Hello,

I have a lot of 1/0 building wire laying around and was wondering if I could use it to install my amp into my car? Thank you

 

copper is copper, so technically you can, however:

1) you may have problems routing it. car wires are highly stranded to make them more flexible.

2) some car audio wires are also specially protected against copper corrosion.

3) make sure insulation is thick enough not to get cut by a sharp sheet metal somewhere

4) when you terminate a less stranded wire with a terminal, there is less wire area touching the terminal, so the junction resistance is a bit higher, but that should not be a problem.


I've tried it once with 8 gauge grounding wire from HD, and it was not worth the effort, wire was not flexible enough.

 

Unless you are using SOW, trying to route 1/0 RW/TW wiring in a vehicle is going to be an effort in futility.

Just buy the correct wire, trust me, it's not worth the trouble.

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

when you buy, get raw by ft. avoid cheap amp-kits. they overestimate gauge and power ratings. cable may seem thick, but in reality they make copper thinner and insulation thicker.

 

take that stuff to a scrap yard. You get $0.50/lb for it.....or strip the insulation and get over $2.00/lb If you have enough kicking around you can end up with enough money to buy the proper wire