help with wiring

[ch3vy]

In the past i have just had the crappy car audio setups you get from the big box stores. Now i have recently decided to start upgrading to something louder and more professional. This is what i currently own and plan on installing... a digital designs m3b amp, a ma audio hardkore 15 10k watts quad coil sub, 1 farad capacitor. I want to make sure i have everything wired up right to run @1ohm properly. In the very near future i plan to add a mechman alternator and a couple xs power batteries. Can anyone send me a wiring diagram??? Im unsure of how the power wires should come off the alternator and go to a bus baror directly to the batteries themselves? What amp fuses should i be running to the batteries from the alternator? What amp fuses should i be running from the batteries to the alternator?. Do i need 3 batteries or just 2? Keep in mind i do have a quad coil sub, its not the best i know but its what i have to work with for now. Any help would be highly appreciated!

[RainStryke]

Amp rating from the alternator to the battery should be no larger than the size of the alternator... So if you have a 100A alternator, fuse for 100A. That M3b is supposed to be fused at 250A.

[Swordlordboy1234]

dont use a 1f cap. just get that out of your head.

invest more money into more 1/0 cable if your trying to chase down tenths of a volt.

As far as how to wire this kind of system, if you have to ask....

The alternator should have a direct line going to the front battery. Some people fuse this power run. I personally dont. If your going to have a short in this wire (most likely due to a crash) then your going to have bigger problems, and the engine wouldn't likely be running anyways. but thats just my .02. Technically you should fuse it as close to the battery as possible because the battery at all times can supply DC amperage and voltage and thats what fuses protect from. The alternator would shut off but the battery would still be working and could cause a fire (technically) again I personally dont fuse this wire and its my personal choice.

Then you should connect your front and rear battery together. How I prefer to do this is with 2/0 welding cable. 1 run positive and 1 run negative. On the positive run heading to the rear battery I will fuse with in 18 inches of the front battery and then AGAIN on the same wire less then 18 inches before the rear battery. The negative wire front to back does not need a fuse. If you have extra money and space just double this amount of wire and fuses. It will give you less voltage drop but it can get expensive and bulky.

Once were at the rear battery then we can start having fun. From here I will power my relay's, amplifiers and anything that requires 12v power. Properly fuse this of course. so anything off this rear battery should also be fused. Even if you put a little 10ga wire to power your CE Auto Electric relay, it needs a fuse (hence why it comes with one built in... thanks tony)... So treat your rear battery as where everything should come off of.

With all these steps complete power should flow in a single direction from the alternator all the way to the end of the chain with a solid return path right back to the alternator. I like to think about how this works by using a tug of war comparison. Think if you had 10 guys all pulling at different times, you would only have enough pulling force as any one of those guys. Now picture if they all worked together and pulled at the same time? Much much stronger. A row boat team would also be a good example. I believe that your electrical needs to be wired so that it has a single path in either direction. That does not mean you can't have multiple runs... just connect them in the same spots so electricity treats them as one big river rather then a bunch of small creeks.

[ch3vy]

My understanding of it was once i had my new alternator i run a wire directly from the alternator back to the second battery?