Installation of a 5 channel amp
I'm posting this to help others in installing an amp. I installed a Rockford F 1000 watt rms 5 channel amp to drive external speakers and an internal or external sub. The amp is a class D which is 10% more efficient and less of a heat source.
The amp was bought online at a step discount to retail. I picked up the remote base controller as well. An install kit was bought from a major discount big box store. The kit included wiring, a capacitor, fuse....
I then started to look at where I wanted the amp to be installed. Looking at the size of the amp and the controls I determined it should be installed where the controls can be accessed and not totally hidden. A spot next to the existing fuse panel worked great.
I opened the fuse panel and located a spare 8 gauge hot terminal. Behind the panel is a ground strip. I ran an 8 gauge wire from here to the kits fuse and then out to the amp. The refrigerator needed to be pulled out to gain access to the RCA plugs from the stereo.
Speaker wires were dropped outside by using the base vent of the refrigerator. A 5 channel indoor stereo outlet was placed inside an outdoor electrical box positioned by the steps. Banana plugs were purchased for quicker connections.
What I think i did right
The right amp. All the inputs are on the bottom and the controls are accessible from the front.
Pulling the power from the fuse panel made it much easier and cleaner however I am sacrificing wire size & potential output.
I added a sub woofer jack inside the rv to get better base response while watching movies.
The "fixes" I needed to make
The RCA outputs from the stereo are fixed at full volume (for tv use)so I needed to purchased an 1/2 DIN equalizer with volume control. It also has an additional input which is nice. I can run stereo inside the rv and iPod outside.
I needed to buy a switch to control the amps "auto on"
The flat mistakes I made
You can not run a capacitor on a trailer due to the trailer not being run every 3 days. Except for the fuse, no other item in the kit was used. The kit was essentially useless.
The remote amp controller isnt that useful with the equalizer.
The amp was bought online at a step discount to retail. I picked up the remote base controller as well. An install kit was bought from a major discount big box store. The kit included wiring, a capacitor, fuse....
I then started to look at where I wanted the amp to be installed. Looking at the size of the amp and the controls I determined it should be installed where the controls can be accessed and not totally hidden. A spot next to the existing fuse panel worked great.
I opened the fuse panel and located a spare 8 gauge hot terminal. Behind the panel is a ground strip. I ran an 8 gauge wire from here to the kits fuse and then out to the amp. The refrigerator needed to be pulled out to gain access to the RCA plugs from the stereo.
Speaker wires were dropped outside by using the base vent of the refrigerator. A 5 channel indoor stereo outlet was placed inside an outdoor electrical box positioned by the steps. Banana plugs were purchased for quicker connections.
What I think i did right
The right amp. All the inputs are on the bottom and the controls are accessible from the front.
Pulling the power from the fuse panel made it much easier and cleaner however I am sacrificing wire size & potential output.
I added a sub woofer jack inside the rv to get better base response while watching movies.
The "fixes" I needed to make
The RCA outputs from the stereo are fixed at full volume (for tv use)so I needed to purchased an 1/2 DIN equalizer with volume control. It also has an additional input which is nice. I can run stereo inside the rv and iPod outside.
I needed to buy a switch to control the amps "auto on"
The flat mistakes I made
You can not run a capacitor on a trailer due to the trailer not being run every 3 days. Except for the fuse, no other item in the kit was used. The kit was essentially useless.
The remote amp controller isnt that useful with the equalizer.
