Power for Amps?

[NitroDarwin]

So I jumped on some BF sales and need to figure out some things to fill in any "missing pieces".
1. How is everyone connecting to + battery terminal? (I haven't looked too close at it but seems to have more going on than old truck)
2. Grounding the Amps, will be mounted on rack behind rear crew cab seat, was thinking of using seat bolt, just not sure what's best. (600watt RMS total)
3. What about upgrading the "big 3"? I figure the - terminal to chassis is a given, but with all the computers in these trucks. Idk if the alt to + battery and engine block to ground viable/worth it.

Thanks for any advice

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[Evolvd]

So I jumped on some BF sales and need to figure out some things to fill in any "missing pieces".
1. How is everyone connecting to + battery terminal? (I haven't looked too close at it but seems to have more going on than old truck)
2. Grounding the Amps, will be mounted on rack behind rear crew cab seat, was thinking of using seat bolt, just not sure what's best. (600watt RMS total)
3. What about upgrading the "big 3"? I figure the - terminal to chassis is a given, but with all the computers in these trucks. Idk if the alt to + battery and engine block to ground viable/worth it.

Thanks for any advice

1. With a lug appropriately sized to your power wire with an in-line fuse as close to the terminal as you can mount it.

2. Battery negative is best due to the vast amounts of aluminum in the body. Do not use a seat bolt, they’re not properly grounded in our trucks.

3. Big three not needed for a 600 watt amp…you’ll be drawing 50 amps at most going full tilt.

 

[Buyer2021]

2. Battery negative is best ....

Never connect anything to the battery negative terminal itself - always to the chassis/body-side of the battery sensor mounted on the negative terminal or to the chassis/body ground bolt itself.

Connection to the negative terminal itself will bypass critical elements of the electrical management system with unanticipated bad outcomes (the charging system won't properly sense and respond to the additional load on the battery).

What about upgrading the "big 3"? I figure the - terminal to chassis is a given

Not needed because the very short run of OE cable from battery negative to the nearby chassis/body ground bolt has very low voltage loss and very adequate ampacity for the load you are considering. Same for the rest of the 'big 3'.

 

[ThumperF150]

I ran +/- wires from battery into the cab. I used a separate + for sub, phone charger and amp.Each fused near the battery. I ran a singe - wire into the cab and used a power block for the above items. Works great for me.

 

[Evolvd]

Never connect anything to the battery negative terminal itself - always to the chassis/body-side of the battery sensor mounted on the negative terminal or to the chassis/body ground bolt itself.

Connection to the negative terminal itself will bypass critical elements of the electrical management system with unanticipated bad outcomes (the charging system won't properly sense and respond to the additional load on the battery).


Not needed because the very short run of OE cable from battery negative to the nearby chassis/body ground bolt has very low voltage loss and very adequate ampacity for the load you are considering. Same for the rest of the 'big 3'.

Might I suggest you call Sounds Good Stereo and tell them as much since this is how they’ve grounded hundreds of F-150 installs over the years as seen at the 1:12:00 mark in this video.

 

[Buyer2021]

as seen at the 1:12:00 mark in this video.

Starting at 1:12:56, text copied from the closed caption .....

"We can go ahead and connect the ground here [pointing to a bolt on the chassis side of the battery sensor on the negative cable-end] but then again just don't connect it here [pointing to the battery terminal side] uh like don't connect the ground terminal back to the battery." ​

​

2. Battery negative is best

Sounds Good is giving exactly the same warning and procedure I described in my post:

Never connect anything to the battery negative terminal itself - always to the chassis/body-side of the battery sensor mounted on the negative terminal

Sounds Good Stereo gives great instructions, but might I suggest, you've got to pay attention to the details.

 

[Abraham5G]

I did some black Friday shopping as well, order two Kicker 10" L7T in a sealed enclosure and will get a 1200.1 watt amp. I'm plan to run power to the battery via the driver's side firewall, and route ground to the back of the cab.

 

[Evolvd]

Starting at 1:12:56, text copied from the closed caption .....

"We can go ahead and connect the ground here [pointing to a bolt on the chassis side of the battery sensor on the negative cable-end] but then again just don't connect it here [pointing to the battery terminal side] uh like don't connect the ground terminal back to the battery." ​

He's giving exactly the same warning and procedure I described in my post:

Sounds Good Stereo gives great instructions, but might I suggest, you've got to pay attention to the details.

Well, then excuse me for not making my reply more specific as I assumed no one would actually try to connect it directly to the tightening lug and not the one you pointed out which is much easier to use . So I wasn’t wrong, you assumed something I didn’t say.

 

[Buyer2021]

I assumed ...

With all due respect, I assumed nothing

2. Battery negative is best

I took you at your words, because words matter, and IMO there's no excuse for lack of clarity / specificity when lack of that may mislead other readers to bad outcomes.

 

[Evolvd]

With all due respect, I assumed nothing

I took you at your words, because words matter, and IMO there's no excuse for lack of clarity / specificity when lack of that may mislead other readers to bad outcomes.

You did assume, but instead of asking for clarification of what I ACTUALLY said you “assumed” what I meant. So no need to get snippy, I didn’t tell anyone to do anything dangerous…with all due respect.

Don’t bother replying, you’re now on the ignore list and I won’t see it anyways. Good day.

 

[NitroDarwin]

So are we all in agreement on best to run + and - cables from amp to battery? Connecting to battery like so (pic) and thus "big 3" are not needed?

 

[Evolvd]

So are we all in agreement on best to run + and - cables from amp to battery? Connecting to battery like so (pic) and thus "big 3" are not needed?

Yep, you wont need big 3 for 600 watts,

 

[NitroDarwin]

Thanks, About what lenght power wires? For sure will need to buy a negative cable. Do you know the size of those studs on battery terminals?

 

[Evolvd]

Thanks, About what lenght power wires? For sure will need to buy a negative cable. Do you know the size of those studs on battery terminals?

Off the top of my head I don’t. Most likely 5/16ths lug. You’ll want 4 gauge power and ground wire. I went with 20 feet of each but I haven’t done my install on the truck yet to tell you exactly how much will be needed. Make sure you get oxygen free copper wire and not copper clad aluminum. Check out Knuconceptz.com they have great prices on wire by the foot and have fast shipping. They also have lots of options for distribution blocks, fuse holers, speaker wires, etc.

 

[NitroDarwin]

Off the top of my head I don’t. Most likely 5/16ths lug. You’ll want 4 gauge power and ground wire. I went with 20 feet of each but I haven’t done my install on the truck yet to tell you exactly how much will be needed. Make sure you get oxygen free copper wire and not copper clad aluminum. Check out Knuconceptz.com they have great prices on wire by the foot and have fast shipping. They also have lots of options for distribution blocks, fuse holers, speaker wires, etc.

That's where I was looking at for wire and a fused distribution block. In my old truck, i had 4 gauge from battery -> inline fuse -> non fused distribution block(just inside firewall)-> separate power 4 gauge cables to each amp(2). Plan on reusing the non fused block for grounds and new fused for positive power cables.

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