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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Car Audio / July 2006Amp's power cable melted!
Today, my car died as I was driving, and I saw and smelled smoke. I opened the hood to find that the amp's power cable had melted at the part where the copper lead connects to the ring terminal at the battery. It actually melted the wire's insulation and burned (read: chipped) the brass terminal ring. It also nearly burned a hole through the hood and chipped some paint. After disconnecting the amp's power cable, the car ran fine. I can't seem to figure out what could've went wrong. I had this install for year without any problems. The total amp power of my system is 1500 WRMS. The amp's power cable is 1awg, and runs about 18 feet to a distribution block in the trunk. The power cable is fused at the battery with a 200 amp fuse (which didn't blow for some reason). Before this all happened, there was a huge downpour of rain. Could the rain coming in contact with the amp's power cable have caused this? I want to track down the problem so I can prevent this from happening again in the future. Any information appreciated! Perhaps the ring terminal you used for the 1 gauge was very thin and it was THAT that got really hot (like a light bulb filament). I have seen some ring terminals (frankly, cheaper ones) that are made of VERY flat (too flat) sheet metal or brass. There are some that look like in places they do not have much more metal than a 100 amp fuse. If you were drawing a lot of current for an extended period, I can imagine one of those getting, REALLY, REALLY HOT. Anyway, just a thought. MOSFET > Today, my car died as I was driving, and I saw and smelled smoke. I > opened the hood to find that the amp's power cable had melted at the [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Any information appreciated! BTW, if it does appear that the ring terminal was the problem, you may be better off with battery terminals that accept 1 gauge wire (the kind where you lock the wire in place with allen screws). Even if you are not sure that this was the cause, you may want to go this route to be sure it never happens. MOSFET > Today, my car died as I was driving, and I saw and smelled smoke. I > opened the hood to find that the amp's power cable had melted at the [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > this? I want to track down the problem so I can prevent this from > happening again in the future. Of course the 200 amp fuse didn't blow - that's probably higher than your battery's CCA output, and way more than enough to melt most wires' insulation. You may as well not even have a fuse there. I'd look for somewhere that the power wire has worn through and is shorting to the body... like where it goes through the firewall. Just follow the melted insulation until you find where it stops and you'll proably find a bad arc burn, if the wire itself isn't fused to the body metal. Replace the cooked section of wire and put in a reasonable size fuse... > Of course the 200 amp fuse didn't blow - that's probably higher > than your battery's CCA output, and way more than enough to melt > most wires' insulation. You may as well not even have a fuse > there. What does the battery's CCA output have to do the amp's power cable fuse size? > Replace the cooked section of wire and put in a reasonable size > fuse... 200 amp is the correct size for my setup. When I did the install, I added up the fuse ratings for my two amps, and the total was 210 amps. So a 200 amp fuse is sufficient and safe for this setup. >>Of course the 200 amp fuse didn't blow - that's probably higher >>than your battery's CCA output, and way more than enough to melt [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > What does the battery's CCA output have to do the amp's power cable > fuse size? If the battery can only deliver, for example, 150 constant amps, the fuse ain't never gonna blow even if you connect it directly between the two posts. A fuse like that won't offer you any protection against melting your power cables. >>Replace the cooked section of wire and put in a reasonable size >>fuse... > > 200 amp is the correct size for my setup. When I did the install, I > added up the fuse ratings for my two amps, and the total was 210 > amps. So a 200 amp fuse is sufficient and safe for this setup. The fuses for your amps are typically over-rated to prevent them blowing from anything but a serious internal problem. Your amps realistically aren't likely to draw any more than 2/3 to 3/4 of their fuses' ratings AT PEAK, and certainly much less at RMS. >>>Of course the 200 amp fuse didn't blow - that's probably higher >>>than your battery's CCA output, and way more than enough to melt [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > >If the battery can only deliver, for example, 150 constant amps, the fuse ain't The battery would have to be bad. 1000 or more direct short amps available if all is right. CCA is not a direct short. greg >never gonna blow even if you connect it directly between the two posts. A fuse > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > >much less at RMS. I don't think that you can buy a car battery with less the 450CCA, keep in mind that this rating is used at a temperature of 0° F (-17.8° C) to deliver for 30 seconds while maintaining the voltage above 7.2 volts. With this said, this time of the year that same 450CCA battery can push 750HCA or better. >Of course the 200 amp fuse didn't blow - that's probably higher than your >battery's CCA output, and way more than enough to melt most wires' insulation. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > >Replace the cooked section of wire and put in a reasonable size fuse... I had another thought, perhaps when the hood was closed there was some contact with the terminal ring. Again, it appears the terminal ring got really, really, hot as it basically (as described by the OP) disintegrated. If the damage to the hood was directly underneath the terminal ring, it seems to me THAT was ground zero of the problem. Just as Fireman look for what what the hottest part of the fire to determine origins, likely originated where there was greatest heat. I'd say either the terminal ring was made of too thin sheet metal and acted like a very, very hot fuse, OR (more likely perhaps), the terminal ring somehow made contact with the hood and caused a short. MOSFET >> Today, my car died as I was driving, and I saw and smelled smoke. I >> opened the hood to find that the amp's power cable had melted at the part [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > Replace the cooked section of wire and put in a reasonable size fuse... > I had another thought, perhaps when the hood was closed there > was some contact with the terminal ring. Again, it appears the > terminal ring got really, really, hot as it basically (as > described by the OP) disintegrated. After some investigating, I think this is exactly what happened. I forgot to mention in my original post that, before the car died, the stereo was shorting out. So, your theory makes even more sense now. My battery didn't come with any terminal covers. What's a good way to protect the battery terminals (and the wires) from coming in contact with the metal of the car? Buying the right size battery for you car will do the trick. >> I had another thought, perhaps when the hood was closed there >> was some contact with the terminal ring. Again, it appears the [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >protect the battery terminals (and the wires) from coming in contact >with the metal of the car? > My battery didn't come with any terminal covers. What's a good way to > protect the battery terminals (and the wires) from coming in contact > with the metal of the car? As I mentioned in a previous post, I would recommend switching to battery terminals that directly accept bare wire. The most popular variety seem to be the type that can accept a 0 gauge, a 4 gauge, and then two eight gauge wires. The wires lock into place by Allen screws set into the battery terminal blocks themselves. These will NOT make contact with your hood because no metal sticks up above your battery posts, however, there are some manufacturers that make clear plastic covers for these types of terminals (if you are still unclear what I am talking about, go to Ebay and look for battery terminals and you will see the kind I am talking about). Here's an example: http://cgi.ebay.com/SOUND-QUEST-BY-STINGER-CAR-AUDIO-TOP-BATTERY-TERMINAL_W0QQit emZ140011856770QQihZ004QQcategoryZ50549QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem MOSFET Your power cable made electrical contact to the chassis somewhere i your car, probably where you went through the firewall -- 95Honda |
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