Amp Wiring (kits and ground)

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All

I am looking to upgrade my sound - want to add more speakers and a sub and this will require an amp.

I can find amp wiring kits all over - however, they have a 20' power lead but most only have a 3 to 4' ground lead.

Where are you grounding your amps since there is no frame really on a pontoon? I assume you are running it all the way to the battery - if so, where are you getting a longer cable for the amp?

[TDJ2591]

There are lots of places on line that sell marine wiring. I got mine from audiosavings.com. They had the best price at the time. Look for marine/boat amplifier/ground cable on their site.

[mpilot]

I know some people have used welding wire as well or even jumper cables. I wouldn't recommend that necessarily, but if you do then do it in wire loom, really use wire loom on all of it where possible. The bigger problems with non-marine wiring would apply to inboards more than outboard pontoons, but still saving a few bucks probably isn't worth it in the long run. You can also get bulk wire at Great Lakes Skipper online. The thing to keep in mind is that you are going use larger wire than you would in a typical car setup since there is the return line to the battery. In a typical Car installation your loop is much shorter because you ground the wire anywhere on the frame or body near the amp(s). If you run a calculation on the size wire you need do it based on the total run and not just the length of the positive wire like you would in a car installation. For example, my batteries to my console where the amp will be mounted is roughly 12 feet so I need to base my load calculation on 24 feet. Also, I like to run one size up in wire where reasonable because it gives you a little more margin for error and also extra capacity in case you replace or upgrade the amp with a larger one down the road.

[my99svt]

I bought all my wiring from knukoncepts.com

[rancherlee]

Any local Car audio shops? My local one has big rolls of 8 4 and 2 gauge and you can purchase by the foot. 6 gauge welding cable, as stated, is another good choice but I find it more expensive than 4 gauge car audio wire. How many amps are you looking to draw? Is it possible to mount another "house battery" near where the amps are going to be mounted so they have there own power source?