Battery cable size from battery to converter?

[Jason1955]

I'm planning on relocating my battery from inside to outside on the tongue. I'm going to get one of the RV converters but wanted to know what size cable needed to be run from the battery to the converter? I'm thinking maybe #6 welding cable or would I need #4?

Thanks,
Jason

[jwhite]

I used number6 strand and went to the auto parts store and bought copper terminal attachments and hammered the ends down tight, I ran mine 6ft from the tounge into the trailer to the inverter.
works great no problem.

[Pyrofish]

I used this site to help me figure on 12v wire sizes.

http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm

http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volta.htm

The second page has the draw/length chart. I used welding lead on mine too.

[roadinspector]

I used #6 and it's working great. Solder connections are best. Here is a file that will explain how to do it if you are not sure. http://www.aeroelectric.com/articles/big_term.pdf The only thing I do different is I flux the wire before I put it in the terminal. It helps to put it all in a vise to stabilize it so it doesn't move around on you while doing this.

FYI: If you need a super flexible large wire, go to a sound shop. They sell CCA 4 ga, 8 ga and other sizes. You can literally tie it in a knot it is so flexible. We use it for bike battery cables. We bought it for about $2.00/ft and bought the terminals and heat shrink at ACE. We have less than $20 in our cables that if they were prefab they would cost over $50.

Earnest

[Jason1955]

Cool deal....thanks for the info guys!!!!!!

[Mikka]

If you want a good no resistance wire, just use # 4 stranded welding wire and # 6 battery connector with a 3/16" or 1/4"hole for connecting bolt, the type you can crimp and available at lowes for a couple of bucks for two. Peel off the rubber on the wire just long enough to go to the end of the connector. Take the connector and drill a hole at the close end of the connector. a 1/8" hole will do plently. Clean the inside of the connector, put in some soldering flux and push the wire inside as far as possible. It is tight, but if your twist the stranded wire real good, you can get it started good inside the connector right to the end, but If it is giving you a problem, just tap on the end of the connector with a screwdrive handle while holding the wire firmly, closed to the connector in your hand or in a vice. If using a vise make sure you do not commpressed to hard. Just enough to hold it in place to avoid deforming the wire.

Once the wire is in all the way, just hold the wire up straight in the vice and slowly heat the connector with a soldering torch. When hot enough, just melt solder in the 1/8" hole until it is full and it can't take no more, let cool it down a few minutes and you have a very stable cable and connector that will not give any resistance to the flow of electricity.

This is how I make all my cables to connect 6 volts batteries in series and parrallel to make banks of 12 volts batteries.

[needafixit]

the correct answer is based on the amount of amps you expect to carry AND the distance of your run,there are many tables or calculators on the net for this

[Pyrofish]

Be careful what you do with that sound grade wire. I don't know what the difference is, but the insulation doesn't have the same rating. I used 10ga sound grade wire on my long runs feeding my LED's, but was warned against using it elsewhere. I don't know how much amperage that insulation is rated to handle. It is significantly cheaper, which is why I used it to run my 12v fixtures.

[roadinspector]

Be careful what you do with that sound grade wire. I don't know what the difference is, but the insulation doesn't have the same rating. I used 10ga sound grade wire on my long runs feeding my LED's, but was warned against using it elsewhere. I don't know how much amperage that insulation is rated to handle. It is significantly cheaper, which is why I used it to run my 12v fixtures.

4 GA CCA POWER WIRE
http://www.audiotechnix.com/products/power-wire/copper-clad-aluminum-wire-cca/4-ga-cca-power-wire
Description:

Audio Technix 4 GA Copper Clad Aluminum (10% Copper 90% Aluminum) power wire has 1862 strands and uses a flexible PVC jacket to insure maximum flexibility. It has an Outer Diameter of 10MM and is capable of 100 amp loads. Available in several colors, red, blue, white, and black.

Specs:

Outer Diameter- 10 mm

Core Diameter- 6.85 mm

Core Material- 0.12 mm Strands of Copper Clad Aluminum

Jacket- Flexable PVC

Power Rating- 115A @ 20’

Strand Count- 1862

This company also sells 8 GA & 1/0 GA

The 1/0 GA CCA is rated at 250A @ 20'
The 8 GA CCA is rated at 50A @ 20'