car stereo ground melted?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ed M
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Ed M

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the ground to my car stereo amp melted yesterday and was obviously very hot what causes this
im guessing this is a "bad ground" bad location. Thanks
 
Too much power for the too little wires....u need to drop down a gauge or two....if ur up to 1000 watts u need 8 gauge min.....if 2000w u need to drop to 4 gauge or possible 2 gauge......wires have to be thick enough to handle those currents....When u fire up ur system the currents go from ur pos batt terminal all the way through ur system and back through ur ground wire and to the neg terminal on ur battery in a constant loop....if too much power for the wires then u fry something....
 
Actually, when you have a melted ground terminal on an amplifier, the cause is usually a poor connection. A dirty or corroded connection, or a badly-crimped terminal, creates a resistance that results in a voltage drop and lots of heat. A connection that's not screwed down tightly results in arcing, which also generates heat and can also cause charring on the terminal surfaces, causing more resistance. It doesn't take much heat build-up to melt the plastic around the terminal.
 
Could be using to small of a wire. Try upgrading all your ground wires and check the gain on your amp and make sure you not pushing it to hard. Hopefully that ground melting didn't fry the inside of your amp also. How many watts are you running also?
 
1000 watts divided by 12 volts=83.333333 amps=minimum/4gauge wire
2000 watts divided by 12 volts=166.66666 amps=minimum/1/0 wire

if your wattage is less or more than this example then you need to
divided your wattage by your voltage to determine your amperage draw
then size wire accordingly .

if the charging system works good and if the engine is running the voltage changes to about 13.5 volts which changes the amperage to

1000 watts=74.074amps=minimum/6gauge wire
2000 watts=148.148amps=minimum/1gauge wire
 
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