have a look

[MattyT]

This needs to be moved to the vw car audio section!

[ScienceVR6]

The olny reason you can have too large a cable, is when you physicaly dont have the space to run it. I always prefer to run at least one size larger than i need. my own car, runs two 4 gauge cables (im too tight to buy a 2 gauge.)

Could we have this thread moved to Car audio?

the cable sizing would be usful.