Running a second amp
 

I have bough another amp to power my bow speakers, currently they are powered off of the head unit. Can I run the power, ground, and remote for the second amp from the first, or do you run whole new wire?

Thanks,

Abs

To be safe, I'd run whole new wire and make sure you fuse the hot lead.

run one wire to a two wire distribution block . simple chit

Depends on the amps, and the gauge of wire you have going to them.

For example, if your current amp is maxing out the gauge wire you have, adding a second amp to that circuit, will not be a good idea.

I am in the process of rewiring my entire stereo system. In the cabin, I have a 5 channel amp. However, down the road, I may add another amp, or two, if I want to expand my system. So, I decided to run 0 gauge power wire to the cabin, and then run a distribution block, which has a 0 gauge input, and two 4 gauge outputs. One of those 4 gauge outputs, will go to my current 5 channel amp. If i add a second amp, the other 4 gauge output will go to that.

One thing you must consider in a boat, is the length of wire, and material of wire, and its amperage capacity and voltage drop.

Lets just say for example, you have a 4 gauge power wire to your amp. Lets say that amp can draw 80 amps at peak power, and your amp is 20ft from the battery.

Your engine is off, and your battery voltage is 12v for example. At full load, your amp will see 10.4 Volts, due to the voltage drop. So, you're amps seeing 1.6 volts less than the battery is at. Now, if you are using 1/0 gauge wire, your amp will see 11.38 volts, or about .6 volts less than the battery is at. If using a 6 gauge power wire, your amp would be getting 9.5V.

Amps are pretty picky about voltage levels. Most amps if voltage drops too low, they simply go into protection mode. Some modern amps, will still play, but at a reduced output. To sum up what I am saying here, is size the power wires appropriately for the amp/s you are using. Consider amplifiers power consumption and length of wire. A quick look at the amps fuses will give you an idea. My modern alpine amp has two 40 amp fuses. My old school fosgate powerhouse amp, has one 150 amp fuse, as it can draw some power.

What he said is absolutely correct. But if you only adding an amp to power your front speakers I am envisioning a small amp and small output. You should be ok with putting a distribution block and splitting the power. If the amp starts to clip or go in to protection mode, then you know that you have to upgrade the wire from the battery.

Did you end up with a PDX V9? Mine is pretty damn sweet.

Agree with Mild Thunder 100%. The right size wiring and fuse protection is really very important. If you only have a single head unit, I'd be willing to bet that the positive lead on the head unit is connected to a 10 or 12 gauge wire at best. If that is the case, I would not split that.

I just upgraded my entire stereo system, installing two new amps and new head unit. I left the wiring alone for the head unit but for the amps, I ran 1/0 wire from the battery to the cabin with a 100 A circuit breaker near the battery. That wire is terminated in the cabin into a fused distribution block with 4 gauge wire going to the amps.

Size of the wire depends a lot on length of run and voltage drop along that distance. In my case, my hot leads were 35' long so I went with larger wire.

Sounds like we think alike! I also went with a circuit breaker near the battery, rather than a fuse. Never used them before, but figured I'd give it a try.

I did, I havent got to use it yet though. Pretty impressive little amp! Mine came with a birth sheet of 128w X 4 rms, and 584x1 rms to the sub. Hard to believe in such a tiny package. :drink:

Yessir. Circuit breaker near the battery to cut the current in the event the main cable gets severed or something really bad happens. I guess a fuse would achieve the same thing potentially, but because of the location in the bilge, I went with a heavy duty circuit breaker cause I knew I'd end up stepping on the fuse all of the time and breaking it. I also added a house battery for my amps and tied it to my center engine with an automatic charging relay that has starting isolation. Works like a charm. When the engine is running, it combines and charges both batteries.. if either battery voltage drops below 12.75 volts, it disconnects them and when I start the engine, it automatically, disconnects them as well...

sorry for the hijack, but this info could be helpful to OP..

picture of my amp wiring below...

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