Amp negative power wire to battery or ground?

[Renthorin]

As the title says....when I wire my amp is it better to wire the negative lead to the battery or just to a body bolt somewhere in the back?I am running the positive wire up to the battery so bringing the negative along isn't any more challenging.Thanks,Will

[breezd]

Just ground it in the back, no point in running both wires all the way through the car. I unscrewed one of the tie-down loops and grounded it to that. I'm not sure if thats the best location, but it worked for me!

[Renthorin]

That is what I have always done on stereo installs in the past. Just not sure if the amp is any happier if it has the ground at the battery or bolt in the back. I mean....the bolt in the back is basically using the body as a negative power wire right?

[Sublimewind]

Yep, chassis ground IS the best ground... Although SOME can be noiser that others... 99% of the time you would be fine doing what you thought, or whar breezd suggested... Lets not even get into "hole" current theory where current flows from negitive to positive.. lol The car is the best conductor... Jusr remember to have the ground as short as possible and to grind off the paint around the terminal AND slop it up with some dielectric greese to make a good, long lasing, corrosion free connection.... So.... What sort of install work you got going on...huh...huh... What are you amping??

[Renthorin]

I have a 250w "California Audio" (so...crap) amp and a 10" Rockford sub :-)The "system", if you can call it that, began its life in my daytona...moved to the blazer....and is now moving to the vibe.Using high-power, low-resistance "Deans" plugs in each car for the power leads to make the system easily swapable between Blazer and Vibe. Unhook the RCA...unhook the power....move to other vehicle.

[kunkstyle]

I ground(ed) mine to a bolt under the back seat. Worked well and is out of sight. Be careful if you're grounding to the rear hatch cover hook bolts. One is bolted into the chasis, but the other just goes to plastic.

[audiovibe]

This is a heavily debated subject in the audio world, and is strictly a prefrence. I personaly, I run my ground back to the battery. But when someone asks where should I put my ground? I say what Sublimewind says, go to a solid metal area that is close to the amp, to keep the ground as short as possible. A ground affects alot more then alot of people think, hell it might even be the most important connection you make, The ground can affect the lifespan of the equipment, a longer ground can effect the heat aspect of the amp, ect. ect. in the end your grounds all end in the same place sometimes it just gets there differently.Aron

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by audiovibe »This is a heavily debated subject in the audio world, and is strictly a prefrence. I personaly, I run my ground back to the battery. But when someone asks where should I put my ground? I say what Sublimewind says, go to a solid metal area that is close to the amp, to keep the ground as short as possible. A ground affects alot more then alot of people think, hell it might even be the most important connection you make, The ground can affect the lifespan of the equipment, a longer ground can effect the heat aspect of the amp, ect. ect. in the end your grounds all end in the same place sometimes it just gets there differently.AronThis is true, I could go into "hole current" theory where current actually passes from negitive to positive and you are in essence flowing the bulk of the current through the LARGEST conductor (the chassis) and using the power wire AS the ground, but it's theory and I've found little to back it up.... It was something i learned in school though and i'm sure if I tried really hard I could find white papers on it...