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Amp board layout


VOLatile

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I am getting ready to build an amp board and need some input on the layout of the board. I am adding an add a battery switch to the observers compartment and can't decide if I should put the switch and ACR on the amp board or on the inside of the aisle wall. I don't have much room and have to mount a harpoon amp to the board so I was leaning towards putting everything on the board except the ACR which would be mounted on the inside of the aisle wall. I want to leave room for adding an on board charger and possibly two amps to power the in boats and a sub, but I may end up having to go with a 5 channel to get everything on the same board. Any tips or advice is appreciated!

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I am getting ready to build an amp board and need some input on the layout of the board. I am adding an add a battery switch to the observers compartment and can't decide if I should put the switch and ACR on the amp board or on the inside of the aisle wall. I don't have much room and have to mount a harpoon amp to the board so I was leaning towards putting everything on the board except the ACR which would be mounted on the inside of the aisle wall. I want to leave room for adding an on board charger and possibly two amps to power the in boats and a sub, but I may end up having to go with a 5 channel to get everything on the same board. Any tips or advice is appreciated!

I did my amp board on the right side of the observers cabin. Epoxyed a bunch of 2" plastic stand offs & mounted my board to that. I have 3 amps. They are difficult to adjust the crossovers in this position however. Left side is where I mounted the switch & battery charger. Batteries then sit on the floor in front of them.

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Because you have to use the alternator/starter feed, I like keeping the installation simple and close to the factory positioning. I want to avoid extending this large gauge cable. That typically means keeping the ACR and switch on the opposite side of the port locker where a factory switch is normally positioned. I like these items and any master fusing/breakers located as close to the batteries as possible. Many will build a small supplemental panel at the bottom along the aisle side for this purpose.

I like to keep the distribution blocks to one lower corner of the amplifier mounting panel. Then enter the RCAs from the top side.

If you run out of real estate, it is an easy task to mount a small panel at the fore end of the locker against the backside of the bow mold for a shore charger.

You will have to decide whether to conceal all wiring behind the amplifier panel or layout everything on the surface. Certainly elevating the amplifiers and running all wiring behind looks cleaner. But it is also harder to avoid a cluster of wiring behind the panel, makes disconnects more tedious, or creates longer service loops. In contrast, neat wiring raceways on the face allow for a better strain relief system plus easy service and diagnostics if needed.

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Thanks for the advice. David, since you prefer the RCAs to enter from the top side is there a preference for mounting the amp vertically vs horizontally or is it solely a space issue? The measurements I came up with for my board are around 24h x 32L and it doesn't seem like I'll have much space left after the harpoon goes on. I am planning on running the engine common ground to a buss bar on the amp board, but am not sure if I can run both the ground and the alternator/starter 2/0 lines through the stringer. I may end up with both running behind the seats if I can't get the cables to flex enough to connect through the stringer.

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The engine block ground and starter/generator leads should go straight to the starting battery or through nothing more than a disconnect switch on the positive side, which would ideally be a dual circuit switch if used in combination with an ACR. The large ACR/switch posts provide junctions so you should not have more cabling channeled through the distribution blocks beyond audio components. The grounds should be jumpered off the starting bank to the stereo bank where a single heavy lead goes to the audio ground block.

As for amplifier orientation, I would normally go with what cools best. For amplifiers with extruded heat sinks that is usually vertical. For some amplifiers with a cast heat sink to one side only that often means horizontal. For an amplifier that is truly fan-cooled then it doesn't matter. But in the end, you have to go with what fits. While necessary sometimes, I don't like to see a horizontal amplifier mounted directly above another horizontal amplifier, unless they are spaced well apart with a good slant to the amp panel.

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To clarify a little; I should run the 2/0 ground from the motor ground lug directly to the starting battery negative, then bridge the negative on the two batteries? Then run a separate run from the negative battery to a common ground buses on the amp board?

My initial plan was to run the 2/0 to the a common buss bar on the amp rack with all of the negative battery and stereo ground connections made there. I did have a concern, and maybe it's not a valid one, that my 150 amp continuous rated ground buss bar would be see a lot more than that during starting? Would that have been an issue?

Once again, thanks for all of the advice!

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There is more than one acceptable way to do most anything.

As a priority, I like to see as few interruptions and junctions as possible between the engine block and cranking battery ground terminal. It's the same with the alternator/starter feed and the cranking battery positive terminal.

The weak link can be the quality of the terminations rather than the specific scheme.

Using good quality heavy gauge terminal lugs, first with a strong physical crimp and followed by soldering, will reduce resistance for the short and long term.

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