Can't afford it? Haha, I have over $2500 worth of stereo equipment in my car, do you really think it would be a problem for me to come up with another $100 for ofc wire? I choose not to buy ofc wire for my system just like I choose to not put 91 octane gas in my car.....people swear up and down that using higher octane (on cars that dont require it) results in better gas mileage and fuel economy, I know better so I stick with 87 octane. Much the same with ofc wire, while there are inherent benefits of using pure copper wire, the fact of the matter is that most of us never push our systems to the threshold at which ofc wire would be necessary.

Those pics you posted only serve to feed the fear I mentioned earlier, cause the fact of the matter is that the only way they were able to achieve those temps (the highest of which was still well under half of the max rating of the wire jacket) was by feeding 100a of current through a 20ft length of wire for 30 minutes straight. Unless you drive around with a high powered system (id say about 2500-3000 rms and up) cranking test tones at full bore, you'll not have to worry about extreme temps like that.
It would take alot of power to get 100a of current running through ur power wire and I promise you the amp that would be making that kind of power would not have 4ga. as the recommended wire size, especially when ur run is 20ft long! Sounded good though didnt it?

Replacing an oem alt is only throwing money away if you're running 400rms, but alot of us are running alot more than that and the factory alt just cant supply enough current for both the car and stereo system, but I def agree that you should do the big 3 before going that route.

As for cca wire being so succeptible to corrosion, I guess if you just crimp ur wire and dont use wire boots/jackets it could happen over time. Won't be happening to me though cause I solder my ends (into wire terminals and/or distro/fuse boxes) and use the appropriate size wire boot/jacket so I dont have to worry about my wire being exposed to the elements and corroding and breaking apart as mentioned earlier. Little things like that can make or break an installation, as you found out.

I'm about to pull all of the CCA out of my engine bay to replace it with doubled up 4 gauge copper because I'm having issues again with lights dimming (with 500W RMS) and having to turn the key a few clicks before the car starts. Exact same thing happened when my chassis to block wire severed from corrosion. For the record, I did use a boot, and it was crimped pretty darn well. To prove my point, I will more than gladly ship you a sample of the wire I pull off so you can see for yourself what it looks like after ~4 years in your engine bay. I still use CCA inside my car, and 1/0 for the run that goes from the trunk (where my battery is) to the engine bay, but I won't be using CCA in the engine bay itself. That was a $100 mistake that could have been avoided.

No need, you already proved my point......crimping CCA wire leaves the end of the wire exposed and you've already experienced what happens to exposed bare wire.....and then u go and do it again, lol. Doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity, right? Soldering the ring terminals onto the ends of your CCA wire would be the solution, no exposed wire, no more problem. But if buying copper wire helps you sleep better at night, do what you gotta do.

What size is the CCA you currently have in your engine bay? Since your main power wire is 0ga., why don't you just use 0ga. for the Big 3 as well instead of 2 runs of 4ga.?

I don't know what the difference is between your car and mine but im on stock electrical, no Big 3, 2ga. CCA, Group 34 SVR deep cycle battery under the hood, Sundown 1500rms amp (wired to 1ohm), CDT Audio 4ch amp that does 110x4 @ 4ohms and I only get dimming when I have the volume at the max level I can go to right before clipping and then turn the sub level up past 4 (of 15). How old is your battery?

I was happy to see that 04Monte chimed in here and provided the correct information. It was also really great to see everyone keeping their cool on explaining what they thought, while learning and helping one another at the same time. I have a new battery that is rated higher than the stock amp rating, and am running a power acoustic class d 2000 watt amp at 2ohm to a 12 inch alpine type r, and i have yet to see anything in my car dim while it'* running at any level.

Thanks man, just trying to help out those who might now know. I liked that it didn't turn into a pissing match too, I know of a certain car specific forum that I was once a member of where it certainly would have gotten ugly. Which is funny cause most of those guys there don't know jack about car audio, but always wanted to argue with me about it, LOL.

It would help us both if you didn't assume what you didn't know. It would also help both of us if you knocked off the tone of superiority regardless of whether or not its intentional.

What exactly did I do again? I installed all of this 1/0 KNU CCA wire in my engine bay 3-4 years ago. One of those wires failed earlier this year, which is what I referred to, and I'm planing on removing the rest of it soon. It was one use of CCA. I've made no comments regarding the CCA I just installed *in my trunk.*

I'm not using 0 gauge for my "big 3" power wire because

A. its too expensive, and

B. I have 100 feet of 4 gauge copper including closed terminals.

Battery is 8 months old.

As for exposed wire, the factory copper in my car lasted me 12 years before it corroded enough to be replaced, and it was exposed. The fact that CCA only lasted 3-4 years before being severed *1 inch after* the crimp is disturbing.

Let me explain....

If it were me, and one of my wires failed like you explained, I would PROMPTLY remove all of said wire and replace it but this time instead of crimping I would solder the ring terminals to ensure it didn't happen again. Is that what you did? Obviously not. So when I said "you did it again" I meant running wire with crimped ends. Is that an assumption? Not if you have any crimped wires under your hood!

As for my "tone", I can't control how you interpret what I write and your assumptions about my "tone" as a result of said interpretation. Maybe you should read the first sentence of your quoted reply above and take your own advice

I dunno man, i'm not trying to tell you what to do with your car.....do what you want. But it makes absolutely no sense to run 4ga. copper under the hood (multiple runs or not) and then 0ga. CCA from the battery under the hood to the battery in the trunk. Clearly you're of the opinion that 0ga. CCA = 2ga. copper, therefore 2 runs of 4ga. copper = 2ga. copper, so by default 0ga. CCA = 2 runs of 4ga. copper. So you're going to get rid of the very shortest runs of CCA but leave the longest one with the most resistance of any of the wire'* we're talking about? One of end which is under the hood which is a clear contradiction to you saying you won't be running CCA in the engine bay. Since you have 100ft. of the stuff, why don't you replace the 0ga. CCA with dual runs of that 4ga. since it'* so much better?

Too expensive? You could sell the 4ga. stuff and get enough money to pay for the length of 0ga. you'd need as well as the accessories to install it, it'* not like you need 100ft. of 0ga. Matter of fact, Audiosavings has a 25ft. spool of Cadence OFC 0ga. wire for $50.
http://www.audiosavings.com/products...15M-BLACK.aspx

I would have promptly removed all of said wire, but you assumed a few things.

1. I was in comfortable weather
2. my car was at home or I was close to home
3. I had time to order wire online

In fact, it was in the low 20'* with a light bit of snow on the ground, my car was in my church parking lot 25 minutes from home, and I needed to drive it to work the next morning.

So I did what anyone in my position would do, I went to auto zone and picked up a length of sealed-crimped 4 gauge copper to hold me over.

As for how I crimped them, the only way I could have prevented what happened to any degree would have been to seal off the length after the crimp. My trunk has all closed o-ring terminals.

As for your tone, I'll let you read your post again.

The 4 gauge copper I bought was 100% OFC copper, 100 feet, for $50 shipped, so 25 feet of 0 gauge for $50 isn't exactly a bargain when I can quadruple the 4 gauge copper for the same length. In addition, copper holds more current than CCA and loses less voltage. It sounded like a no brainer to me.

I picked up all of the accessories (fuseblock, fuses, distribution blocks, etc,) used off of a member on diyma.com, and I got the closed ring terminals off of ebay in a pack of 20 for like $10. I intend to fill it with solder, place the wire inside, and use a torch to permanently solder the wire inside the terminal.

I'm not replacing the 0/1 wire to the trunk with 4 gauge for a few reasons. The issues I had were only in the engine bay near the engine. The length running to the trunk is not only nearly new, but is also properly terminated with a good terminal, not crimped. I can't for the life of me remember what those terminals are called. Anyways, its also easier to replace my engine bay wiring than to run a new length of wire from the engine bay to the trunk, when the 1/0 CCA is doing alright for the time being.

To me, it appears that as short as the runs are, the wire has significantly degraded. I use nothing *but* CCA in my trunk, but its the heat that'* exposed to the wire in the engine bay in close proximity to the engine block and my headers that I believe causes the problem, in addition to more exposure to moisture that causes it to corrode more easily.

I don't know what 2x 4 guage copper is equivalent to, but from what I've read, it should support my power needs and not corrode in my engine bay. Worst case if I have any issues, I'll triple the wire since the lengths are short anyway.

Awesome!

The more I read this thread, the more I felt like vomiting on myself. CCA is garbage as power cable, enough said. Corrosion issues aside, it has nowhere near the electrical conductivity as pure copper. You simply can't argue that fact.

The only time the skin effect comes into play (the electrons concentrating on the outer copper layer) is with very high frequency AC, something you won't find in any automobile.

Its real advantages are being lightweight and cheap, and it'* rarely used anymore other than in applications where electrical conductivity is not the primary attribute.