Battery/winch cable...which to use? (1 Viewer)

[backwoodsman]

I want to make some cable for my dual battery setup and for my winch. I've read that welding cable is good but the cover is not resistant not chemicals and such. So, which cable is best, what size ( I believe in slight overkill, not total overkill) also, which fittings are best, copper, aluminum or? and is soldering the best way to attach the ends to the cable or crimping?

Thanks in advance for any input and photos.

 

[FJ62INTX]

oh my, what a bunch of opinions can be posted here....

I will tell You what I did that I am going to install.




I bought all Tinned Copper- Marine Grade wiring and tinned solid copper crimp terminals for my Battery and Winch cables from Ebay

My winch runs 2 GA. and I bought 2/0 GA. wire for my main power- battery connections

I am making some 1/2 inch thick pure copper bus bars to run the 2/0 wires to.


Napa Sells the best quality Solid Copper Battery terminals that are fully Tinned also, so that is what I bought for my setup.

If You haven't noticed, I like Pure copper that is tinned to protect it from corrosion.....


Tinned Copper wires don't lose conductivity to a measurable amount compared to raw virgin copper, and 15 years from now, they will still have almost the exact same amount of resistance.

15 years from now, Raw copper that is exposed to Oxygen will be corroded to a point that it is at least blackened where it resistance goes way up, and possibly starting to turn green, at which it quickly increases resistance to the point of damage to the wire, possible fires and damage to the components it is powering.

 

[Cruzerman]

Can't speak directly of the cables, although I like what FJ62INTX posted. I can speak of the Napa terminals. They work well. I've seen some people solder them on. I would not suggest that. Crimp on your connectors so there is a mechanical connection. I've seen solder melt during heavy operations. Also, use the top post and not the side post of the battery as well. As always, JMHO.

 

[lcwizard]

I usually buy my battery cabling from the local welding store. they sell it by the foot. Extremely flexible , fine stranded

 

[ntsqd]

What you've read is mostly a internet myth that some here insist on perpetuating. A quality welding cable's jacket will be fine in an engine bay. See attachment, note the chemicals its OK with. Also note the MSHA rating, that means that its OK to use in mines of any sort within the US.

If you buy cheap stuff it really doesn't matter what it is that you bought, its still cheap.

Going with tinned conductor cable would be a bonus, but unless you live on a coast or somewhere prone to high humidity I'm not sure that its worth the difference in price.
Of equal or probably more importance is to use adhesive lined heat shrink to bridge the gap between the cable jacket and the lug. This is to seal the assembly and keep moisture out of the stranding. Note that if you use the lug type that looks to be formed from a tube of copper that you're wasting your time and money with this step. Use those lugs that look cast or forged as their crimp barrels are drilled and are truly blind.

If you know a commercial electrician ask he/she to do the crimping of the terminals. Code calls for hex die crimps on some commercial wiring and home electricians won't likely have the hundred dollar plus tool. A commercial electrician will be used to the lugs being color coded to the dies to use and these lugs probably won't have that, so it may take some fiddling around to find the right die set. Avoid over-crimping as that is actually worse than under-crimping. If the crimp barrel grows in length from crimping you've gone too far.

Have a look at the waytek wire and del city wire pages for components.

 

[backwoodsman]

Thanks NTSQD, this is the info I was looking for. I've used welding cable before and I liked how flexible it was like LCWIZARD mentioned above but then I heard/read that it didn't stand up to chemicals so I wondered. I will go that route again since it was easy to work with. I live in NorCal were we get a fair amount of moisture during the winter, but not enough to affect the cables...I hope.

Thanks again, this place is great for info

 

[TobyB]

use adhesive lined heat shrink

This stuff is probably the best thing to happen to wiring in a very long time!

t

 

[lcwizard]

I don't expect something like wiring, electrical tape and connectors to last forever without maintenance. You should look at most every part on the cruiser as a wear item or you'll be severely disappointed. The concept of lifetime warranties on brakes, alternators and all the other parts always seemed ridiculous to me. All it did was drive manufacturing overseas where they could build the part for six times less and replace it five times and still make a profit.

 

[xxfullsailxx]

i'm going to chime in cause i just finished installing the blue sea add-a-battery system to my FJ62...

http://www.bluesea.com/products/7650

i used an old pair of fine copper-strand 4-gauge jumper cables, which yielded 24' of 4-gauge wire. i used that for the wire runs from the ACR to both battery's...

i purchased 25' of 2-gauge copper strand (in black) battery cable from del city... it was perfectly suited/flexible for wire runs down both fenders to fire wall to the battery switch to starter, etc... 25' was enough cable for the ground system as well... i also purchased del-city's dual wall heat shrink tubing in red and black to seal connections and designate positive from negative... that stuff seemed plenty solid and sealed up the connections nicely.

for connection's... i struggled between buying a crimp tool big enough to crimp and solder vs. just soldering... i ended up using del city's terminal solder slugs. they were easy to use and seem like solid connections, though time will tell.

http://www.delcity.net/documents/movies/battery_terminals.mpg

i called blue sea tech. support, who were very helpful in making sure that what i was doing (gauge cable and length of runs) would work and charge properly without over loading the wire or excessive voltage drop.

hope this helps make your job simpler... after reading threads on dual battery set-ups, i felt like a lot of people over-engineer / over-wire their work, when simpler, smaller gauge wire will work just fine.

 

[ntsqd]

One other thing, if fitting adhesive lined HS to an existing wire or cable assembly isn't possible, find a source for 3M 130C electrical tape. This stuff isn't the vinyl tape sold everywhere. This is a self-bonding thick tape. At the power plant, *right* on the coast, we used it to seal off bolted assemblies that we didn't want to rust together. Once fused you are not going to unwind it, you will have to cut it off with a sharp knife (assuming Obama lets us keep those).

Note in the attachment that it mentions stretching the tape as you apply it. This is important for a good bond.

 

[henrysccott]

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[henrysccott]

All modern trailer plugs have a 12v supply in the connector. Find it and run a wire from it to the winch battery positive.


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