Heavy duty wire / battery relocation

a_kelley

a_kelley

mechanical fixer
Joined
Jan 26, 2010
Location
Rutherfordton
OK so I'm putting 175 amp continuous rated Andersen connectors front/rear on my jeep for winch/jump cables. Possibly relocating the battery. Was thinking of 1/0 awg, but where can I get thick insulation/quality wire at a decent price? Don't want to pay $4/ft.. It'd be about $100 to wire it up.. Or would 2 gauge be sufficient for jump starts and a 6k winch? Probably looking at 150 amp continuous or 300 amps intermittent. Also would relocating the battery under the back seat be a bad idea?
 
Look for red and black welding cable. Thats about the cheapest good quality cable you can usually find. For standard battery cable marine supply places often have decent prices for by-the-foot.

What's the current draw on the winch? That's probably going to set the wire size, if the current is really high for a decent amount of time.

Wire is sized based in temperature rise and resistance, and if you're doing short duty cycle but high current things like engine starting, you can get away with 2 gauge. That's normal for battery relocation kits.for engine starting, etc.
 
Know anybody with some old NATO slave cables? I used them to wire my CUCV. 00 battery leads, grounds, and starter cable. 2000 cranking amps on tap. Works reallllll nice!
 
Don't really know the current draw, yes I understand ohms law, voltage drop, heat ratings and so forth. 1/0 is plenty heavy enough.. Just don't want to use stereo amp cable side I'm going to run it under the jeep.. I guess I could sleeve it with half inch pvc/emt for abrasion protection.
 
Proper battery cable or welding cable are both a lot more durable than stereo cable. Sleeving won't hurt, but it's often not necessary depending on where you run the wire. Braided abrasion sleeve is often plenty of protection if you're just worried about rubbing on chassis rails or whatever. I've seen people use gray flex conduit too, which is what is often used under chassis in electric vehicles (special orange stuff for EVs), but I think that's overkill for low voltage stuff.
 
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I can do 2 gauge red or black for 2 dollars a foot. Will have to order, we have 4 and 6 gauge in stock. Ran about 156 feet of 4 gauge today.:)
 
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we do alot of wiring using heavy gauges.
 
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kits like this are available too.
 
Yeah I've got connectors covered, just was wondering just how cheap I could get decent 1/0.. Saw some on flea bay for about 1.50/ft but don't want knock off cable even though I'm sure most comes from China anyway.. Not a clear cable fan either, from what I've seen clear insulation doesn't hold up as well with heat/age (don't like doing things twice.)
 
Fabrik8 said:
The clear stuff is car audio cable, stay away from it and get real cable.
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Yeah, I've seen it used on starters and such and always thought it improper.. Not that it's not rated for the current but the insulation isn't quite up to the task.. I always use standard cable, was curious if anyone had a somewhat local source for decent 1/0 without $6/ft. If y'all think 2 gauge is sufficient I'll do that.. Actually, it should be.. I've been running my winch with the heaviest, longest jumper cables advance sells (2 or 4 gauge? 20 foot) And I've made the circuit breaker trip and the ends are the only thing that heated up.. figure a cable clamp on a 3/8 eyelet.. Not optimum by any means.
 
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The clear audio cable insulation is not rated to withstand oil and grease that is the biggest difference. Though it also has a lower insulation leak rating
 
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