DIY Exile build in my new LSV... (first time)

[ryanbush]

I would mount your rocker switch out of sight and run it off the ignition. I find that we have the stereo on 95% of the time we're on the boat, so It would only be necessary to use the rocker switch that 5% of the tim you want the stereo off, the rest of the time it would be switched off of the ignition.

[shawndoggy]

on the amps can you actually see the crossover and gain settings when they are mounted in the observer's compartment like that? Take it from someone who has made the mistake of mounting them up the way they "look good" in the garage and then are really hard to service in the boat.

Edited May 15, 2014 by shawndoggy

[IXFE]

on the amps can you actually see the crossover and gain settings when they are mounted in the observer's compartment like that? Take it from someone who has made the mistake of mounting them up the way they "look good" in the garage and then are really hard to service in the boat.

Ahhh... great point. I didn't think of that. Going to go check now.

[Jimmy Buffett]

Comment on placement...the positive power cables are pretty thick, especially the larger one (1/0 i think). Be sure the holes are far enough away from those distribution blocks so they don't have to bend too sharply.

[Bawshogg]

They are fully accessible in that configuration.

If you want to run them horizontal, mount them lower on the board so the adjustments are easier to get to.

Tip: cut some large holes, 3-4" right under where you decide the amps will go. Pull all your wires through these holes and out to the terminals. make small stand offs for the amps to actually mount to and then tuck all the wires into the hole and mount the amp. Make your wires long enough so you can make all the connections without having to hold the amp too.

[IXFE]

Okay, I'm back!

Bobby is right. I noticed all the switches are on the left hand side of the amps (the sides pictured below). The right hand side (the side that would be hard to reach) is just the wires.

See this pic... I rotated it so would look like the angle it will be sitting at when in the boat.

[IXFE]

They are fully accessible in that configuration.

If you want to run them horizontal, mount them lower on the board so the adjustments are easier to get to.

Tip: cut some large holes, 3-4" right under where you decide the amps will go. Pull all your wires through these holes and out to the terminals. make small stand offs for the amps to actually mount to and then tuck all the wires into the hole and mount the amp. Make your wires long enough so you can make all the connections without having to hold the amp too.

The issue is if I lower the amps on the board, I lose the open space for another XM30.2.

Am I naive to think that I'll get this system tuned once then leave it be? I really don't see myself getting in there to adjust gains, etc. on a frequent basis (or ever once it's been tuned).

[shawndoggy]

Am I naive to think ...

It seems like I always have to crawl in and out of "the hole" 10x more than I anticipate before it's "done".

Here's how I did the holes and spacers Bobby is suggesting (I also did studs on the amp rack... which is really nice for setup because you can "hang" the amp in place before screwing it down):

forgive messy layout, this was just an intermediate test fit.

[IXFE]

They are fully accessible in that configuration.

If you want to run them horizontal, mount them lower on the board so the adjustments are easier to get to.

Tip: cut some large holes, 3-4" right under where you decide the amps will go. Pull all your wires through these holes and out to the terminals. make small stand offs for the amps to actually mount to and then tuck all the wires into the hole and mount the amp. Make your wires long enough so you can make all the connections without having to hold the amp too.

Trying hard to follow this. Let me try to play it back to you so I'm sure I got it...

cut some large holes, 3-4" right under where you decide the amps will go.

I get what you're saying about one large hole hidden beneath each amp.

Pull all your wires through these holes and out to the terminals.

All wires going into the amp (e.g. RCA's, 4ga cables coming off the blocks, etc.) come up from under the rack and through those holes. Right?

make small stand offs for the amps to actually mount to and then tuck all the wires into the hole and mount the amp

I think I get what your saying about stand offs. You are saying to mount the amps with risers under the mount points (screw holes at the corners) so the wires have room under their. Right? What do you recommend I used for these small risers? And how tall do you recommend? I'm thinking this means I can't use the short screws that came with the amps as they don't account for a riser.

Make your wires long enough so you can make all the connections without having to hold the amp too.

This is where you lost me. Long cables, check! But I don't understand what you meant by not having to hold the amp.

These tips also reveal an "order of operations" that I wasn't hip to. I was thinking I'd build the rack and mount the amps to it outside the boat as one modular unit. Then mount the entire thing inside the boat. Then run wires to it. Reading Brandon's post caused me to stop and think about the fact that my plan wouldn't work. How would I have been able to pass wires under the rack with amps already in place and no way to see beneath the rack?

Now I see that I have to first cut the large holes in the rack and then mount the rack to the boat (w/out the amps). Then pull the wire. Then mount the amps to the rack. Then hook up the wires to the amps.

See... this is why I started this thread. To help me avoid a dumb mistakes like that.

[shawndoggy]

See... this is why I started this thread. To help me avoid a dumb mistakes like that.

Ha, maybe you will only need to mount your stuff up and tune once!

[IXFE]

It seems like I always have to crawl in and out of "the hole" 10x more than I anticipate before it's "done".

Here's how I did the holes and spacers Bobby is suggesting (I also did studs on the amp rack... which is really nice for setup because you can "hang" the amp in place before screwing it down):

forgive messy layout, this was just an intermediate test fit.

This picture confirms my new "order of operations" as posted above. Thanks, Shawn. This is super helpful.

I am also loving the tip about the studs. I assume those are just bolts coming through from underneath the rack. Then you can secure the amp in place with nuts. Right?

I can also see that from this set up you can drop short plastic spacer on the bolt before sliding the amps in place, thus creating the spacing that Brandon is talking about.

Edited May 15, 2014 by IXFE

[shawndoggy]

yes, you've got it. The spacers I used are threaded, so they serve a bit of a "jam nut" purpose for the studs. Got them on ebay after striking out at home depot. The studs are brass screws that go in from the back into T nuts that are mounted on the front (under the carpet in my case), then have the half inch nylon spacers threaded on too. I just screw the amps on to the studs with a second spacer from the top after the amp is "hung" on the studs.

Here they are just "hung" as a test fit, before speaker wires:

And fully mounted, ready to rock:

(yeah yeah, I've cleaned up the wires a bit and re-glued the sagging carpet at the top)

[IXFE]

Shawn, where are your distribution blocks mounted?

[shawndoggy]

Not ideal but I don't have quite the room that you guys do.

[Bawshogg]

Trying hard to follow this. Let me try to play it back to you so I'm sure I got it...

cut some large holes, 3-4" right under where you decide the amps will go.

I get what you're saying about one large hole hidden beneath each amp.

Pull all your wires through these holes and out to the terminals.

All wires going into the amp (e.g. RCA's, 4ga cables coming off the blocks, etc.) come up from under the rack and through those holes. Right?

make small stand offs for the amps to actually mount to and then tuck all the wires into the hole and mount the amp

I think I get what your saying about stand offs. You are saying to mount the amps with risers under the mount points (screw holes at the corners) so the wires have room under their. Right? What do you recommend I used for these small risers? And how tall do you recommend? I'm thinking this means I can't use the short screws that came with the amps as they don't account for a riser.

Make your wires long enough so you can make all the connections without having to hold the amp too.

This is where you lost me. Long cables, check! But I don't understand what you meant by not having to hold the amp.

These tips also reveal an "order of operations" that I wasn't hip to. I was thinking I'd build the rack and mount the amps to it outside the boat as one modular unit. Then mount the entire thing inside the boat. Then run wires to it. Reading Brandon's post caused me to stop and think about the fact that my plan wouldn't work. How would I have been able to pass wires under the rack with amps already in place and no way to see beneath the rack?

Now I see that I have to first cut the large holes in the rack and then mount the rack to the boat (w/out the amps). Then pull the wire. Then mount the amps to the rack. Then hook up the wires to the amps.

See... this is why I started this thread. To help me avoid a dumb mistakes like that.

Yes on the answer to question B.

For the risers, 1/2 is enough. They don't have to be very thick. Just enough that you don't smash all the wires when tightening the amp down. I usually just cut small blocks of whatever material you used for the board. Just paint them silver or black and they will blend right in. Sometimes its a bit easier to just cut a strip of material the same length as the amp and make it 1 1/2 wide by X length and 1/2" tall. You will need two strips per amp. Mine are under the carpet here.

What I meant by not having to hold the amp is this. Trying to hold the Amp in one hand because your cabling is too short to just set it down on the batteries or floor and trying to hook the wires up with your other hand and trying to tighten the small set screws with...... See what I mean? You can sometimes just run one long screw into the board to hold it in place, but its tough that way too. If you have enough wire length just make them that long.

Trying to build it all out on the bench and just installing it into the boat never works out. I have tried it too, but there are to many links to what already is in the boat for that to happen. Trust me on this one .

Don't ever be too naive to think you will not have to get to the adjustments . It usually takes me a week or so of water time to get my systems dialed in perfectly. Listening to all different types of music reveals subtle changes you can make to get the most out of your setup if you know what to listen for.

Edited May 15, 2014 by Bobby Bright

[Cory]

Shawn, Jimmy, and Bobby are giving you great advice. I wish these guys had offered up some of this advice when I did my amp board last year. Man I spent a lot of hours bent over in the locker under the glove box. I learned so much from my first time, next time may actually be enjoyable...

[Cory]

^^^I was talking about my amp board--not my wedding night...

[shawndoggy]

Comment on placement...the positive power cables are pretty thick, especially the larger one (1/0 i think). Be sure the holes are far enough away from those distribution blocks so they don't have to bend too sharply.

A little more to this point... it is TOTALLY worth spending more on premium power cable for this very reason. Way more flexible.

[Brianinpdx]

It's been fun to see everyone's real world tips and guidance on this thread. I've continued to monitor the comments and everyone is totally spot on. I think the end result will be a great treasure chest of info for future DIY projects.

Carry on.... You're doing great iXFE

[IXFE]

Hard at work implementing the day's tips on the amp rack.

Stay tuned... :-)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

[IXFE]

Okay... I got a lot done last night on the amp rack:

- purchased a bunch of stainless steel screws, bolts, washers, and nuts at Lowes

- Drilled holes for amp mounting, installed stainless bolts from underneath, secures with bolts, and dropped 1/2" nylon spacers in place (pic 1)

- Test fit amps, securing with locking nuts (pic 2)

- Cut rectangle holes with jigsaw underneath the amps for wire routing

- Mounted fuse blocks for positive and ground cables: 0 guage in from battery, 4 guage out to amps (pic 3)

- Secured all the cables to the board to facilitate moving it into the boat

- Managed to get it into position, hold it in place, and drive the stainless screws in place (pic 4).

In total that all took me about 5 hours. But I'm intentionally working slow, thinking through each step. So there's a lot of what looks like me sitting in the garage, motionless, in deep thought. :-)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

Edited May 16, 2014 by IXFE

[shawndoggy]

In total that all took me about 5 hours. But I'm intentionally working slow, thinking through each step. So there's a lot of what looks like me sitting in the garage, motionless, in deep thought. :-)

Ha! Totally get it. Totally.

This looks really really good. You are going to end up with a cleaner install than 90% of what I've seen people post pics of what they paid good money for. And the satisfaction of getting to be the first one to flip the go-switch. Beware being bitten by the bug tho!

(^^^ your 2017 247 install is going to be off the hook).

EDIT: I can't see.... is your power distro block fused? What are you using for fusing the main power connection to your power distro block?

Edited May 16, 2014 by shawndoggy

[jk13]

Jack Handey moments. I have them too, especially on my own stuff because it's usually things I haven't tried before.

Looks good so far!

[Cory]

Are the small power cables for the ZLD? Why connect them on the unfused side of the power distribution block? Why not couple to the fused side of the tower amp or give the ZLD is own fuse since you have an extra fuse slot?

What's the tool on the right in picture 3?

What's the material for you amp board?

Great job!!! Makes my first attempt look foolish.

Edited May 16, 2014 by Cory

[Cory]

I wonder if you should use a strong loctite and lock washers with those nylon bolts? Even those can rattle loose over time. Once mounted, you have no way of tightening them without pulling off the amp board. Just a thought.