So I've got a bit of a head scratcher that I'm trying to understand. When I bought my car, it had a huge 5 channel amp installed in the truck and I never really cared for it, so I removed it and went with a smaller amp under the passenger seat like a stock setup. I still ended up running a dedicated power and ground line to the battery, though I'm questioning why and how the factory amp works.
From what I can tell, the factory amp is a 310 W, 7 channel unit. What confuses me beyond belief is how they power it. The wiring diagram in the service manual shows a single 14 gauge wire coming from the fuse panel and splicing into two 14 gauge wires before the amp connector. The important part being that the only thing powering this 310 W amp is a single 14 gauge wire (I'm guessing the splice has to do with the amp capacity of pins in the connector). The new amp I put in is only 200 W (50 W x 4 channel), but wants a 4 gauge power wire and has two 25 amp fuses installed on it. The factory fuse is 20 amps. A 14 gauge wire doesn't really want to carry more than 25 amps, but 310 W is 26 amps at 12 V (~21.5 at 14.4 V). My new amp is less wattage, so why in the world should I need that much more power wire?
My hope was to find the factory amp connectors (mine were cut off) and to make an adapter harness to just plug my new amp into the existing wiring instead of all the individual spade connectors I have installed now, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea with the tiny power wire. Am I missing something here? I know watt ratings aren't always as simple as just a number, but it still seems like the power requirements between two reasonably similar sized amps are way off. Is the factory amp just super efficient or something?
From what I can tell, the factory amp is a 310 W, 7 channel unit. What confuses me beyond belief is how they power it. The wiring diagram in the service manual shows a single 14 gauge wire coming from the fuse panel and splicing into two 14 gauge wires before the amp connector. The important part being that the only thing powering this 310 W amp is a single 14 gauge wire (I'm guessing the splice has to do with the amp capacity of pins in the connector). The new amp I put in is only 200 W (50 W x 4 channel), but wants a 4 gauge power wire and has two 25 amp fuses installed on it. The factory fuse is 20 amps. A 14 gauge wire doesn't really want to carry more than 25 amps, but 310 W is 26 amps at 12 V (~21.5 at 14.4 V). My new amp is less wattage, so why in the world should I need that much more power wire?
My hope was to find the factory amp connectors (mine were cut off) and to make an adapter harness to just plug my new amp into the existing wiring instead of all the individual spade connectors I have installed now, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea with the tiny power wire. Am I missing something here? I know watt ratings aren't always as simple as just a number, but it still seems like the power requirements between two reasonably similar sized amps are way off. Is the factory amp just super efficient or something?
