Need advice installing wiring for stereo and amplifier

On my 21' CC I am getting ready to install a new stereo and amplifier.

I have a dual battery setup with a Perko switch in the transom area. The electronics in the console are wired to Perko switch with a 10 guage wire protected by a 20 AMP fuse. However this won't be sufficient for my amplifer.

The amplifer is a Boss MR1000. The manufacturer recommends 8 guage wiring with a 40 AMP fuse. Since I will be running new wires about 15' from the switch to the console to support the amplifier, I will install 4 AWG wire.

I intend to install the new 4 AWG wires in addition to the existing wires ... ie. I will leave the 10 guage wires in place and install the 4 AWG to be connected ONLY to the amplifier.

My question is ... can I connect the new 4 AWG red cable to the Perko switch ( at the same terminal the 10 gauge red wire is connected) and connect the 4 AWG black to one of the battery negative terminals? This way the Perko switch would continue work as it does now .. switch at "1" for battery 1, switch at "2" for battery 2 and switch at "ALL" for both batteries.

Will this work? .. or do you recommend a different configuration?

Thanks for the advice.

Re: Need advice installing wiring for stereo and amplifier

My question is ... can I connect the new 4 AWG red cable to the Perko switch ( at the same terminal the 10 gauge red wire is connected) and connect the 4 AWG black to one of the battery negative terminals?

Click to expand...

Ayuh,... That'll work...

Re: Need advice installing wiring for stereo and amplifier

As long as that 4AWG wire is getting a constant feed that's not impeded, you can do whatever you want. The more the direct the better though. I would go straight to the battery, myself.


..and damn.. for the money that you paid for that off brand, you could have gotten a reputable brand. Youch.

Re: Need advice installing wiring for stereo and amplifier

Bubba1235 said:

I wouldn't, you can't disconnect the battey when the boat is stored and not in use.

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Stereo amps don't drain anything when they are off.. they physically need the 12v+ remote turn on wire to be activated which flips the internal solenoid. More importantly than anything is not choking your high power amplifiers for current.. they'll not only blow up themselves, but take out your speakers with them. The most direct path is always the best policy.

If you're going to go through the switch, make SURE that your main power feed to the switch is up to the task. I would use 1AWG marine cable with appropriate connectors such as these: http://www.amazon.com/Rockford-Fosg...5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1333123258&sr=1-5

As long as you do that, you should be ok.

Re: Need advice installing wiring for stereo and amplifier

Hey Guys,
been reading a lot of information on stereo wiring. I was going around to a few stereo shops to find out if they can hook up my existing system. I had taken this in to a shop in Texas years ago and just looking at how they hooked up my amp wire to an existing hot wire under my dash. The hook up failed and I ended up blowing all the fuses in the boat. I would much rather take the amp straight to the starting battery. This may be a stupid question though. It has been a long time since I have looked at the back side to this amp. Am I to put the neg lead on the battery since there really is no good ground within a boat? I do see an inline fuse and will cut the tape to see if it is going to the main red amp wire.

Thanks in advance

Re: Need advice installing wiring for stereo and amplifier

Pssst.. don't hijack threads. Make a new one.


But.. yeah. It's that simple. Unlike a car, there is no common body ground on a boat. You need to wire the amp DIRECTLY to the battery by it's own power and ground cable. Make sure to use an inline fuse within the first 18" of the main power wire to the amp and use at least 8AWG marine grade cable for both power and ground.

Re: Need advice installing wiring for stereo and amplifier

mark1905 said:

Pssst.. don't hijack threads. Make a new one.


But.. yeah. It's that simple. Unlike a car, there is no common body ground on a boat. You need to wire the amp DIRECTLY to the battery by it's own power and ground cable. Make sure to use an inline fuse within the first 18" of the main power wire to the amp and use at least 8AWG marine grade cable for both power and ground.

Click to expand...

Alright very good information to know. I have found the 8awg at my local electrical supply store to include the connectors as well. Prior to the knowledge of utlizing 8awg I had already ran a 12awg power cable. I keep blowing the fuse within the amp. I have not checked the radio to see if that has blown as well. The fuse at the battery is still good to go. Am I overlooking something besides getting 8 awg for the power? Let's say that I want to see if the radio is indeed still functional, can I direct test straight to the battery as well or will that overpower the radio?

Re: Need advice installing wiring for stereo and amplifier

12V is 12V... you can't overpower the radio by connecting to the battery since that's what you're doing anyway.

You should not be blowing fuses in the amp no matter what gauge wire you're using.. that has nothing to do with it. You have a short somewhere. Is something touching that shouldn't be? Are you sure that you're putting + to + and - to -?

DO NOT use standard 8AWG cable.. make sure that it's marine grade. Ace Hardware (at least by me) does sell marine grade cable.

Re: Need advice installing wiring for stereo and amplifier

It is a very good idea to connect the positing lead to the perko switch insted of the battery , to make sure it is disconnected when it needs t o be during storage.

Re: Need advice installing wiring for stereo and amplifier

mark1905 said:

12V is 12V... you can't overpower the radio by connecting to the battery since that's what you're doing anyway.

You should not be blowing fuses in the amp no matter what gauge wire you're using.. that has nothing to do with it. You have a short somewhere. Is something touching that shouldn't be? Are you sure that you're putting + to + and - to -?

DO NOT use standard 8AWG cable.. make sure that it's marine grade. Ace Hardware (at least by me) does sell marine grade cable.

Click to expand...

Well after I ripped everything out and hooked each part seperately, the radio is functioning. The amp however is toast. The remote is still working fine for the radio on the ignition. I looked through my store for a perko switch, we do carry a switch that allows the user to turn off and on by a key. It does come with neg and pos sides though. When the guy wired this system up he also used a lot of electrical tape. My speaker wires will be a pain to relocate, so I am just going to leave them where they are and find me another amp one that can be reset if it goes into the protection mode. This amp none of the lights will illuminate power or protection. I want to thank all of the information that had been passed down to me.

Re: Need advice installing wiring for stereo and amplifier

Good to hear that you got to the bottom of it! Electrical tape.. yuck. There's almost never a need for that stuff. If you're tying wires together, use a cable tie. If you're joining wires together, use crimps or solder.

Get yourself a good MB Quart marine amp. For around $100, you can have yourself a quality 4 channel amp that will blow you away. Sign up for the free trial of Amazon Prime and get free 2 day shipping.. just turn off auto-renew so you don't get charged for it at the end of the month.

http://www.amazon.com/MB-Quart-NAU4...N4WC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336228948&sr=8-1