[Ryebread]

Hello all,

I want to run 2 wires to each of my front doors. I want my crossovers near my amps.

I am running a 300/2, so 150 watts per door.

I already know that 12 gauge is the best wire to run when dealing with 150 wrms. Since I'm running 2 wires, and how I read countless threads about how hard it is to run wire, is it feasible to have two 12 gauge wires to each door? If not, I'm assuming the crossover isn't ever going to put 150 wrms into the tweeter, so what size wire would be suitable for the tweeter? That way I could run 12 gauge + 16 gauge, or whatever.

Finally, I read a great deal about repinning the connector, but I haven't come across any pics of tools that people used to repin. I read that some people have used jewelers tools to repin. Is there a specific tool that I should have my eye on for repinning, or just anything that's really thin? I'm going to Lowe's tomorrow to get everything that I need.

Thanks in advance

Ryan

 

[john_in_the_lbc]

Re: Maximum wire gauge for 2 wires in doors

there are special tools for re-pinning (pin extractors, which is just a steel sleeve that fits over the pin and squeezes the metal tabs back thru the opening.) but it can be done with a jewelers screwdriver. if you get a close look you'll see what i mean. it's possible they might have the tool there, but an electronics store would for sure, even radio shack maybe. i don't know if it's worth it for a small number of pins...
http://www.action-electronics.com/molex.htm

i didn't find it necessary to re-pin (I did have to open up an used part of the plug), but i only used 16g wire, which I think is sufficient for my system.

 

[Ryebread]

Re: Maximum wire gauge for 2 wires in doors

Hmm... http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062447

That might do the trick, I'll check it out tomorrow. Thanks!

Now, I just need to know what size wire to get...

 

[Ryebread]

Re: Maximum wire gauge for 2 wires in doors

http://knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KAR124SS

This looks about right. The equivalent of two 12 gauge wires, wrapped into one cord. This should make it a little easier to route wires to each door...

 

[icspots]

Re: Maximum wire gauge for 2 wires in doors

Search for jeba's posts about wiring his car. I can't remember what size he used but they were ridiculously large. He did repin his plugs and hollowed out the rest in order to get the wire through.

 

[john_in_the_lbc]

Re: Maximum wire gauge for 2 wires in doors

http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php?topic=32623.msg458895#msg458895
http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php?topic=52893.0

 

[Ryebread]

Re: Maximum wire gauge for 2 wires in doors

Yeah I read that thread, he's running 2 16 gauge wires. So, I don't think dual 12 awg would fit, but perhaps the wire (with 2 pairs wrapped into one) will be compacted enough for me to be able to send it through the connector.

I don't want to run 16 gauge to my woofer as a lot of power is going to be fed into it. The purpose of this thread was to find out, with one 12 awg in the connector, what else I could run (what is the maximum size wire I could fit with the 12awg for the tweeter).

I'm going to see if KnuKonceptz will send me a sample wire to test fit their bi-amp wire.

 

[Ryebread]

Re: Maximum wire gauge for 2 wires in doors

Just wanted to give an update - I was able to fit a 12 gauge and a 16 gauge through the door connector.

I was also able to fit a bi-amp wire through the door (4 leads of 12 gauge... yeah I was surprised it fit too XD)

The hole

All wiring was bought from KnuKonceptz.com, their Karma line.

 

[mirancer]

i was able to get stinger hpm 10ga wire through those darn connectors. i did have to move some pins so i can make a big enough hole for the wire. 10ga is doable, but it will take some time.

 

[achn2b]

Re: Maximum wire gauge for 2 wires in doors

[quote author=Ryebread link=topic=143053.msg3139665#msg3139665 date=1243113378]
Just wanted to give an update - I was able to fit a 12 gauge and a 16 gauge through the door connector.

I was also able to fit a bi-amp wire through the door (4 leads of 12 gauge... yeah I was surprised it fit too XD)

The hole

All wiring was bought from KnuKonceptz.com, their Karma line.
[/quote]

You did that with no re-pinning?

I'm planning on running two sets of 16 guage through mine.

 

[john_in_the_lbc]

his plug looks slightly different from mine, but i didn't need to re-pin either.

 

[Ryebread]

Re: Maximum wire gauge for 2 wires in doors

[quote author=achn2b link=topic=143053.msg3144324#msg3144324 date=1243383417]
You did that with no re-pinning?

I'm planning on running two sets of 16 guage through mine.
[/quote]

No, I definitely repinned both connectors to fit those wires. Like John said though, you could fit 16 gauge if you screw into the top of the connector (where no wires are), but I decided to remove the entire upper portion where the wires are by repinning everything to the lower 2 portions of the connector.

To repin, I used found the tiniest flathead that I could find and... fiddled with it. Once I was able to figure it out, it was a lot easier. It took me an hour and a half to repin the passenger side (1 stupid pin) and about a half hour to repin the driver side (4 pins).

 

[john_in_the_lbc]

oh that makes sense cause you made a hole right where i have some wires :lol:

 

[jonnyanalog]

So you guys pulled the molex out through the door jamb area? I was gonna try from under the IP but it was too hard to get out.

 

[john_in_the_lbc]

yup