I appreciate everyone's willingness to take the time to answer my questions, and I have yet another one.

How do I connect the power and ground cables to the amp? Do I need to solder them together? There is a heat shrink on the cables.

 

The best connection you can get would be to solder the connections and heat shrink to protect and insulate.

 

however on any car or motorcycle you will not find a soldered wire connection, the reason being that soldered connections do not hold up to vibrations over time.

the wire strands will break right where the tinning ends by the insulation, one by one. not today or tomorrow but down the road.

If the + breaks then you just fix, if the - breaks it could take out your amp.

crimped connections are best, that is what you will see all over your bike


Mike

 

The amp has 10 gauge wire, but says I need 8 gauge to the battery.

Is there a quick connect type of crimped adapter that would work for both positive and negative?

 

You can pick up butt splice connectors at Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. that already have a heat-shrink cover. Just push the wires into the connector, crimp and heat.

For the connections at the battery, I always use crimp connector "rings", just large enough for the battery bolt to pass through.

You can always use standard butt connectors, then add heat-shrink tubing over them.

I used 8 gauge power & ground wire with 8-10AWG connectors.

 

Any quick connect options that have worked well for anyone?

 

Posi lock and posi tap connectors are good to go.

 

Well I did find some 8 AWG butt connectors, but can't seem to find any crimpers that will work with that size. I wish I could locate some type on quick connectors, any ideas?

 

Amy Home Depot has crimpers that will handle that size wire. There's a set of red-handled Kliens that will last you for years or you can get the little yellow dirt cheap set if you don't ever plan on crimping anything again. Just go to the electrical isle. If you want quick disconnects just search here. Plenty of places mentioned. Happy hunting.
-FW

 

I use both of these depending on the connector size.
http://www.harborfreight.com/lineman...ool-36760.html