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i need to power a small amp


Niku-Sama

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so i am working on the elctrical system getting some of the things figured out and taken care of. i did my best to fix the wiring that circuit city did with the stereo, cleaned it up some but i think later on i may just go in and swap the connector out to a newer nissan connector and just be done with the whole thing.

i have the stereo hooked up it turns on and keeps time now and it shouldnt come on by it self (heatshink is god) but i dont have the speakers hooked up yet.

i little while ago i got a 2 channel speaker amp it pulls a max of 20 amps. the head unit pulls a max of 10 amps and i was wondering if it was possible to power it off the stereo harness 12v.

heres the amp specs:

Pioneer GM-x332

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/CarAudioVideo/Amplifiers/Other/GM-X332?tab=B

dont worry i only spent $15 on it.

heres the head unit:

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Support/CarAudioVideo/Source/CD-Players/DEH-P3800MP

and speakers (for now): x2

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/CarAudioVideo/Speakers/G-Series/TS-G1642R

i had to make my own speaker adaptors out of lexan for the speakers to fit in the stock location

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well if you gonna pull 20 amps you need 12 gage wire. I'd run a complete new circuit from someplace with an inline fuse. I'd probably run 8 gage from the battery to a terminal block in the interior with inline fuse and then use wiring from that terminal block to the head unit and another to an amp.

15 amp 14 gage wire

20amp 12 gage

30 amp 10 gage

40 amp 8 gage

is what is recommended

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there isnt any sort of switched power i can use from within the car?

 

the head unit has no issues being on the harness power i just need to do something with the amp and i want to try and get some sort of power source thats on when the key is on so if something happens my amp doesent drain my battery because for one reason or another it didnt shut off with the head unit.

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for memory power i used the ciggerette light lead and grounded the whole head unit seperatly.

for key on power i am using the factory harness which in a 79 since it has a manual memory (or mechanical buttons to move the dial) there was only 12v when the key was ON off of the factory harness.

 

i'm gonna go out and wire up the speakers to the factory harness for now so theres something to listen to in the car.

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  • 2 weeks later...

In my experience, and I have installed stereo systems in a LOT of cars, everytime you use an amp, it MUST be hooked up directly to the battery. Even though it is a small amp, it will still draw too much. However, you do not need to use it, your stereo is a 200 watt (50x4) preamp and will more than adequately power the speakers that you have.

If you are worried about how to run the wire for the amp from the battery, look for a rubber nipple on your firewall with shrouded wires coming from it, carefully cut a 1/2 inch slit in it, push a 4 or 6 guage power wire through it and it will come in under your dash.

Unless you plan on doing a lot more with your ICE, just leave the amp off for now, it'll save you a lot of headaches from trying to tune it to sound good. Pioneer makes very decent quality head units and the internal EQs are good enough.

If this helps you at all, I'm happy. If not, feel free to disregard everything I just said.

 

Chuck

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Get the gold plated terminals if you're gonna do a lot of ICE. Not only do they look pretty, but gold is a better conductor of electricity.

Oh, and make you're own cables, it's easy, cheaper than buying premade, and you can have whatever color you want. On top of that, you can make 2 guage cables.

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Yes, if you can't get gold, the brass are a bit better, worth the couple extra bucks anyway. Solder/clamp will keep a better connection(or so they say) the ones I made were just the clamp type and they work just fine. Just make sure that the wire insulation goes all the way up to, if not in to the terminal, otherwise you're askin for bad things to happen.

If the snow ever melts, I'll take a pic of mine and send it to you so you can see what I mean.

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You have covered this well.

The only thing I could add is that there is a coating my brother introduced me to that works fantastically to prevent corrosion. (Just can not remember the name:) )

 

If you're talking about that red spray-on stuff... yes, it works really well "IF" you first completely remove any hint of corosion, grunge, and thoroughly dry everything. You must also spray the exposed ends of the cables allowing the fluid to wick back into cables, and include any hidden areas such as all the bolts and threads. Spray the battery posts immediately before assembly then give it one final spray after it's assembled. If you miss any little area corosion will begin from there and spread everywhere else. It's available at most auto parts store in the battery/cables area.

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I've seen the red stuff, I've also used a black kind before that works excellent. It came in a spray can, shot out like a spider web, and dried like rubber. It wasn't the prettiest thing, but we used it on school bus batteries, never had any corrosion problems. Its not very fun if you have to remove it however.

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Good point on the corrosion spray, the stuff I used was purple though. And I only sprayed it on the posts, didn't want my gold terminals to be covered in purple goop. Remember, it's looks over function. Would you rather have an ugly woman who can cook or a smokin hot woman who can't???

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