Distribution block?

[DFA]

Hey YW, it's me again.

I'll most likely be running amp wires thru my Yaris sometime this week. I'm still not 100% sure which amps I'll be running, but it'll most likely be a TMA T2-500.1 to power my sub, and and a Powerbass ASA 600.4 for my speakers. I have a couple of questions.

So, from what I've read, I think what I should be doing here is routing some 0/1ga from the battery into the car, and then split it into two 4ga wires, each running to each amp. 4ga will be used for grounding each one as well.

First, my door speakers are 50W RMS, feeding them 100RMS won't kill them unless I get stupid and overload them right?

Second, would I be better off with running 0/1ga or would 2ga be enough?

Third, is it really necessary to use a distribution block? or can I just run a fuse rated half as big as the one on the 0/1ga coming from the battery on the 4ga wire going to each amp?

Thanks in advance

[Bluevitz-rs]

Your main fuse should be located as close to the battery as possible. From there back, you don't need more fuses to each amp. The Amps should each have a fuse built in.

What size is each amp?

And I'm pretty sure feeding 100W RMS to speakers only rated at 50W RMS will cook them pretty quick.

[fnkngrv]

In regards to the main fuse, Bluevitz-rs is correct, you wanna get it as close to the battery as possible. I would recommend the distro block if anything just for convenience to kill the power to one of the amps if you need to. For example, the winters up north get pretty cold so to protect the integrity of my Bazooka I pull the fuse for that sub on the distro block. Having the distro block can be convenient during any maintenance that you perform as well....easy access to pull fuses rather than fussing with the one under the hood. Lastly, it just makes sense to have a clean junction point for your power wires...think of it this way; in a house there all all kinds of junction boxes, people don't just have all kinds of wiring spliced together haphazardly...it is safer. The one thing that I can tell you from a good friend's perspective is that it would be worth it from an insurance outlook as well. He didn't have a distro block and his car ended up lighting on fire. It wasn't because of the no distro block issue, but after the investigation was done the insurance company cited that as a safety concern and actually denied him benes for it.


As for your question with the 100 into 50, your amp should have a gain hopefully for front and back for example? If you tune your system the way that you should then the gain for those speakers should be reduced anyway therein protecting them from receiving too much power. Hope this info helps.

[talnlnky]

Originally Posted by Bluevitz-rs

From there back, you don't need more fuses to each amp.

Wrong.... anytime you reduce the wire size you need a proper sized fuse.

Try to run a distroblock that has fused built in (for the power cable). Most people don't, tho if you had an EE, or safety inspector looking at your install, they'd be all over you if you don't fuse each reduction in wire size.

What you can do, is do 1/0awg and then just run a 80amp fuse (60 amp may work, may pop, and 100 would also work too) next to your battery. 4awg can safely transfer 125amps of current for about 15 feet I think, so as long as you go with a smaller fuse and not something like a 150/200/250 amp fuse you won't have to double fuse the power cable.

[fnkngrv]

Originally Posted by talnlnky

Most people don't, tho if you had an EE, or safety inspector looking at your install, they'd be all over you if you don't fuse each reduction in wire size.

That is the point that I was trying to make, just more direct...thanks talnlnky. KNUCONCEPTZ makes a great Distro block which is what I use as an example:


http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDe...?prodID=KNF-12




KonFUSED 2 Way Distribution System
[Knukonceptz Item #KNF-12]

NEW ITEM - The KonFUSED Distribution System is tailored by the installer to fit ANY installation requirement. With interchangeable Kompression Fittings anything is possible. The KNF-12 has one input port, which by changing the Kompression Fitting, can accept 4 Gauge or 1/0 Gauge Cable. The output side can be adjusted to accept 4 Gauge or 8 Gauge cables. Please see our reference chart link below to see what fittings are included with this model. Using the Mini-ANL Style Fuse, the KNF-12 can maintain loads up to 150A per circuit.

Included with the KNF-12 are 6 Kompression Fittings to allow the end user to customize the block to fit their application. Also included, your choice of two (2) Mini-ANL fuses! The KNF-12 is finished in black chrome and includes the smoke acrylic cover

KonFUSED System Introduction

Kompression Fitting Chart / Spec Sheet

Category: Distribution / Fuse Blocks
In Stock: No
Weight: 0.85
Price: $14.99


Like I said, this is what I use and it has proven to be a great purchase and for 15 bucks utilizing the ANL fuses I am not sure that it can be beat...

[_S7V7N_]

Originally Posted by DFA

First, my door speakers are 50W RMS, feeding them 100RMS won't kill them unless I get stupid and overload them right?

Second, would I be better off with running 0/1ga or would 2ga be enough?

Third, is it really necessary to use a distribution block? or can I just run a fuse rated half as big as the one on the 0/1ga coming from the battery on the 4ga wire going to each amp?

Thanks in advance

You'll be fine on Running that 100 watts rms to the speakers just make sure your amp is set and properly tuned, you're leaving good room in case you ever decide to upgrade or add more speakers to your set-up.

Just run 0 gauge so that in case you decide to upgrade to a larger amp for the sub in the future you'll already have the cable to support you new power output.

Deff use a distribution block, It'll make your life a whole lot easier, What you'll probably wanna get is a 0 Gauge amp kit, which if you're lucky will include a fuse for your battery and a distribution block for the amps , and then at least Ten ft of 4 gauge power / ground cable to run to the amps. You may not use all ten ft but, i don't know the location of your amps or how close to each other you're running them.

You'll also need another set of RCA's, and decide how to run your remote wire to turn on both amps. Since i have a kid i ran a switch on my Remote wire to where i can turn off the amp going to the sub, but still have on the amp running my mid's and hi's . Just a few extra thoughts bro...Good luck with the install.

[DFA]

I haven't bought the amps yet, so just for playing it safe I'm going to go with a 4x50RMS amp for my speakers for now. Worst comes to happen and I need to upgrade in the future, I'll sell it locally and use the cash to get a new one.

I fixed up this diagram really quick in Paint, just to get my ideas correctly. I will most likely be running all the wiring tomorrow or the day after at the latest, and get the amps over the weekend.

Just let me know if anything's wrong or looks off for any reason, I'm still pretty much a noob at this car audio thing so bear with me

[fnkngrv]

looks good man...just make sure that you have the distro in an accessible place even if it is hidden...

[DFA]

Originally Posted by fnkngrv

looks good man...just make sure that you have the distro in an accessible place even if it is hidden...

Yeah, I'll probably end up putting it under the center plastic thing where the cupholder and the ebrake are, there's apparently quite a bit of free space under there, and I'll just route the wires to and from it under the carpet.

[_S7V7N_]

How many outputs does your headunit have ? Does it have a Subwoofer, Rear and Front ? or Just a Rear and Front, If you only have two sets you will need Two Y Splitters on the RCA cable going to your 4 channel so you can run all four channels on the amp.

[DFA]

Yep, nothing to worry about on that end, my HU (Kenwood KDC-X492) has separate front, rear, and sub preouts. Total of 6 RCA output jacks.

[DFA]

I have another (probably idiotic) question, in here, he routes the power wire from the battery thru a grommet on the top side of the firewall on the passenger side of the Yaris. I just took a look under my hood and see no such grommet. I however, see some kind of soft rubber plug, did I just miss the part of the guide where the hole is made into this, or should I just route the power wire thru the monster grommet on the driver side?

[swidd]

Its right to the top left of the ECU on the passenger side of the engine compartment. Its super easy to route the wire in there. Pop out the grommet/rubber plug, cut a hole in it, and slip the grommet back in with the wire running through it. I had never routed amp wire before, but this grommet was like a gift from Toyota, as if they had planned for it to be used for amp wire.

[swidd]

Also, to find and cut into the carpet, I just pushed a screw driver into it from the engine compartment side.

[DFA]

Ok now, I've laid 0ga wire from the battery to the inside of the car, put the inline fuse holder in, connected it to the distro block, which then splits into two 4ga wires, each going to each amp for power.

All good until now.
However, where would be a good place to mount the distro block? I thought of mounting it somewhere under the plastic piece where the ebrake and shifter are, but there's a ton of exposed metal under there, and I'm not really sure if I'm comfortable with my power wire hanging out so close to so much bare metal

[_S7V7N_]

The Distribution block is going to be hot, Meaning that any part of the distribution block that is exposed is going to conduct electricity because it is metal. You want to lay it on some sort of wood, then mount it in your desired location, You'll still have to be careful not to drop any sort of change " money " , screws , anything metal in that area because if it happens to touch the bare metal of the car and the distro block then it will cause a short, which in turn will pop the inline fuse which either way is going to make a big ol mess.

[talnlnky]

I'd aim to mount the distro block within 18" of your amps. The smaller the 4awg runs are, the better.

[DFA]

If I go ahead and place it under the passenger seat, there would only be about a foot of 4ga running from the distro to the amp, but about 5 or 6 feet to the mono amp. If I have to make a compromise and get noise in either my door speakers or my sub, I'd get it on my sub, which cannot play high frequency noises I guess.

Still have no idea how I'm going to go with mounting it tho, since the area under the ebrake/shifter is a messy pile of bare metal everywhere.