New Amplifier fuse

[RChillin]

Hi. I have a new hifonics bre1600.1d. It has 2 70 amp fuses equalling 140 amps. Since I have a stock battery and alternator, can I just run the amp off of 80 amps? That's what my last amplifier (pioneer gmd8601) ran off and it was just fine. I was just wondering if it would be safe on my amplifier and subwoofer. Thanks.

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[RChillin]

Bump. Please help me out. I need to know this by Friday. Thanks.

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

You mean you want to run an 80A power wire fuse?

If you have 4 awg that should be fine -- especially if you don't blast it very often.

Whether you run an 80A fuse on 4 awg or a 140A fuse the amp will run exactly the same up until the 80A fuse blows -- which should only happen at extremely high (heavy bass) volume -- if it happens at all.

 

[RChillin]

You mean you want to run an 80A power wire fuse?If you have 4 awg that should be fine -- especially if you don't blast it very often.

Whether you run an 80A fuse on 4 awg or a 140A fuse the amp will run exactly the same up until the 80A fuse blows -- which should only happen at extremely high (heavy bass) volume -- if it happens at all.

That's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks. So if I do the 140 amp fuse, will it cause clipped signal? I've heard running a lot of power like that on stock could cause the amp to try to work harder, causing clipping. And I don't want that. My vehicle is a 2005

Chevy equinox and my alt is charging 145 amps , would I be okay if I kept gains and volume down?

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

The current rating of a fuse means it will pass that much current indefinitely.

At 110% of its rating it will function for several minutes, even at 150% it will function for a few seconds. You'd need to get up to about 2x the rated current to blow the fuse at something approaching instantly.

Fuse size you choose doesn't have much to do with the amp and will have no effect on how the amp runs. It's not like the fuse somehow limits the current getting to the amp -- it just blows when it's overloaded. The amp draws current as it needs it up to the point that something stops it from doing that -- like a fuse blowing.

An amp capable of drawing ~140A during max power tests won't require anything close to that much playing music.

The 80A fuse won't even be stressed unless the amp is at high output/volume, even then, it might not (probably won't?) blow.

The important thing is to fuse at a safe current rating for the WIRE. If the WIRE you're using is only good for 80A you're going to get considerable voltage drop in the WIRE when the amp is running close to or at full volume.

If that's the case, you need to upgrade the WIRE.

If your wire's only good for 80A and it's fused correctly (80A or less) the fuse fuse will blow immediately in the case of a short. If you had a 140A fuse and the wire's shorted or grounded the time req'd to blow the fuse would increase and COULD allow for the wire to melt the insulation and cause a fire.

 

[CSCStang]

That's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks. So if I do the 140 amp fuse, will it cause clipped signal? I've heard running a lot of power like that on stock could cause the amp to try to work harder, causing clipping. And I don't want that. My vehicle is a 2005Chevy equinox and my alt is charging 145 amps , would I be okay if I kept gains and volume down?

The only way you can clip is if you have your amp gains too high or the hu volume at or near max, can't happen by having a higher rated fuse. Just don't go beyond the fuse rating for the wire.You have more than enough power with that alt man.

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

the only way you can clip is if you have your amp gains too high, the hu volume at or near max, or due to low voltage to the amp, can't happen by having a higher rated fuse. Just don't go beyond the fuse rating for the wire.you have more than enough power with that alt man.

fixed........

 

[CSCStang]

fixed........

Gracias. My focus was on the fuse rating not affecting clipping.

 

[RChillin]

The current rating of a fuse means it will pass that much current indefinitely.At 110% of its rating it will function for several minutes, even at 150% it will function for a few seconds. You'd need to get up to about 2x the rated current to blow the fuse at something approaching instantly.

Fuse size you choose doesn't have much to do with the amp and will have no effect on how the amp runs. It's not like the fuse somehow limits the current getting to the amp -- it just blows when it's overloaded. The amp draws current as it needs it up to the point that something stops it from doing that -- like a fuse blowing.

An amp capable of drawing ~140A during max power tests won't require anything close to that much playing music.

The 80A fuse won't even be stressed unless the amp is at high output/volume, even then, it might not (probably won't?) blow.

The important thing is to fuse at a safe current rating for the WIRE. If the WIRE you're using is only good for 80A you're going to get considerable voltage drop in the WIRE when the amp is running close to or at full volume.

If that's the case, you need to upgrade the WIRE.

If your wire's only good for 80A and it's fused correctly (80A or less) the fuse fuse will blow immediately in the case of a short. If you had a 140A fuse and the wire's shorted or grounded the time req'd to blow the fuse would increase and COULD allow for the wire to melt the insulation and cause a fire.

That is wonderful to find out, and my wire is knukonceptz KCA 0 gauge with a reducer. It is well capable of running that amount of amps. I will throw on a 80 or 100 when I get around to it. Thank you very much sir:thumbsup:

 

[RChillin]

The only way you can clip is if you have your amp gains too high or the hu volume at or near max, can't happen by having a higher rated fuse. Just don't go beyond the fuse rating for the wire.You have more than enough power with that alt man.

Thank you for clearing that up for me, and yes I do keep my gain down. I honestly either keep it all the way down and never go above a quarter when I turn it up. I wanted to be safe then risk a little louder sub. and my headunit I usually never go past 3/4. Just because thats what ive read to keep good references with your equipment. Besides the highs kinda annoy me at high levels, Im a basshead haha. But thank you again. Much appreciated from me //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[CSCStang]

Thank you for clearing that up for me, and yes I do keep my gain down. I honestly either keep it all the way down and never go above a quarter when I turn it up. I wanted to be safe then risk a little louder sub. and my headunit I usually never go past 3/4. Just because thats what ive read to keep good references with your equipment. Besides the highs kinda annoy me at high levels, Im a basshead haha. But thank you again. Much appreciated from me //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Go to the12volt.com and look up setting gains with the dmm method. You can dial in your gains much better. A multimeter can be bought for around 15 bucks.

 

[RChillin]

Go to the12volt.com and look up setting gains with the dmm method. You can dial in your gains much better. A multimeter can be bought for around 15 bucks.

I have heard about that, I will look into it for sure more thoroughly. Thanks again.

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

Gracias. My focus was on the fuse rating not affecting clipping.

lol... its no biggie, everyone forgets things sometime or another