Questions on Burnt Speaker Wires

[Ninkumpoop]

I have an aftermarket sound system with a 1 or 0-guage wire (forget which) from the battery, across the firewall, through the firewall, in the carpet, and to the amps under my seats. My problem is that the large guage wires have been slowly cooking next to the firewall/heatshield-of-the-manifold and recently have begun to act strange. I've been getting bass hits when I start up the engine and at other random times. The speaker wire cable used to be red (Rockford Fosgate brand) and now, it's brown/yellow D=. Any clue what I could use to protect it from heat after I rewire my setup?

 

[79535]

You must have it run pretty darn close to your exhaust manifold to burn the insulation on the wire.

Here is my first tip - RIP THAT WIRE OUT OF YOUR CAR BEFORE IT STARTS IT ON FIRE. I hope it is fused close to your battery (within 10 inches) or when the insulation fails, it will start a fire.

Now, on to the popping noise. The first thing you want to check is your grounds for your amplifier. Most popping noises (most audio issues actually) are caused by loose/corroded or otherwise inadequate grounds.

Check to make sure all connections are tight and secure. Ensure you do not have a short anywhere on your positive power wire (including loose strands of wire touching the amplifier body).

Next, check to see where your RCA (signal) cables are run. They should be run away from your power wire/other main conductors in your vehicle. I don't think this would cause a startup pop however (and I have never actually had an issue with signal inductance as a result of running my RCA's next to power wires).

If all else fails, check your connections behind your receiver. Ensure your receiver is grounded well.

I just had a re-read. Are your speaker wires burnt up or your power wires? If your speaker wires are burning up either they are shorting out and your amplifier is not shutting down on protection or you are feeding way to much power through that wire. I have put 1000WRMS (amplifier rated and pushed to the edge of clipping) through a 10FT piece of 14 gauge wire for hours on end without burning the wire up so too much power is not the likely issue.

 

[Ninkumpoop]

The burning wire is the power wire and yes, it is close to a fuse. The wire insulation isn't burnt, but more like slowly cooking and changing colors. I'll check out the ground for the speakers and the amps. Thanks for the help.

By the way, what's the best way to insulate the power wire?

 

[MS3 GT]

im ran the power wire from under glove box, where the wire(fuse box) to the engine bay. u can see it from engine on the left, the hole is behind the plate.

 

[Ninkumpoop]

My power wire goes through the firewall near the glovebox as well. I don't see how I'm having burnt wires and nobody else does. How do you guys wire it to the battery without burning it?

 

[79535]

Usually the wire won't require any extra protection provided it is not run within a few inches of the exhaust.

You could try using techflex or split loom to try to protect the wire from further damage although I don't think they will do much for thermal protection. Perhaps you could wrap the wire in aluminum duct tape to help reflect some of the heat.

Like I said, I have not had any issues with my wires getting anywhere near melting or changing color. The only think protecting my 0/1 gauge wire from my turbo (which is about 5 inches away) is a foil covered cardboard heat shield the was in place covering my cars stock wiring.

 

[Ninkumpoop]

Since the power wire isn't too badly damaged (seeing as how I don't get intermittent losses in power), I'll just try re-routing it a bit to see how far I can get it from the mani. Thanks for all your help, guys.

 

[79535]

No problem. Any other questions, feel free to PM me. I have actually done quite a bit of car audio on my own vehicles.

 

[skallen]

Worse case scenario, you could probably run some muffler tape over it if you don'y want to pull it out and rewire it.

 

[Ninkumpoop]

Ah ha! Solved the problem this morning. Figured it'd be the amp under my passenger seat after my friend moved the seat position and the bass went insane. Looked under, rattled a few wires around, and nothing happened. Then I accidentally bumped my capacitor that's right next to the amp and voila, found where it was arching. The cables going to the cap weren't even loose but after tightening them half a turn, the random bass kicks stopped. Thanks for all your insight, guys.