Bus Bar Advice

What size of Copper bus Bar would be needed running the following:

1 285 amp Alt
1 380 Amp Alt
2 315 Amp Alt

Total amps @ 1300

Running 6 - SunDown SAZ-3000's

Thanks for the help?

for what? tieing batts together? a piece .250 thick 2 inch wide by however long ya need should work just run lots fo runs of 0 gage front to back both Power and Grounds for charging leads you will be fine

yes tieing 5 powermaster 3100 togehter

does it matter about running the grounds front to back or can u ground to the frame in the front and then again in the back?

BigNev wrote:

does it matter about running the grounds front to back or can u ground to the frame in the front and then again in the back?

YES it does matter Grounding to the frame in front and back means thats traveling thru Steel which is like 36% conductive(if that id have to look it up) Where the copper wire is 90% conductive........YOU WILL GAIN BY HAVING RUNS FROM THE NEG SIDE OF THE BATTERY......


Also Aluminum Works for car audio just as well as copper havent seen a diff in score by going from one to another..........and its CHEAP

the more runs u have from from to back the better...less resisitance if u make the fastest way to get from battery to alt to battery...chasis isnt the best in the back of a car...compared to rns from the front alt neg to the back...timmy is right

aphinney wrote:

the more runs u have from from to back the better...less resisitance if u make the fastest way to get from battery to alt to battery...chasis isnt the best in the back of a car...compared to rns from the front alt neg to the back...timmy is right

that wat i was tryin to say lol

If money is an issue you can use the aluminum as stated. But seeing what you are running I would personally splurge for the copper it is allot more conductive. Also it is best to run a ground from front to back but you do not always need to. If you have a proper ground distribution lead the body can be plenty. Most poorly install grounds in the front that build high resistance measuring to the back. Even when running multiple grounds to the back you should properly ground the engine, frame, tranny and body in the front.

but ...THE BEST IS LOTS OF RUNS FROM FRONT TO BACK...

cause it helps on voltage drop and also on resistance...

I agree on a lot of runs for the positive but an equal amount is not needed for the negative.

S.L.A.B. wrote:

I agree on a lot of runs for the positive but an equal amount is not needed for the negative.

are u serious bud....cause the last time i checked ...and everyday in college i get reminded that electricity works from neg to pos...so if anything u need more negs cause by the time it gets to pos resistance has occured ...but then again that means that u should of the same of both...but if nothin else more negs then pos

^^^^^^^^
Gotta love the EE courses huh?

aphinney wrote:

S.L.A.B. wrote:

I agree on a lot of runs for the positive but an equal amount is not needed for the negative.

are u serious bud....cause the last time i checked ...and everyday in college i get reminded that electricity works from neg to pos...so if anything u need more negs cause by the time it gets to pos resistance has occured ...but then again that means that u should of the same of both...but if nothin else more negs then pos

If the car is properly grounded you do not need to feed the same amount of negative leads as you do for the positive

yes sir

u can ground the battery in the stock location with 5 Oga and that is great...but think of it like this...if u are water goin thru a garden house that has 1" diameter interior ...then u go 4" diameter interior with the same amount of water goin thru both...and u tell me where the least resistance is...

now the the chasis is how the vehicle is grounded....BUT WHAT IS FASTER...A STRAIGHT LINE OR FROM THE ALT BOLT THRU THE TRANNY THRU THE ENTIRE VEHICLE FRAME.....THEN TO THE BATTERY??? ok enough said

Yes but does the negative actually "travel" as the positve does? I understood if say the amp was properly grounded as i mentioned than the only resistance would be from the positive post to the ground source.

I use 1/8 aluminum bars to connect 18 powermaster batts togather

i run 3 rd 9.0 amps and use 1 single run of 0 gage to the batts in the bed of my s10, and 1 run of 0 gage for negative as well so luminum 1/8 thick works lol and isnt that spendy either

but your setup is alittle different but yes u are correct jeff

that is correct s.l.a.b....but the prob is there is alot more goin on than just that one thing..there is reverse bias current there is more stuff than i really wanna get into but it will help ..but if the money isnt there...do as much as u can....2+ and 2- should work great

Roger roger

aphinney wrote:

u can ground the battery in the stock location with 5 Oga and that is great...but think of it like this...if u are water goin thru a garden house that has 1" diameter interior ...then u go 4" diameter interior with the same amount of water goin thru both...and u tell me where the least resistance is...

now the the chasis is how the vehicle is grounded....BUT WHAT IS FASTER...A STRAIGHT LINE OR FROM THE ALT BOLT THRU THE TRANNY THRU THE ENTIRE VEHICLE FRAME.....THEN TO THE BATTERY??? ok enough said

i like your analogies

thank ya timmy