Spark2017 Posted July 24, 2021 Report Share Posted July 24, 2021 Hello, I've got a chevy spark with a stock 80amp alt, XS Power D1200 under the hood and a 500 farad super cap bank in the trunk. two amps, one is a 4 ch, and a taramps smart 3 connected to a SI SQL12 ported. Right now, the wire from the bat to the distro to the smart 3 is 1/0 gauge from stinger. I'm about to add the super cap bank and I was wondering, since I've used all my 0 gauge, but I have some 4 gauge left (of the same type), can I connect the smart 3 to the cap bank using 4 gauge, since the wire is going to be about or less than 2ft anyway? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafaseles Posted July 24, 2021 Report Share Posted July 24, 2021 The power input on the smart 3 is 4 gauge right? You can do that, no problem. My opinion though, if you can get your hands on a 4 awg to 1/0 gauge amp power input, and get a little more 1/0, I've heard that they make a huge difference when it comes to the efficiency of the smart 3 especially. It's not required, just putting in my 2 cents. 2011 Chevy Silverado under construction My build log here. Check it out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spark2017 Posted July 24, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2021 Actually the inputs on the amp are 1/0 (just not oversized). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafaseles Posted July 24, 2021 Report Share Posted July 24, 2021 1 hour ago, Spark2017 said: Actually the inputs on the amp are 1/0 (just not oversized). I read the manual. Is says nothing smaller than 4 gauge. So I wouldn't worry too much about it. And like you said, it's a short run. Should be fine. Maybe slap it for a while and go back and feel the amp to make sure it's not getting too hot, just to double check. But you should be fine. The 4 gauge is OFC right? On a side note, if it's CCA, I wouldn't recumbent downsizing the size. CCA can't handle as much current draw as OFC does. That might starve the amp 2011 Chevy Silverado under construction My build log here. Check it out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spark2017 Posted July 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2021 Ok thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur79 Posted July 25, 2021 Report Share Posted July 25, 2021 On the note of CCA (Coper Clad Aluminum) vs OFC (Oxygen Free Copper). I saw this video years ago and it really stuck with me: Ignore the kicker branding stuff, the key is CCA vs OFC. Steve did a video with a larger amp and 1/0 wire. The CCA had a non-trivial increase in strand count and still lost out by over 300 watts: I made sure to use OFC for everything after seeing that 1st video. Just a thought 😺 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.