Quick RELAY question...
 

I've got 3 components that need to have a remote power on wire ran to them (two amps and one crossover). I've heard of using a relay for this, although I'm not sure where to get one and never used one before. I'm sure I can figure that out, and hopefully someone like RadioShack has some.
My question is that the crossover needs the remote turn on wire but also needs a +12volt power input. Can this be attached to the relay as well? I'm not sure if the relay or the remote power on wire from the head unit will be able to power the crossover... Or should I use a distribution block to split power from an 8 gauge wire to two wires (one will go to one of my amps that already has a 16 gauge cable connected and then the other to the crossover)? Thanks for the help!

Power and remote are two separate things, no matter if the component is an active crossover, or an amplifier.

So yes, you should use a power wire from the battery.

I can suggest to you that you may want to beef up those power wires. An amplifier running off a 16 gauge power wire - even a lower power amp - is not the best way to go. At the very least, you may be choking the amp for juice. At the worst, you risk over taxing the wire and actually burning through it.

I'm not saying any of these scenarios are likely - it just seems we have a desire to to over-wire car audio stuff, and that's not a bad thing.

For two amps and a crossover, I would seriously consider upgrading to 4 gauge from the battery, with 8 gauge splits to each component, and the same for the ground wires - though the crossover may be able to use thinner than that. Many higher power amps require 4 gauge wire just by themselves! It's a good idea, and you can find great deals on wire at www.knukonceptz.com. They also have distribution blocks, battery terminals, and other accessories at good prices.

And about the relays - I have no experience using them, though I plan to possibly give one a shot soon. I have two amps, and my deck provides enough voltage to turn on both amps. However, I like to have a switch to shut my sub off completely, and it seems the initial voltage drop when hitting the switch winds up dropping the voltage too low and both amps shut off. Right now, I'm just wired directly from the deck to both amps. Eventually, I will either use a relay so I can have the switch, or simply hook the sub amp remote wire to a different 12v ignition-switched source, and slap my on/off switch on that.

Anyway - if you do a search, you should find lots of info on relays around the board, maybe with some good diagrams and instructions, too.

But first upgrade them power and ground wires!

~HH

Thanks for the quick reply...
Actually, I do have a 4-gauge wire coming from the battery (well, not yet hooked, but soon to be) to the back. There I have a fused distribution block that can take that input of 4-gauge and split into 2 8-gauge cables. Unfortunately, the block only has two connections... I have another distribution block, however, just not fused. it can split an 8-gauge cable into 4 smaller power cables. That's why I asked the above question. Should I get a bigger fused distribution block that can output to more?

Another note about the amp, the 16-gauge cable (at least, I believe that is what it noted, I would have to go home to check) is already connected to the amp. It's a Pyramid 300watt amp, and I have not checked to see if the cable is hardwired or not.. it also has the same cable for ground and remote cable (which is a different size.)
Sorry for all the questions and all, but I suppose I won't learn till I ask. This is my first attempt at an install. Still, thanks to all that help.

Okay - I gotcha on the Pyramid amp.

It must have some sort of wiring harness with pigtails for the connections, rather than the standard screw-down connectors where you use your own wire and just clamp it down.

Understood.

That being the case, I would assume you'll be fine with whatever wire gauge is coming off of the amp. My guess is it will be 10 gauge, or 12 gauge at least. 16 is pretty thin - more like the power connections on a head unit.

And again - that being the case - I guess your current wiring should be okay. The crossover shouldn't need nearly as much current as an amp. So if you split 4 gauge into two 8's, run one 8 to one amp, then split the remaining one to go to the crossover and second amp, you oughtta be okay.

Just a note - this sounds like an older Pyramid amp to me. And while just about anything is better than the Protege stock HU for power, don't expect too much out of that amp. Pyramid stuff has come a long way in the past few years, but they used to be the epitome of flea market stuff. When someone would say "this amp sucks", they'd use Pyramid as the comparison - frankly, the company was a laughing stock that stayed in business by selling amps for dirt cheap. They have put out better products in recent years, but the old stuff was just ....well.....let's just say....not so good.

I am in no way trying to rag on your stuff - I'm running some cheap amps myself. But if you have not yet used the Pyramid amp, I am just giving you fair warning that even though it says "300 watts", if it IS in fact an older Pyramid amp, you might be lucky to get 1/4 that power. If you want to know why that's the case, I'd be glad to explain it to ya'.

But hey - hook that shit up, and if it sounds good to you, that's all that matters. And don't let anybody tell you different!

~HH

Thanks, like always, hihoslva!

Yea, I know Pyramid isn't the best, but I'm not looking for the best. It's only there to run the speakers (which even with the Panasonic head unit I have don't sound bad at all, but could use a little power boost.) Thanks for confirming what I thought I could try and I will let you know how it all sounds, if you'd like.

Also, thanks for the link, N2OInferno. I've looked at that post several times before putting this one up. I got quite a bit out of it, but had another question about hooking the power of the crossover to it. I may still go with a relay, but not sure yet as I have no experience using them. I tried going to that website, the12volt.com, but it will never loads up (doesn't appear to ever find a site with that URL.) Thanks again! ^_^

Seems like the12volt.com might be having some problems.

Give it a day or so - I know it DOES exist!!

BTW - you might not need a relay to power up all your stuff. I think it all depends on the amp and deck - how much remote wire voltage does the deck put out, and how much remote wire voltage does the amp(s) need.

In my previous setup with Rockford amps, my switch worked perfectly. Since I changed to Lanzar amps, it won't work anymore. I'm guessing the Lanzar's require just a slight bit more juice through the remote wire, and the initial drop when hitting the switch is enough to break the threshold.

You might want to just give it a shot with the remote wire split to all three components and see what happens.

~HH