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Sorry if this is long winded.

Working in the electrical field and having a solid understanding of electrical flow in general, I wanted to get peoples recommendations.

I will be starting my build within the next month or so but I have already recieved my spare XS 3400 which is under the hood behind driverside healdmight (2011 silverado) and will be fabing up my battery lugs and amplifier adapters/reducers in the near future. But I wanted to get peoples opinion on how to do the amplifier grounding.

From my knowledge I would think it would be best to run a direct run back to the battery which would produce a solid clean ground. This would also allow voltage drop to be calculated easily since "wire" size and material resistivity is constant. However, being a vehicle and not a building, I am not sure how much this will benefit the system.

I mainly ask this just because if it is indeed the ideal way to complete the loop then I will run my return lines back to the battery. Otherwise if the benefit is not significant then it will save me from doubling the cost for the wire which is fairly significant (currently ~60ft of 1/0). The cost difference, while significant, is not a deal breaker if the benefit can be justified.

Either way it will be run back to the battery or cleanly bolted to the frame then sealed.

Amps are sundown pre-orders so I have some time and am not rushing. Just trying to do this system right the first time, no longer a budget build and the wallet is slowly bleeding as the components are being ordered haha.

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I would run both just for piece of mind lol. But I think overkill is better than not enough..or "what I can get away with"

I had the ground from the amp go to the battery in the back...from that same post ran a ground to the front and a ground to the chassis...plus the big 3 and I used a bracket to ground instead of a bolt/washer method. And that was only for 1200w LOL.

MY BUILD *****http://tinyurl.com/gmcbuild*****

Vehicles

2005 GMC Canyon

CB1000r - Currently where any future funds are going. (exhasut,bazzaz, ohlins shock, screen, etc.)

crf250r - Used to be race bike..now I just trail ride..practice at the track on it.

CH80 - Daily beater (when nice weather)best 150$ ever spent. 100+mpg

Sold to:

Skullz - pstone11 - Leo1103 - Volvo 63' - pavelpardo - imnew59585

Shower farts still piss me off.

I think theyre pretty neat. When the water runs down your crack as you let one out... its like shitting in a crockpot.
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The ideal ground for your second battery is a run from the negative post on the first. Have you looked into CCA wire for your runs? It's a cheaper alternative to OFC cable. Knukonceptz has it for $2/foot in 0 AWG

1995 Nissan Maxima GLE
JVC KD-APD49 Headunit
(4) Infinity Kappa 652.9i components @ 2 ohm
(1) Infinity Reference 475a amplifier
(2) Skar Audio V-VXV1 12D4's
Hifonics Brutus 2100.1 @ 1 Ohm

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The ideal ground for your second battery is a run from the negative post on the first. Have you looked into CCA wire for your runs? It's a cheaper alternative to OFC cable. Knukonceptz has it for $2/foot in 0 AWG

Depending on how serious his system is and power he is running CCA might not support the current load he has in mind....

Another alternative to buying OFC audio cable from a big name is Welding cable.

https://weldingsupply.securesites.net/cgi-bin/einstein.pl?Next::1:UNDEF:OR:terms::PA

or this guy...I'll probably buy mine here as Trystar has a good reputation and he has great prices.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/coppercableman/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

MY BUILD *****http://tinyurl.com/gmcbuild*****

Vehicles

2005 GMC Canyon

CB1000r - Currently where any future funds are going. (exhasut,bazzaz, ohlins shock, screen, etc.)

crf250r - Used to be race bike..now I just trail ride..practice at the track on it.

CH80 - Daily beater (when nice weather)best 150$ ever spent. 100+mpg

Sold to:

Skullz - pstone11 - Leo1103 - Volvo 63' - pavelpardo - imnew59585

Shower farts still piss me off.

I think theyre pretty neat. When the water runs down your crack as you let one out... its like shitting in a crockpot.
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So, what happens to your audio equipment when the cable between your battery and engine block proves to be higher in resistance than the return path via your audio system? IE - corrosion and oxidation break down the termination over time, a piece of road debris hits the cable and cuts or damages it, or someone cuts it in a theft attempt of your vehicle?

Consider the return path for the starter then . . .

Tony Candela - SMD Sales & Marketing
Email me at [email protected] to learn about becoming an SMD Partner!

CEAES_468.gif

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So, what happens to your audio equipment when the cable between your battery and engine block proves to be higher in resistance than the return path via your audio system? IE - corrosion and oxidation break down the termination over time, a piece of road debris hits the cable and cuts or damages it, or someone cuts it in a theft attempt of your vehicle?

Consider the return path for the starter then . . .

Huh? I thought thats why you redo factory grounds? I dont know if I'm understanding what you mean correctly though?

MY BUILD *****http://tinyurl.com/gmcbuild*****

Vehicles

2005 GMC Canyon

CB1000r - Currently where any future funds are going. (exhasut,bazzaz, ohlins shock, screen, etc.)

crf250r - Used to be race bike..now I just trail ride..practice at the track on it.

CH80 - Daily beater (when nice weather)best 150$ ever spent. 100+mpg

Sold to:

Skullz - pstone11 - Leo1103 - Volvo 63' - pavelpardo - imnew59585

Shower farts still piss me off.

I think theyre pretty neat. When the water runs down your crack as you let one out... its like shitting in a crockpot.
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Share on other sites

The ideal ground for your second battery is a run from the negative post on the first. Have you looked into CCA wire for your runs? It's a cheaper alternative to OFC cable. Knukonceptz has it for $2/foot in 0 AWG

Depending on how serious his system is and power he is running CCA might not support the current load he has in mind....

Another alternative to buying OFC audio cable from a big name is Welding cable.

https://weldingsuppl...EF:OR:terms::PA

I am not a fan of CCA, while it might be cheaper and ampacity is not an issue, I am only running a Sundown SAZ-1500 and a SAX-125.4 with 1x1/0 for the SAX and 2x1/0 for the SAZ, however you go from a resistivity of 0.102 ohms/1000 ft copper to 0.168 ohms/1000 ft cca which equates to a larger voltage drop which is counter productive to the purpose of the wire runs.

I have looked into welding cable and still might go that route since OFC is only questionably better (experience from working in the electrical field).

So, what happens to your audio equipment when the cable between your battery and engine block proves to be higher in resistance than the return path via your audio system? IE - corrosion and oxidation break down the termination over time, a piece of road debris hits the cable and cuts or damages it, or someone cuts it in a theft attempt of your vehicle?

Consider the return path for the starter then . . .

I am not quite sure what you are getting at here. My amplifiers are only wired to the auxilary battery and if any are cut then that component just will not work, however if the positive is cut it could short but that isnt relevent to the grounding style... might make more sense if clerified though.

And my auxilary battery is in parallel with the factory battery and wired directly off the alternator and grounded to the block and not wiring directly to the factory battery itself.

From most of the responses it appears It will be worth while to take my runs and complete the loop back to the battery instead of to the frame.

I do appreciate all the responses though even if my responses sound otherwise =p

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OK, let me explain why in my near 30 years of building car audio systems, I've never run a ground from the amplifiers to the front of the vehicle to connect it to the battery negative.

1. That cable will have greater resistance over it's length than correctly utilizing the frame of a vehicle, like say a truck.

2. Should the stock battery negative to the block come loose, lose integrity, or become otherwise a botteneck, the starter will source current from other ground paths. If you had no audio system, that could be from the bell housing to the firewall (via the braided ground strap most vehicles have) and then back to the battery negative via the accessory ground lead between it and the inner fender or core support. Over time, one or both of these grounds can become damaged from this excessive current. Let's say that the ground strap from the bell housing snapped - new return path could be via the transmission kick down cable or throttle cable. In my time, I've seen it all happen and people will often continue to drive a vehicle like this until it simply won't start. Ever seen a throttle cable burned in half? Now, let's just say that one installs a killer audio system and does run a nice big ground cable to the battery negative. Forget about whether it's better or worse than the frame for the audio system. Think about how this could function as a return path for the starter - for example, let's say that the accessory ground wire between the battery negative and inner fender was snapped because the connection between the battery negative and block came loose and what I describe above just happened. Here's the new return path for the starter:

Bell housing to firewall, firewall to fender mounted antenna, antenna to radio, radio to amplifiers via RCA cables, amplifiers to battery negative.

Not much survives.

Guys, I will challenge you to make decisions that are safe choices - and not just because you heard someone tell you a friend told them on the 'net.

Tony Candela - SMD Sales & Marketing
Email me at [email protected] to learn about becoming an SMD Partner!

CEAES_468.gif

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OK, let me explain why in my near 30 years of building car audio systems, I've never run a ground from the amplifiers to the front of the vehicle to connect it to the battery negative.

1. That cable will have greater resistance over it's length than correctly utilizing the frame of a vehicle, like say a truck.

2. Should the stock battery negative to the block come loose, lose integrity, or become otherwise a botteneck, the starter will source current from other ground paths. If you had no audio system, that could be from the bell housing to the firewall (via the braided ground strap most vehicles have) and then back to the battery negative via the accessory ground lead between it and the inner fender or core support. Over time, one or both of these grounds can become damaged from this excessive current. Let's say that the ground strap from the bell housing snapped - new return path could be via the transmission kick down cable or throttle cable. In my time, I've seen it all happen and people will often continue to drive a vehicle like this until it simply won't start. Ever seen a throttle cable burned in half? Now, let's just say that one installs a killer audio system and does run a nice big ground cable to the battery negative. Forget about whether it's better or worse than the frame for the audio system. Think about how this could function as a return path for the starter - for example, let's say that the accessory ground wire between the battery negative and inner fender was snapped because the connection between the battery negative and block came loose and what I describe above just happened. Here's the new return path for the starter:

Bell housing to firewall, firewall to fender mounted antenna, antenna to radio, radio to amplifiers via RCA cables, amplifiers to battery negative.

Not much survives.

Guys, I will challenge you to make decisions that are safe choices - and not just because you heard someone tell you a friend told them on the 'net.

I appreciate the clerification which does make sense. What about this situation, keep in mind I am not challenging but just getting all the information, Factory battery runs to the block as its ground (correct me if I am wrong about this factory location I do not have my truck with me), secondary battery is also located unter the hood and independantly grounded to the block as well and not connected to the factory battery and then to the grounding location. So Each battery will be seperatly grounded and no daisy chaining for either the pos or neg connections.

I know its hard to describe without a drawing haha so if my description confuses I will hop on paint and draw it out if needed.

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