Ground wire length, how accurate is it?

[shizzzon 461]

I want some people's opinion on this so i get a better understanding...

So, i have 2 amps(u guys know the ones, hehe) that i need to hook up soon taking for granted they work.

Now, this is how i have it, but was told to change it so they both are wired the same but have a question so here it goes.

One amp is grounded through the battery bank.

The other amp is grounded to the chassis.

Why?

Because the other amp's ground length was a LOT shorter going directly to chassis.

I have always heard do not use no more than 1 meter length of ground... Why?

If i use 2/0 power and ground, how far can that cable be ran using ground before a problem(what problem) arises?

They told me to take the other amp and run it to the battery bank as well...

Well, if i do that, the ground length will be about 41" long. This is definitely longer than the other amp so are they going to perform differently?

[djjdnap 78]

dependin on the wire size

all at 50ft

4awg-100A

2awg-200A

1awg-250A

1/0awg-350A

2/0awg-400A

But u usually have a shorter ground due to noise getting into the lines aka ground loops and giving it less resistance since its going str8 to the amp..

so yea the longer wire would have more resistance takin away from ur DB'S

[johnecon2001 82]

Thought being, shorter grounds = less resistance.

Which is difficult in unibody cars, where running a ground directly right to the battery will most likely be a lower resistance than running through the frame.

[helotaxi 46]

The whole "shortest ground possible" thing is kinda a crap generalization. The ground is going to the battery any way you look at it so you can either choose to use a longer piece of wire coupled with a short section of chassis or the other way 'round. I personally use an adequate length of wire coupled with no chassis.

[KU40 173]

I take it your battery bank is in the back cargo area as well? If so, just wire both grounds to it. Are your amps really spaced that far apart?

[shizzzon 461]

i got em on the batts.

I was able to use Knukonceptz Flex wire and was able to get the ground just under 3ft so it's all good now.

[helotaxi 46]

The length isn't that important as long as the wire is the right gauge for the lenght, longer run=bigger wire.

[johnecon2001 82]

The length isn't that important as long as the wire is the right gauge for the lenght, longer run=bigger wire.

It all comes down to resistance. Longer runs with thinner cable will raise the resistance. You can combat this by raising the gauge size.