my step dad wired my system and my amp is friend. my ground terminal is co.pletelt melted. so i went out and had everything we wired professionally for $100 . they told me the reason my amp is fried is because well i had 4 gauge power wire from the battery to the trunk, then 8 gauge power wire on a connector to the amp. is this the reason of the melting? or what is the reason

 

Shouldn't the amp have blown a fuse first?

Im no big audio guy, but sounds like something possibly shorted. Maybe the connections were not tight? Do you have a fuse on your power wire running from the battery to the amp?

someone more knowledgable than I can help you more than me. Those are just a few ideas as why/how your amp got fried. Good luck

 

Loose connections can cause increased resistance; which introduces more heat; which in turn can and melt wiring.

Once had a 4 gauge wire start melting in the engine bay, because of a loose connection. But I was able to smell it, before it did any serious damage.

Nothing wrong with going from 4 gauge to 8 gauge. Depending on Amp, you might be starving the amp, but unlikely.

The following can help you out....

 

The heat is from power rushing too fast through a certian point. Loose connection (arcing) or too small of wire can do that. Usually the lead or solder melt first since. How big of an amp do you have?

The negative is just as important as the positive - it all has to complete a loop.

 

Too much resitance means heat, heat means more resistance. You can see where this is going. It's doubtful a short run of 4ga hurt anything. I run only 4ga to each of my amps and 8ga to my processor.

I have a main fuse at the battery 1/0 wire and a fused distribution block for each component. The fuse should be sized to protect the wiring, not the amp. If the fuse is large enough to support the 1/0, chances are it won't protect the 4ga. At a minimum you should have a fuse each time you go down in wire size or else you will have to under fuse the large wire to protect the small wire.

I agree with everyone else, probably a bad connection that started everything.