Amp grounding?????

[rushin]

I am starting to put together my new stereo set-up and was wondering something.

When I had the 22i the second battery was in the forward storage compartment on the the left side, in the same area as the amps. The ground wire was real short.

Now that I have a v-drive and the battery is in the back and the amps will be mounted up forward, the ground wire should be short.

How do I ground the amps with the battery in back?

[chpthril]

I am starting to put together my new stereo set-up and was wondering something.

When I had the 22i the second battery was in the forward storage compartment on the the left side, in the same area as the amps. The ground wire was real short.

Now that I have a v-drive and the battery is in the back and the amps will be mounted up forward, the ground wire should be short.

How do I ground the amps with the battery in back?

Your Amp should ground to the same battery as it draws it's power. The length of the ground wire run is not real important as long as the cable size is proper for the current draw and length, same as the power should be. It's also best to pull the head unit power and ground from the amps, less chance of stray noise if they all share.

[philwsailz]

x2

[dogbert]

I had a battery cable made (2/0 gauge) to run from the back near the batteries to the front where my amps are located. Same thing for the power. On the power side I added a fused distribution block. That made the cable runs from the amp 3' or less.

[rushin]

Your Amp should ground to the same battery as it draws it's power.

Yeah, I knew that. I just was not so sure about such a long ground for the amps. And it is going to be the same size as the power wire.

[dogbert]

BTW, you can make your own cable pretty easily or go down to your local Napa store and have them make it. You'll need about 17' to reach the batteries in the back. If you go with something like 2/0, you can add as much power to your amps.

[chpthril]

Yeah, I knew that. I just was not so sure about such a long ground for the amps. And it is going to be the same size as the power wire.

The theory of keeping the ground as short as possible is a sound one, but, unlike a car, boats dont have a metal chassis to attach to within a couple of feet of the amp, so it's not always a practical one. Some boats, like Moomba, have/had the battery in the passenger storage where most peeps mount the amp(s), some people add additional batteries at the time of system build and locate them near the system. This is great, but you still need to link the battery(s) with the charging system with a long power/ground run, unless you leave the stereo bank as a stand alone bank.