Are the Red and Black Wire's Universal?

[Subject]
Are the Red and Black Wire's Universal?
[Question]
I am installing a Cigarette Lighter in my car. I know I need a Red "Hot" Wire, and a green "Ground" Wire. I have a black wire and a green one. Is the black and red wires universal? Or do I NEED to use a red one.



Thanks.
Basically, is the color coding system in the wires only for ease? or is it designed to be a ground or hot wire.

Jeff W @ 2009-06-07 10:55:23

[All Answers]
yes pretty much red always hot other two wil be ground or for a light black most comon ground

kelly_f_1999 @ 2009-06-07 11:02:46

im not sure if this is what you are asking, but you could use any color you want, it doesn't matter. yes red and back are usually used, but you could use any color. but if you plan on selling you should at least label them out of courtesy.

Mizzle @ 2009-06-07 11:05:52

Ok,



Very open ended question here; you say that you are "installing a cigarette lighter in your car"



Are you "installing" or "replacing" a cigarette lighter in your car.



If you are replacing a cigarette lighter in your car then I would assume that the black wire is ground and the green is power. I know this sounds odd as most household wiring green is ground.



You will not harm anything by temporarily hooking it up and testing it; although I would recommend going and buying a test light to find your power wire correctly.

Abby C @ 2009-06-07 11:05:55

Better consult a wiring diagram. Plus you need to make sure the circuit and fuse can handle the load. Lighters pull a lot of current. IIRC up to 50 amps. You'll want it on a dedicated circuit otherwise you will discover that the smell of fried insulation is nasty and the smell, smoke and noise can be unnerving at highway speed.

Melissa E @ 2009-06-07 11:07:53

No. A piece of wire is just a piece of wire. Theyre just used for color codes. The different colors are just to help keep them separated and makes it easy to identify. As long as they are the correct size and you know which color wire you hooked up to another, then youre ok. So if you wanted to, you could use all the same color wire. But usually to keep it simple, red, yellow, or orange usually represents a hot or power wire. Black or green usually represents ground or negative.

WigSplitta @ 2009-06-07 11:08:03

[Subject]
4 channel 600w amp does not turn on. connected to battery and ground wire, 2 subs speaker wires connected.?
[Question]
its a sony xplod 4/3 channel, replaced my 1 sub and 200w amp with 2 subs and the 600w amp. connected the wires like the other one was, and it doesnt work. does my car battery have enough power? thats the only problem i can think of, as i have tried reconnecting all the wires and checking the fuses. i didnt bridge anything, just connected the power wire and the ground wire and the sub speaker wires to the amp. when i tried to set up my old sub and old amp, it would not turn on either, thats why i think it may be the battery.

Bry @ 2009-06-07 09:43:58

[All Answers]
got your remote hooked up? the amp turn on wire?got any power led's.without the remote hooked up, im not sure the amp will turn on.also, mount the amp with bolts and ground should go to the bolts(1 of em) thatll give you a good chasis ground.

idontgivafork @ 2009-06-07 09:50:59

the battery will still turn it on. Thats not the problem. turn on lead?? gotta have that.

Doug W @ 2009-06-07 10:16:54

If you have a multimeter or a volt meter, check the voltage at the amp. If youre reading 12V then the fuse for your power supply is good, if not, replace the fuse. Then make sure you have good grounds (bare metal, no painted surfaces, secured/bolted tight) If those are ok check your remote wire. Its usually a thin blue wire when you buy the kits. This is the on/off switch. If you have a factory radio, then your remote was hooked to an accessory that gains 12V when your car key turns the accessories on (acts as a switch) like a cigarette lighter. If that wire is hooked up correctly to the amp but its not showing 12V, then its most likely that the fuse for that particular accessory is out. Replace it. If none of these solves the problem then the issue is with the amp itself. Have it checked out.



But it would not be the battery because if your battery was bad, it wouldnt affect only your amp, but everything else in your car.

WigSplitta @ 2009-06-07 10:18:59

your battery wouldnt make it not turn on> do you have your remote wire hooked up cuz if not then it dosnt know when to turn the amp on

cody @ 2009-06-07 10:27:41

[Subject]
which is better, a 2 channel amp or a 1 channel amp?
[Question]
I have two new Kenwood subs that are each rated at 300 watts and 1000 watts peak a piece and they are each 4 ohms . I have been looking at amps on ebay and i stumbled upon a stupid question. My question is if it would be better(more power) to get a 1200 watt 1 channel amp or a 1200 watt two channel amp.

corey4680 @ 2009-06-07 09:29:35

[All Answers]
well i would say go for the two channel, that is if your just starting up with car audio. It will save you the time of wiring your subs in parallel which isnt something you should do unless you know exactly what you are doing. 2 channel is the way to go. Plus if you feel like wiring them in parallel later down the road, you can still hook them up to the 2 channel amp

JLaudio4life @ 2009-06-07 09:41:39

the 1200 watt 1 channel will put out the most power. But you HAVE to BRIDGE your subs if you get the mono amp(1 channel).

JB! @ 2009-06-07 09:51:35

if you get a one channel amp it sends 1200watts through that one channel, so 1200w going to both subs. but if you get a two channel the amp can put out 1200w but not to each channel, that is what it can put out total so you're looking at 600w per channel unless you only hook one sub to it. but some 2 channel amps can be bridged, but it has to say bridgeable. that way you can get the most power out of the 2 channel amp. in my opinion i would get the one channel, to me 2 channel are useless.

Jro @ 2009-06-07 11:03:24

[Subject]
what are the best watts for 12'' car speakers and who has the best brand?
[Question]
need help selecting some speakers for my car

brandon b @ 2009-06-07 10:49:01

[All Answers]
there is no best, everyone has there favorites and there are so many brands out there it would be hard to answer your question with accuracy. try Digital Designs subs those are my favorites

XZELSOR @ 2009-06-07 10:55:46

if your getting subs witch im guessing you are then i suggest you get over to Best Buy, Sound Craft or some Car Audio place that's located near you so you can hear them for yourself and compare the differences.



It all depends on what your looking for. what kinda sound you want. I'm a kicker girl myself and I pride my system. But again its all about what sound you want. I mean Kicker is loud and has a big bang to it but JL audio hist harder but isn't as loud as kicker. see its kinda hard to explain without letting you have the experience of hearing it for yourself. I mean it depend on what amp you have pushing these subs too. then there's all the extras like compassitor , Eq control box, bass control, etc.

Me personally Im into bass competition so I go all out and Im a kicker lover all the way and Id definitely recommend them. But like I said before, it what your looking for. your best bet is to listen to different subs and with what amp you want. Remember you get what you pay for.



Good luck!

♥ஜ♥L3nA♥ஜ♥ @ 2009-06-07 11:02:46

This ultimately depends on the money you are willing to spend. Awesome car audio has its price for a reason. But if your standards are high then research some of these brands of subs, jl audio, Clif designs, MMats audio, and Orion. Three of these you can find at onlinecarstereo.com. When you look at a certain speaker you can also find reviews left by people who have purchased that speaker. Mmats audio is a little harder to find, but a very quality sub. Check them out at there website Mmats audio.com

David B @ 2009-06-07 11:03:37

[Subject]
Why won't my burned CD's play in my car stereo?
[Question]
I've burned some CD's off of iTunes with all the formats being MP3 which work fine on most players nowadays but it just won't work in my car, my car isn't old by any means. It's a Vauxhall Signum which is fairly new and very modern, when I insert the CD it says "Invalid CD!" and ejects it, can anyone tell me why it does this?



Greatly appreciated, thankyou.
I forgot to mention that it plays a mixed CD that's been created by someone else but won't play mine. Am I doing something wrong as the car stereo definately plays some burned CD's?
Thanks you guys,

Summer; where can I get an online converter like this? I would prefer a free one? :)

Ash T @ 2009-06-07 11:50:03

[All Answers]
its probably the make of the cd...

Eyody @ 2009-06-07 11:53:57

because new downloads are mp3s and do not work with certain stereos - i had the same prob

bubbllyboo @ 2009-06-07 11:54:10

i kept doing the same thing and when i checkd the car cd player it didnt have the mp3 sign on it only aac or somthing like that wich is the format that all the cd's we buy are in. its something like audio somthing... u can try get a converter online to convert the tracks from mp3 to aac

summer xxx @ 2009-06-07 11:55:06