Technical questions about maximum load

[RobMmkay]

I'm just wondering what sort of maximum power I can expect to draw from my system. I have a standard battery/alternator, and standard pos/neg between battery, alternator and ground. I have however, ran 2AWG (35mm2) cable from battery to amplifier. I understand that this is a heavy duty cable but - realistically - at what point will the power drawn be too much for a standard system within the engine bay? I'm not really planning on burning through any cables.

Thanks!

[ns9900]

IMHO, dont bother. decent headunit can get you better sound quality anyway.

[huggy54]

Hey Rob if your asking how much power you can run through 2awg cable, id say upto 1200-1400 watts rms-ish (though I know people who have run slightly more). I use to run 1krms on my Saxo on a standard alternator and Halfords heavy duty battery and it was fine enough, on the setup you have without getting technical you'll be fine, you could even run a bit more.

I would still recommend doing the big 3 if your that worried as it is a benefit, but at this point its not necessary. Theres more you can do after I guess its how far your willing to go

[Scott]

as per Huggy. I ran just over 1000wrms on the halfords calcium battery (standard really) and standard alternator without much hassle at all. This as on 0 guage cable though but i wouldnt be overly concerned with 2 gauge

I would upgrade the big 3 regardless, cheap and effective.

[RobMmkay]

Cheers for the answers guys - I'll definitely consider upgrading the big 3 before adding in another amp.

Also, what would be a realistic value for the inline fuse? Obviously the 2AWG cable has a high CCC of ~170A-220A dependent on the temperature, but it'd be slightly overkill putting in a fuse of that size just to protect the cable.