One of my classmates has a friend who is "into" car audio. He introduced me to his friend and his buddy showed me his system. Two legacy amps driving four Jensen subs.

What got me was his wiring.
4 AWG wire from the battery with a 60 amp fuse.
Each amp had a 30 amp fuse.
But he didn't use a distrobution block. He ran the 4 awg to the positive terminal on one amp, then from that amp's + terminal he ran 8 awg to the second amp. The 8 awg had an inline blade fuse rated at 30 amps 3 inches from the + terminal on the amp.
He essentially used the + terminal as a distribution block.

I told him he can't do that, he needs a distribution block. He asked "Why? every wire has a fuse, so if a short happens it is protected."

He's right. Both amps have their own fuses so they are protected. The 4 awg is protected by a 60 amp fuse against shorts, and the 8 awg is protected by a 30 amp fuse against shorts.

I can't find a practical reason why he can't do this, other than its ghetto. Any ideas?

[ January 07, 2005, 09:07 AM: Message edited by: maltesechicken ]

 

Sounds like he 'daisy chained' the power wiring. Other than being very ghetto yes, it's not like it can't work. I guess about the only potentional problem I see is a lot of current being passed through the metal on the positive terminal of the first amp, possibly causing an opporturnity for increased resistance and/or heat buildup.

 

I did it on my first set up , now i use a distribution block but i ran the four gauge to my sub amp then daisied another four gauge over to my four channel , worked fine for as long as i had it , when your 16 in high school you look for ways to cut costs i guess

 

Alright.
Guy is not in high-school. My classmate and I are currently working on our masters so we are in our mid-20's. My guess is the guy is in his early 20's working full-time. Perhaps being in his 20's gave him the common sense/fore thought to add the 30 amp fuse.
So basically it is safe, just not cool. - the same could be said for Jensen and Legacy so I guess it all works out in the end.

 

LMAO, my first installs would make that look like Tim Ballie did that one. Try using coat hangers and other idiotic things, thank God my crap was all fuse protected so I had no fires.

-Tim would know, you should ask him he is the best installer I've ever seen.