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Subwoofer Grounding Question

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Old Mar 1, 2005 | 04:48 AM
  #1  
mrbrace's Avatar
mrbrace
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From: Wichita, KS
Default Subwoofer Grounding Question

Hey guys I just wanted to know, in my new car I have only one place to ground my subs and that is a seat bolt. I have found that my subs pop whenever I turn off the car, and I am told by a local shop that it is because seat bolts are not reliable grounds.

So anyways I wanted to know if anyone has run another cable all the way back to the engine bay and just grounded it either on the chassis or the car battery ground. If this works I am going to do it just because I have no other place to ground it in the trunk. Thanks

Matt
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Old Mar 1, 2005 | 05:39 AM
  #2  
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can you get to a shock/strut bolt? if so, sand some of the chassis paint away, and use a big ring terminal on the ground wire.
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Old Mar 1, 2005 | 06:07 AM
  #3  
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yeah I can get to it just wanted something easier, and do you know where I can get a big ring terminal, the shops around here charge a arm and a leg for those.
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Old Mar 1, 2005 | 06:27 AM
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^ hardware stores sell them.
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Old Mar 1, 2005 | 07:48 AM
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In my experience that is a bad grounding point. If there is no place, break out the drill h: Just be careful where you are drilling, you dont want to die or something.
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Old Mar 2, 2005 | 08:11 PM
  #6  
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Ok I have come down to the wire here....I am not sure what to do.

Here is my current setup tell me if you smell a fish...

Currently, I have a 4 gauge power wire ran to my inline fuse (no less that 12 inches away) then out of the fuse holder I have an 8 gauge wire running through the firewall and to my amp.

I have it grounded to my seat bolt that bolts down to the chassis and I have found that it is a good ground (it does not pop when I life it off of the grinded down spot.)

The remote wire is actually 16 gauge speaker wire because the remote turn on wire I recieved turned out to be bad. (it also seems to be good because when I disconnect and reconnect subs do not pop)

The only time that it seems that my subs pop is when I turn off my car. I know the amp has soft turn off/on because its a Phoenix Gold Octane-R as of this year. I know they make good quality stuff so I am more than sure its not that.

Other than that I have 2 Audiobahn 12s and they are 4 ohms and I have my 4-channel amp bridged the subs are getting about 250W a peice @ 4 ohms. they RMS at 400. So I am running them over half their rated power so that should be ok.

Other than all of that up above I am totally puzzled on what to do now.
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Old Mar 3, 2005 | 07:49 AM
  #7  
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Originally Posted by mrbrace
Ok I have come down to the wire here....I am not sure what to do.

Here is my current setup tell me if you smell a fish...

Currently, I have a 4 gauge power wire ran to my inline fuse (no less that 12 inches away) then out of the fuse holder I have an 8 gauge wire running through the firewall and to my amp.

I have it grounded to my seat bolt that bolts down to the chassis and I have found that it is a good ground (it does not pop when I life it off of the grinded down spot.)

The remote wire is actually 16 gauge speaker wire because the remote turn on wire I recieved turned out to be bad. (it also seems to be good because when I disconnect and reconnect subs do not pop)

The only time that it seems that my subs pop is when I turn off my car. I know the amp has soft turn off/on because its a Phoenix Gold Octane-R as of this year. I know they make good quality stuff so I am more than sure its not that.

Other than that I have 2 Audiobahn 12s and they are 4 ohms and I have my 4-channel amp bridged the subs are getting about 250W a peice @ 4 ohms. they RMS at 400. So I am running them over half their rated power so that should be ok.

Other than all of that up above I am totally puzzled on what to do now.
i dunno, what size is your ground wire? it should be the same size, if not bigger than the power wire, you might want to try 4 gauge to ground? i have no idea
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Old Mar 5, 2005 | 10:11 PM
  #8  
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I have mine grounded to the shifter where the plastic connects to the chasis, and it doesn't pop ever. Go out and get the thickest wire possible for the ground wire. Not only should you use a wire ring on the end, you should use a wire forked end to connect it to the amp. Go to Radio Shack, they have the stuff, and they know a lot about it. Go to a big one though, not like the ones in the mall that only sell phones and TVs. Hope this helps.
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Old Mar 7, 2005 | 04:31 AM
  #9  
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Ok, thicker wire will not do anything and any sound installer and enthusiast will agree, that you don't need to go bigger ground wire than power wire, its pointless and cost more money, that kind of stuff doesn't matter. Anyhow, I am re-doing my system next week so I will let you all know what i find out.
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Old Mar 7, 2005 | 01:57 PM
  #10  
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From: northwest NC
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try grounding to your trunk latch, or where all your other trunk electrical stuff is.
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