justinf

I have a 10 guage wire running a 700Watt Power invertor in my trunk for a PC or game station. I just got a basslink and I was wondering if I could pull a split off that 10 guage already run.

Anyone know that the load would be for the Infinity Basslink ( AMP/SUB ) + the invertor?

Thanks for your help!

Justin

Nihilistan

Answer is it depends... 10 guage wire should only be used for loads pulling less than 30 amps. Your 700W invertor call pull in excess of 58 amps by itself even if it were 100% efficient (which it's not) under full load. This is not going to be a problem assuming you're not running hair dryers off the invertor. My recommendation would be to keep the total load under 300Wrms (which should support a laptop and a PS2).

If I remember correctly, the BassLink is 300Wrms, meaning it is going to pull more than 25 amps at full output. It probably needs a 10 guage run all by itself.

If you're going to run them both off the same wire, you need at least 4 gu... 2 or 1 to be on the safe side. However, I'd run them separately. Invertors have pulse width modulators inside of them and are very noisy devices. I wouldn't want my sub running off the same power.

So to answer your question, you can do what you wanted to, as long as the total power being delivered through that wire is < 350Wrms (~30 amps).

My recommendation would be to run two 4 guage wires or one 2 guage wire so you don't have any safety issues. Make sure you have inline fuses at the battery. G/L

-- Nihil

SumkidwithaCL

4, 2 and 1 gauge wire is way too big... you dont need anything that large. Keep the 10g wire you have for the inverter, and run a second power wire for the basslink... I think they recomend a 10g wire also, as its a class D amp, which draws less power.

Nihilistan

The 10 guage he's running to the invertor can really only safely sustain about 300W of power. If that's all he needs to run a PS2 or laptop, then he's fine. However, if you try to pull 60 amps through that wire for a 700W load... there's a theory that everything electronic runs off smoke. If the smoke gets out [of wire] it won't work anymore.

This statement can be a little misleading. Class D amplifiers are more efficient than class B or AB amps so yes, they do draw less power.

However, if you're delivering 300W to a load (ie. speaker) it doesn't matter what kind of amp it is, it's still 300W even if the amp were 100% efficient (no amp is). That's 25 amps of draw off a 12Volt supply (~21.1 amps for a nominal 13.8V) for a 100% efficient amp. Granted, that is at full 300Wrms output, and he'll probably see only half that.

Agreed, 4 guage might be a bit overkill for the amp but if you're going to make a new run, why run 10? If you ever upgrade another part of the stereo you might end up needing 4. A small 4-channel amp is going to easily pull another 10 amps, combined with the Basslink that's enough to break the bank on a 10 guage wire.

There's such a small difference in price I'd do it w/ 4 and be done.

Justinf, if you want to figure it out for yourself pull up amperage ratings for different runs of wire off the net. Here's the first one I pulled off Google: http://www.skingco.com/portable_powe...size_chart.htm

Then, all you need is power = voltage * current.

-- Nihil

Slooo97CL

iTrader: (1)

10 guage wire sucks....

justinf

Thanks for your help!

I went and got a 8gu Amp wiring kit and I will be making a new run. I'm also going to talk to the Car Installer that put that 10gu for that invertor, and see if he wants to rerun it in something more applicable for that device.

I'll post the pics of the whole car when I get done. Thanks

Justin