Wiring up a new headunit and bass tube

[demuire]

What is the best way for me to wire up a new headunit and bass tube? The headunit isn't very powerful, and neither is the bass tube (it is amplified though). I would imagine the best way would be for me to run a new cable directly from the battery to power both of them (instead of cutting into the existing wiring of the car)?

Also, the bass tube only has power inputs (no accessory input to tell it when to turn on and off), would it be better to power it directly from the battery and get a relay to tap into the acccessory power to turn it on and off? If so, what kind of relay do I get, and how do I wire it? I don't really want to get a manual switch as I have had one before (when the bass tube was installed in my last car) and I have forgotten to turn it off before (resulting in a very flat battery).

Thanks

[teK]

Shouldn't need dedicated power cable for the head unit, it would probably draw 10A at max. For the sub tube run a dedicated power cable and use a 30A SPDT n/c relay to cut it off using an ACC wire (cigarette lighter is good). Terminal 30 to battery +ve, 87 to sub tube +ve, 85 to ACC, 86 to ground, sub tube -ve to ground.

[demuire]

Cheers for that :) I would imagine that the wire from ACC wouldn't need to be a huge gauge wire since all it does is turn the relay on and off?

What I'm thinking of doing is running a high gauge cable direct from the battery (an 8AG or maybe a 4AG) to a distribution block, and run the head unit etc off that. Then also from that block have a cable to the relay, and from that relay to the sub. That way I don't need to tap into the existing wiring at all apart from the cigarette lighter... Does that make sense? Would that be okay?

[teK]

Yeah that sounds like no problem. The ACC wire only needs to be about 16GA or so, it only carries a tiny 30-50mA current. 8GA cable from the battery will be sufficient for your needs, but if you ever plan to install amps etc later then maybe run some 4GA to save hassles later. Remember to stick a fuse on this new cable as close to the battery as possible.

[demuire]

I got some 8GA (it looks like 8GA - but it says 10 gauge, is this the same?) cable in a wiring set, and came with a 30A fuse, one of those square ones. Is there any difference between these fuses and the cylindrical ones?

Also it came with crimp type connectors, is this okay? Or should I attempt to solder it? Or get those gold connectors from Jaycar (probably overkill?).

I'm going to change the negative terminal on my car, the existing one is really old and oxidised... Is there any advantage is making one up or should I just get the pre-made one from Supercheap?

Positive terminal, I'm tossing up buying one of those 4-cable ones from Jaycar (2x4GA, 2x8GA), the present one just clamps all the cables down, don't know if that'll be okay to use or not...

[teK]

Well if it says 10GA then it's not 8GA then is it!!! 10GA is marginally thinner than 8GA, but should still be OK for your application. I'm not sure which crimp connectors you're referring to, but when terminating/connecting thick guage cable I just strip the insulation, trim the internals and crimp/screw into the terminal.

Not sure if you mean those little flat blade fuses. Best is to use the cylindrical fuses with the glass housing for anything up to around 70A, bigger than that you move up to wafer fuses and fuse breakers.

Make your own ground cable =). Buy some gold terminals from Jaycar for a couple of dollars and put in a nice thick 4GA.

[demuire]

Ah, so GA = gauge? Hehe, I didn't know :)

The crimp connectors I'm referring to are the cylindrical shaped ones where you stuff the cable in each end and crimp them? Don't know how effective they will be... I guess they should be okay.

And yes I mean the flat blade fuse. It's a 30A fuse. I suppose if they use it in amps and stuff it should be okay. After all I'm not exactly running big power here...

And as for the ground cable, not sure how much Supercheap sell the premade ones, but the stuff to make one up ins't that cheap... Battery terminal is $10.50, cable $6.50, connectorx2 = $13.90, all up = approx $40? Is it worth it? I suppose, the ground is pretty much what ALL the wiring in the car go though...

[teK]

Jaycar part #PT4564 4GA Terminals: $3.35, #WH3064 4GA cable $6.50/meter.

[demuire]

So that'll be umm... $10.50+$6.50+$6.70 = $23.70... I guess that isn't so bad :)

As for the positive side, should I get the terminals with the holes? Or just get one with the screw terminal? As in, #HC-4040 or #HC-4042/HC4050? With HC4050 I'm just worried that because it uses a compression lock I won't be able to lock the 10GA cable? And I think the positive cable on my car isn't quite a 4GA either...

[teK]

#HC-4040 with #PT4564 on the cables connecting to it will be sufficient. The rest are all for looks =). Also, 4564 comes in pairs, so for $3.35 you get 2. This means you could build a 1m ground cable for $9.85 (best to have as short as poss.), and probably be better than a $10 Supercheap job!