Positive - negative question?

chadjessie@hotm

Kind of a dumb question but I couldn't find much on it and was wondering what kind of problems could be caused by doing it wrong. I know there is obviously positive - negative hookups on avrs and speakers. But I have speaker wire that isn't labeled or color differentiated in any way. Both wires are exactly the same. I thought about completely getting new wire but that really isn't realistic because it is all prerun in walls and ceilings. When hooking up I really have no way of knowing which is which. The sound seems to work with both wires if I switch them which seems odd to me but was wondering if there is any secret to be able to tell which is which? Will hooking up wrong cause damage at all? Fill me in on this if you can!

WilliamM2

Frequencies out of phase, and cancellations is what will happen.

There should be some kind of marking on the wire, sometimes it is just a raised rib on the insulation of one side. If there really is no marking, you can mark it yourself quite easily. With the speaker wires removed from your system on both ends, connect a battery to the wires on one side, use a multimeter to check polarity at the other end. Mark each positive side with a marker.

Rivrrat

WINNER!! That will work wonderfully.

I'm surprised I didn't think of it, since I build battery back up systems for telcom eq, and polarity is VERY important. :rolleyes:

chadjessie@hotm

Hey guys. Checked the wire over ultra close and there really is nothing. No rib, color, even checked the wording on it, which alternates to each wire throughout. I did try to mark what I thought was the positive wires with a marker before I posted this subject, but I was unsure if I was correct. I am a little unsure how to check with the battery as suggested. Could I get some more details on this? Would I hook up each wire the positive negative terminals on the battery then check the other end with the multimeter? And what is a multimeter and where could I get one?:D Thanks.

dudeinaroom

A multimeter is used to check voltage,amperage and resistance. You can get one from a car parts store of a radio shack. as far as the battery goes you would start with one of your speaker leads(i.s the left channel set) an attach or have some one hold one of the wires on the positive and the other on the negative ends of the battery, mark which ever end you have hooked to the positive side of the battery. You then take you multi meter to the other end of the wire and hook one of each of the leads to one of each of the wires. If you get a reading that is a positive number than mark the wire that has the red lead attached, if it is a negative number mark the black one instead. good luck

dudeinaroom

It got dumb on me

WilliamM2

This is a multimeter:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=390-730

You don't need anything more than a basic model for this.

zingo

What a great idea. I'll have to use this.
Oh and chadjessie, I have run across that kind of speaker wire before too. It is amazing that some companies are so cheap that they won't even park positive and negative on a cable. Frustrating to say the least.

chadjessie@hotm

Ok. I think I've got it now. Thanks for the help and the link to parts express. If that one works I think I will just order that one and go from there. Thanks for the help!:D

ben62670

If you don't have a meter.
Take a nine volt battery, and hook it up to one wire on one end. Then take the other end, and take one wire at a time, and see which one sparks when touching the other terminal on the battery. Mark the ends that created the spark. Now you know which wire is which. I always mark the negative, but have seen it both ways. Its up to you.
Enjoy
P.S. the spark will be small and safe.

chadjessie@hotm

Yup, went the multimeter route. It worked very well and now all of the wires are clearly marked positive and negative. Thanks again for the help!

dudeinaroom

Good deal, happy listening

engtaz

Congrats