Advice on Amp Placement ?

Can someone provide me with any advice on amp placement in my boat? I have a Tige 23v and was just wondering where most people install them?

Also is there any thing that I need to be aware of? Moisture, Heat, etc?

Im not familiar, with The Tige. But In my Nautique. I mounted them On the hull. The amps are mounted on boards that are glued to the side of the boat Up under the gunnel where things stay dry.

Woops try this
This is the Amp Board

This is the Amp mounted to the board

This is the amp with the side pannel on


This is as exposed as my amps get the Amps on the Passenger side are tucked way up under the gunnel and are out of view. But this amp on the drivers side is very large so I only had a few places it wolud mount.

I guess I'm different than other people. I spent quite a bit of money getting quality amps and wires and hooked up an amp board that looks real nice. I intended putting it in a location that I could display them but I ended up putting the amp board in a location behind the bow seats. It is out of the way and I figure if someone tries to steal them from my boat they would have a heck of time finding them. Consequently it made adjusting the inputs and frequencies a pain.

I put mine in the storage compartment on the spotter side, and fastened an amp rack board to that wall with bolts. this required drilling holes in that panel and temporarily removing some of the bow seat pads but it made for a really nice and out of the way mounting scheme.

here is a photo before I upgraded the sub amp to 4 ga and tidy'd up the wires a bit.

I am with Tim on this one!

I welded a square tubing rack and then powdercoated it and installed the amps behind the observer seat. The bottom amp is about 5/8" off of the floor just in case the carpet got a little wet.
The wall isn't small, the amps are large.



(Message edited by hyperryd on August 27, 2003)

Thanks for the input! Going to install mine today.

under the observers seat

tim (and others) if the wall is thick enough to mount your amp board with those bolts, why not just mount the amp with 4 screws? whats the advantage to an amp board?

right now, i have mine mounted under the observer seat on the right side wall. i did not make a board though. (xstar)

"John" Very Nice: what Orions are they??

Hey A.P.(Big Daddy) What do you mean your diffrent from other people? You spent money on Quality Amp's? (like no one else here did). Why is it that you were the only one that didn't post a photo of your system or offer any helpfull advise? In not trying to be a Dick did I read your post wrong?

I know with most boats storage is a issue. When mouting Amp's I would use this advice as your way of deciding where you mount.
#1 Does it stay dry as possable there? I know this is a hard place to find on a boat (The amps draw in mositure as they heet and cool) it's no good mounting some where its dry and then you your throwing wet life jackets there. The amps suck in the moisture. So sometimes a place where they are more vented works beter.
#2 Where they fit.
#3 where you can adjust them. where my amps are installed it is a whore to adjust anything.If this is the same for you. Make the wires long enough so you can take the amps down with all the wires connected and then adjust away and then mount them back.

Tim, Wakenup,
Nice job on the install they both look great. I am thinking of doing the same on my 2001 21v. I have the factory amp in the front compartment below the glove box and hate it. I want to install a second 400 watt amp for the Tower speakers and run the sub on the factory putting both in the back storage comp battery side. Did both of you run a second battery? If so, how did you hook this up with an Isolator or just a perko switch and where can you find a daul battery switch that is the same size as my cuurent switch (size wise)? All the dual switches I have seen are massive and look terrable installed.

Thanks TK

matt-

a mounting board lets you run/hide the wires behind the board for a cleaner look. a mounting board can also turn a weird angle in the hull into something you can secure an amp to. you don't really want to secure to the hull wall without a board...unless its way above the waterline. haha

i mounted 1 amp to a board and another to the back of a bow seat without a board.

Thanks for the input Grant, and everyone. Also, do any of you un-install the amps over the winter?

matt, i used a board because screws and fiberglass generally don't do well together unless they are really long and going into a lot of glass. the board i used was actually my old kick panel for the driver's feet (resized) so it is some sort of plastic. this way i could use some nice pan head screws to mount the amps to the board, and also not worry about making multiple holes. i originally set it up to hide the wires but when it came down to it I decided otherwise.

todd,
i currently only have one battery. i am only running 700W and don't run the stereo with the boat off. however, when I graduate and have cash flow again I will upgrade and add a battery or two, with an isolator.

also i agree with grant, putting wet stuff in by the amps is not a great idea. my storage area is dry storage only.

Grant: There are two 8002's and one 8004. I should have the system done by this Friday. I'll post more pics later.

Wow, those amps are outstanding John, good work.