i want to use a 120 vac extention cord wire for the power cable to my amp, is this safe? extention cords have a heavier gage than the wire in radio shack and such and is much cheaper. i dont see why this would be a problem considering car batteries are only 12 volts vs. 120 volt extention cord raiting
HAAAAAA HAAAA HAAAA! No really, come on! Yes this will work. As long as the current required doesn't overload the wire. Meaning that you will have to have a heavy enough guage wire to handle the load. Otherwise,,,,,meltdown. Now I would highly discourage the use of home electrical wire for the purpose of car audio. You need a good clean, true source of power to feed your amps. It's your system, but the weakest link will always rear it's ugly head when you least expect it. My advice.....Drop some cash and get the right stuff the first time. Otherwise you WILL be doing it over again.
Well....that depends on how big the amp is. An extension cord has either 2 or three wires inside at somewhere between 16 and 12 gauge wire. You could twist all the conductors together and be good up to about 40 amps with three 12 gauge wires. The issue with amplifiers is current not voltage. The thicker the wire the more current it will handle. Most any wire you buy is rated at least 120V. Check what size fuse the amp requires, if it is more than 30 to 40 amps I would buy the right size single wire for the amp. Also, fuse the wire at the battery. Fire is not our friend. :)
Listen to ohm!!! Do not try this in your car!!! The difference between home (AC) vs. a car (DC) is not just the voltage. A car will have much more current flowing through the wire then a home. This means that if you were to use a extension cord in a car you could melt it, like ohm said. Just go to a car audio shop and get the correct wire. An extension cord may save you a couple of bucks but if you are risking a fire and possibly hurting yourself I think it is a couple of extra bucks you can spend.
I have never tried an extension cord but i have tried 270v rated home wiring for outlets and stuff. The wiring I used wasnt really wire though it was made up of a solid piece of copper, not several strands of small pieces. It worked fine. I dont think an extension cord would work though. It is not a solid cable and i HAVE seen wires burn up within minutes due to being the wrong gauge, so if you plan on keeping your car/system for a while, just get the recommended amp kit. Good luck
It's not the voltage you should be concerned about. It's the amperage. The amperage is lower on a house ~a/c system b/c the voltage is higher; that is the electricity moves faster. Another thing noteworthy is it can be more than 12V, when your car is on the pwer is coming from the Alternator not the battery. I wouldn't go with anything less than 8 gauge wire at the least. Go to radio shack or the auto parts store and buy it bulk off the spool should only cost 10 bucks for 6-8 ft. . Good luck
