Installing an Amplifier? Use these BEST PRACTICES for Power Wire!

When installing a car audio amplifier we need to connect a power lead from the front battery to the amplifiers. Sounds simple enough but we need to make sure we have a proper fuse, that are installation is correct and a few other things. What are the best practices for installing the power wire on a car audio amplifier? Let's discuss!

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[RJSDZNS]

Your wire Ferrell video changed the way I do installs! Actually alot of your videos helped me step up my game. Keep em coming Mark!

[markphilpot]

KnuConcepts have lots of neat wiring accessories and definitely very good wire. Those wire glands are the right idea for the hostile environment of the engine bay. This gets hot and cold and let’s not forget wet. Wire doesn’t like heat or cold and wet not at all. I would only make one suggestion on the wiring and that is heat shrinking the connections this further reduces the chance of exposure to the elements and this added protection also safeguards your investment. It may sound extreme, but under the hood is where you need all the help you can get. Press on Mark. Another great video! Stay safe my mates!😊👍🏻😷

[SQ_Silverado]

Still learning and educating myself, videos like these are legit. Bad habits are hard to break lol

[HifiVega]

As a wire enthusiast I approve this message lol. Great video as always Mark

[Chris.]

dude I'm SOOO glad you showed the Knuconceptz battery terminal thing... Thats the sketchiest part of my whole install is how my wire mounts to the terminal, just kinda stuck on the OEM terminal tightening nut. Its a later model truck and has very vehicle specific harness components with almost no place to put a big power lug, and I dont wanna cut up the factory wire harness to do an install, I like keeping things as close to factory condition as possible. This is the perfect product for my install, literally gonna go buy one right now before I even finish watching your video, huge thanks for that tip man.

[koolBOY]

hammer crimps work just fine if you use them correctly. can't beat on em with a tack hammer and expect it to work. i use a 4 pound drilling hammer myself.

[mdk]

Hi Mark
Many thanks for your stellar efforts to produce quality information
After 20 yrs of being out of the audio world, ive got the bug again
Your videos have given me the best chance at great sound quality

Regards Ken
Australia 🇦🇺

[GriemReaper]

I don’t say this enough but much appreciated on all your videos I’m wire stupid and these have all been very helpful

[elpiojomorelia]

Great way to explain tips for beguines like myself. I always learn something new from your videos. Thanks!

[robertemmons]

Awesome tips and well explained. All points are very true, but I would like to add in a little something that is sometimes overlooked.

I work for a heavy truck dealership so i have experience on this point. At 3:05 those post adapters are a great idea, but installers need to know that the post adapter is to be tightened down. You can easily see that the post adapter had rotated a bit as the 10 mm cable clamp nut was being tightened down. One of the main causes of heavy trucks not starting is because the post adapter (installed in some applications) has worked loose, thus losing valuable amperage to start the truck. The same can apply to the automotive application as well.

[JS-wcxs]

Even though running quality wiring (signal and power) I still add additional blockage between the 2 types of wiring. Normally I add at least electrical tape, wiring loom, more electrical tape and if in the engine bay fire tube or under the car at least cool tube. I start with the the cool or fire tube first followed by additional protection if needed. As for the signal wire- old school 400 series monster car audio wiring is what I usually use, as it has great internal connections and amazing external protection. As for type of power wire hifi Vega has a great guide of cost per amount of OFC copper per foot and other various specs. A great guide to follow.

[philrab]

On my current install, I used a Blue Sea Systems circuit breaker under the hood instead of a fuse. Protects the wire and super convenient to be able to cut the whole system off at the battery for service or if I hand it off to a shop and don’t want them abusing my equipment.

[donaldross]

From a retired Mechanic point of view. You are very correct in putting the large fuse block withing inches of battery connections. I would then suggest putting a smaller fuse block at the amp to protect it. Some of the radio/amp wiring I had to pull out of a vehicle was way too large and created a whole new set of problems.

[randallbaker]

Very nice and very well explained being a installer for a shop I see alot of diy installs and have grabbed wires that was shorted to ground and got my hand burned 🔥 and have told people to put a fuse on there wire then the next time they came by had a different car because the old one burned 🔥

[bigk]

I prefer to use "firewall boots" instead of those plastic grommets. The issue I tend to run into with those plastic screw type grommets is they tend to be to bulky in some situations and the power wire will not be very flexible for the first couple inches on either side of the plastic grommet witch will cause the power wire to stick out pretty far and be hard to make a tight bend either inside the vehicle or under the hood. If there is plenty of room then it's not an issue to use those but with a firewall boot the thick power wire still remains somewhat flexible for better wire management.

[KeniWilliams]

Excellent! I just bought the last battery terminals off amz in the UK. Thanks for the heads up!!

[DGGuaglianone]

Seeing that gorgeous amp and wiring board at the beginning of the video makes me embarrassed of my tangled wires and loose amplifiers stashed under the back seat

[LIVEWIREMEDIAENT]

Do a video on how to eliminate engine noise in the audio 🔉 Thanks ❤️

[SoCal_rnr]

This is a good guide for accessories in general, especially for Overlanders

[pkt]

I bought a wire ferrel set after watching your videos, excited to use them to clean up my next install...then I decided to use a kenwood amp. 😵‍💫