Best way to get wiring out of box

[Bump4life]

so currently i am running the speaker wire from subs out the port to the amp. i feel it looks bad, which it does.

so i want an alternate way to do this. so i saw a lot of you use bolts through the box and connect the wire to the bolts? which type of bolts do you use? i dont want to introuduce much resistance if any into the run. i love the direct leads for a reason. or should I just cut a whole in the back of box stick wire through and seal it off with silicone?

what other ways do you guys get wire from subs to amp cleanly and such

any input on this would be appreciated!

[skittlesRgood]

ive ran 8awg out of the box through a small hole for a while now. i only use bolts if I need to change ohm loads around.

[jh9119]

I've done both, the silicone route works well. If you do use bolts check their resistance with a dmm first.

[Lost Legacy]

terminals on the box is always a good one, although doesn't work so well if you are running lots of POWER

[Bump4life]

ive ran 8awg out of the box through a small hole for a while now. i only use bolts if I need to change ohm loads around.

ok cool. yea i dont need to change my ohm load around. plus i have 2 boxes a wire coming out of each and don't plan on wiring higher. ok thanks. ill just run out back i guess. if i were to use bolts, which bolts would i use? which material has least resistance?

[kickass audio]

For my box i got 1.5" long 3/8" hex head stainless steel bolts with 3/8" stainless steel t-nuts, hex head nuts and washers and it works great. What i did was take a right angle tool and measure about 1-2 inches from each spot i wanted to run the bolt so i have ample room for the terminal to be free and not have any chance to short out or be up against another terminal. Then i drilled the holes out. I put the bolt through the box from the inside to the outside and fastened the t-nut to the outside of my box and i then took a small hammer and knocked the t-nut into the wood so it grabbed. Then i unscrewed the bolt and put one washer on each side of the ring terminals i crimped/soldered to my subs direct leads and put the bolt through the ring and terminals and began screwing the bolt down. Now you want to have the bolt itself bolted in as tight as possible so that if you ever decide to change the ohm loads or need to disconnect the wire, the bolt inside the box wont come loose (its a bitch getting my SMD in and out of the box so make sure its really right but dont strip the threads or make the t-nut spin freely). Now as a personal preference if i want to change my ohm load on the sub i made it so that each bolt on the box is wired independent of each other. For example i did not cross or pair up any wires on the sub or on the inside of my box where the bolts are. So once the bolt is secure and you know which bolt is for what coil and what polarity prepare your wiring so that you can achieve the ohm load you want. Once that is done put a washer on both sides of those ring terminals and take the hex head nut and put that onto the bolt sticking out of your box and tighten it so its snug and you cannot move the wire from side to side. DO NOT CRANK IT DOWN HARD OR YOU WILL BACK THE BOLT OUT FROM THE INSIDE OF THE TERMINAL!!!!

After that just verify your resistance and polarity and connect it to the amp and be done with it. If you do this and get stuck let me know and ill help you, its really simple to do, just take your time and make note of which bolt is for what terminal and you will be fine.

edit: if you want to do it easy you can also get a set of wire grommets that you use for your firewall that are water proof and drill the holes in the box big enough to bolt them down and you can use them to make an airtight seal if you dont want to do the silicone trick. Im not sure if there are wire grommets long enough to grab through a single 3/4" mdf or plywood though but they may be out there.

Edited April 15, 2012 by kickass audio

[P4killer_]

If you do bolt throughs make sure you use brass... Stainless isn't as conductive therefore introduces more resistance ... I mean really it shouldn't matter that much but I've always used brass..

[Bump4life]

For my box i got 1.5" long 3/8" hex head stainless steel bolts with 3/8" stainless steel t-nuts, hex head nuts and washers and it works great. What i did was take a right angle tool and measure about 1-2 inches from each spot i wanted to run the bolt so i have ample room for the terminal to be free and not have any chance to short out or be up against another terminal. Then i drilled the holes out. I put the bolt through the box from the inside to the outside and fastened the t-nut to the outside of my box and i then took a small hammer and knocked the t-nut into the wood so it grabbed. Then i unscrewed the bolt and put one washer on each side of the ring terminals i crimped/soldered to my subs direct leads and put the bolt through the ring and terminals and began screwing the bolt down. Now you want to have the bolt itself bolted in as tight as possible so that if you ever decide to change the ohm loads or need to disconnect the wire, the bolt inside the box wont come loose (its a bitch getting my SMD in and out of the box so make sure its really right but dont strip the threads or make the t-nut spin freely). Now as a personal preference if i want to change my ohm load on the sub i made it so that each bolt on the box is wired independent of each other. For example i did not cross or pair up any wires on the sub or on the inside of my box where the bolts are. So once the bolt is secure and you know which bolt is for what coil and what polarity prepare your wiring so that you can achieve the ohm load you want. Once that is done put a washer on both sides of those ring terminals and take the hex head nut and put that onto the bolt sticking out of your box and tighten it so its snug and you cannot move the wire from side to side. DO NOT CRANK IT DOWN HARD OR YOU WILL BACK THE BOLT OUT FROM THE INSIDE OF THE TERMINAL!!!!

After that just verify your resistance and polarity and connect it to the amp and be done with it. If you do this and get stuck let me know and ill help you, its really simple to do, just take your time and make note of which bolt is for what terminal and you will be fine.

edit: if you want to do it easy you can also get a set of wire grommets that you use for your firewall that are water proof and drill the holes in the box big enough to bolt them down and you can use them to make an airtight seal if you dont want to do the silicone trick. Im not sure if there are wire grommets long enough to grab through a single 3/4" mdf or plywood though but they may be out there.

thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed explanation!

i mean i really dont have a need to change my impedence. the only reason i would is to see how it sounds when i run my system at 2 ohms. if i dont care about changing impedence should i just drill a hole and silicone?

and i guess if i choose to do the threaded bolts what size should i get? can i get a complete list of parts i would need?

i can figure out how many ill need. lets just say i have a single coil. pos and neg. what do i need?'

and i looked up metal conductivity and besides copper silver and gold. aluminium brass nickel and zinc are all fairly conductive. anyone have any suggestions on which metal to choose? i think stainles steel will be a last resort (ranked 13th most conductive) idk even if they make zinc bolts ahah. am i looking to far into this? like how much resistance would a stainless steel bolt give me?

[bass_stalker]

i always just drill a hole in the box slightly smaller than the wire and then push it through, same concept as bolts but without the bolts

[Bump4life]

yea honestly guys the hole and shuving wire through sounds good to me and no more money being spent. haha thanks for all replys