Ground wire length

[ADK 0]

I know the smaller length of ground wire the better but what do they mean by small? like 3 feet and under...i really want my amp to be closer to my car cabin instead of by the trunk but thats means my ground would be about 4 feet...is that too long?

Edited February 19, 2009 by ADK

[johnecon2001 82]

Nothing to do with Fi, please post in the appropriate forums.

[NB50 206]

I dont buy into having a fixed length for a ground ie it has to be under X amount. Make it what ever length you need.

Edited February 19, 2009 by bromo

[Jay-C76 333]

Try to keep them 30" or under is what most manufacturers say.

Can you tap through the floor to the frame anywhere in the trunk?

I've found in most cases as long as you have a GOOD, CLEAN

connection to the frame (chassis) of the vehicle,

you usually won't pick up any ground hum or current loss.

You're ground is just as important as the power feed.

Any poor connections will introduce unwanted results.

[ADK 0]

Yea sorry for posting in wrong area but thanks for the feedback...more feedback would be great too.

Edited February 19, 2009 by ADK

[jonbearsmt 919]

i think this has more to do with resistance more then anything else.....

so if you have to run a very long ground.. and you were gonna use 4 gauge.. then you should use a 2 gauge or a 0... to make up for the resistance...... IMO.

[slim2fattycake 85]

theres metal everywhere. just ground it near the amp. problem solved. lol.

[jfin1204 2]

ground wire should be same gauge as power wire. i would not have a ground wire over 24'. i was always taught the shorter the better. sorry cant give a technical answer. and try to ground all in one area.

[Punkeyboozter 19]

shorter is generally better but as long as you have a fat enough cable to carry the required current lenght shouldnt be a problem. Some even run a ground from the front to the back.

[dbjunior 0]

only thing to worry about is voltage drop. if you dont get bad voltage drop dont worry about it. if it is a little bad shorter wires or thicker wires will work. if you run 1/0 but your amp cant fit it use a step down connector or a distro close to the amp with smaller wire.

[johnecon2001 82]

Length actually doesn't matter. Just get as close to 0Ω (ohms) as possible.

[Adrian_D 520]

The body is made out of steel...steel is less conductive than copper.

The length of the ground wire doesn't really matter imo (as long as it's the same gauge as the positive run), since the body is not going to be as conductive as the wire.

Also, there is another "bottleneck", the stock wire from the body / frame to the negative terminal of the battery.

[-M- 0]

You could ground back to your battery. And upgrade your battery ground to chassis. It helped with my car and it helped clean up the static i was having.