Amp Grounding Question
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 31
Likes: 0
From: Minnesota
Amp Grounding Question
OK, so I'm putting an aftermarket amp in my '82. It's going to be mounted up against the back wall of the coupe. The speaker box will be shallow, stretch across the back and hold a sub, L, and R rears. I'd like to know how people have grounded their's. The 36" inches the amp recommends for a ground length isn't enough to stretch to the battery compartment with any slack. So I'm wondering what others have done... Do you really need to stick to 36" or less for a ground? Have you put a hole through the body and where? I know it's not complicated, but I'd like to know hwat other's have done. 
Last edited by StoneRhino; May 18, 2008 at 12:59 PM.
Racer
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 265
Likes: 1
From: Sunnyvale CA
There are a couple of things to keep in mind here:
For audio applications you don't want alternator noise to give you problems, this manifests itself as a hum or buzz or whine when the music is low.
You should be grounding your amp (and cd player and raido for that matter) all together and then going to the battery from there. The longer the run of wire, the thicker the gage (smaller numbers) needs to be. For instance if you would be using 12AWG wire for a 10' run you shoud go to a slightly bigger gage, say 10AWG for a 20' run. This is just an example. Go directly to the battery not to the frame.
If you don't get any alternator noise, great! Enjoy the tunes!
If you are getting alternator noise then you need to put a filter in line between your equipment ground and the battery.
You can get noise filters at most car audio places.
Good luck!
For audio applications you don't want alternator noise to give you problems, this manifests itself as a hum or buzz or whine when the music is low.
You should be grounding your amp (and cd player and raido for that matter) all together and then going to the battery from there. The longer the run of wire, the thicker the gage (smaller numbers) needs to be. For instance if you would be using 12AWG wire for a 10' run you shoud go to a slightly bigger gage, say 10AWG for a 20' run. This is just an example. Go directly to the battery not to the frame.
If you don't get any alternator noise, great! Enjoy the tunes!
If you are getting alternator noise then you need to put a filter in line between your equipment ground and the battery.
You can get noise filters at most car audio places.
Good luck!
