Offshoreonly.com - Where to ground Amplifiers?

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Quote:

Originally Posted by awsomethunder (Post 2115321)

I ran 0/1 gauge for power wire,used a distribution block with 4 gauge ground to battery.is this right? 1 jl 250/1 and 1 300/4

Same amps I just installed. JL recommends 8/0 wire at min for those amps. With a distrib box, then 4/0 to the blocks, then 8/0 to amps. So you are fine, as long as we ain't talking about a 50' run. :)
I ran 4/0 to both amps with no dist. blocks.

Take a good digital meter. Connect one end to the negative battery post and the other to the engine block. Set the meter for low volts AC. Start the boat. If it reads ANY voltage, that will show up as noise on your amps. Thats why directly connecting to the battery is the best bet. A battery by its very nature is a capacitor.

The idea that the ground "varies" at the battery more than at the engine block is totally illogical. The engine block ground source IS the battery. If it varies at the battery, it varies even more at the block due to AC leakage from the charging circuit.