[NISMOgemini]

yes i did a search and read abotu 20 threads.. and i got a few questions..

1: iv moved the battery(s) to the boot.. so i need pwer to the starter and aultinator.. im thinking $400 of stinger cable is quite a masive waste of money to start my car.. so welding cable is where im headed.. is welding cable ok for this job?? and what gauge would be deemed reasonable.. i was thinking 0 gauge run tot he front of the car then distribution block and send 0 gauge to the starter and 4 gauge to the aultinator.. does this sound ok?

2: are the mm2 and diameter figures the core area or the over all area
http://badman.gotdns.com/sbadman/electrical/AWG-to-mm2.jpg

cheers
gene

[Immo_G]

Off memory the reason to avoid welding cable is because it will not flex like the high strand count (must be a better word for it) like car audio cable. I've seen a 0 guage stinger pack,which was like 6 metres of 0, a fuse, a 2 way distro block at jb for around $180.

Also depending on your car I guess, we use 4ga on R31 skylines ( 6 cyl 3 litre ) and starts fine, we also used this on a dodge charger ( something like 7.2 litres v8) and it also worked, so 0 guage might be overkill for yours. 2ga would be a nice mix, although don't commonly see it.

[NISMOgemini]

ohh ok..

i just read in one of the other threads that stinger 0 gauge was somethign liek $45 a meter :|

[macca_1972]

A guy on a Celica forum I am a member of has just relocated his battery to the boot using welding cable.

Here's a link to a write up with pics:

http://www.celicatec...read.php?t=3356

Hope that helps,
Matt

[>WAYCON<]

Welding cable is fine. As was rightly point out above 0- it is less flexible than the Singer and dedicated Audio Power Wire stuff. But who needs incredibly flexible 0 Guage anyways? I used the Welding cable and have a number of 90* angles - just took more cursing and pulling than the Stinger stuff.

0AWG would be the minimum for battery related stuff. 00 isn't that much more expensive (you are still saving money compared to brand name wire) so you might thing about running that!

And I think that the measurements relate to the core rather than the entire wiring (shielding and all)

[NISMOgemini]

well i just bought 10m of 0 gauge welding cable for $110 for my starter
but will be using audio cbale for the stereo itself... :D

[audible]

0 guage? You realise that they use cables of that size to run entire streets with? Problem with car stereo cable requirements is that somebody worked out what was adequate years ago and every body since then has double that reference many times over untill the point where we are talking about cable sizes that they use to run your suburban street with. Over kill is fine, but it should stop somewhere.

welding cable is fine for anything like this, in fact it is ideal because it has a double sheaf of insulation. 4 guage is more than enough for anything automotive. The only reason you might want anything bigger for a boot battery to engine cable is if the car in question was a f350 or a truck.

We use 4 guage welding cable on any welder under 250 amps power. I have yet to see any car stereo amplifier pull that much power continuously. Welding cable has to carry that amperage continuously, hours and not for a brief milliseconds like an amplifier. besides, trying to run 0 guage cable thru your car boot to bonnet, you wont be able to hide it under the carpet.

8 guage is normally good for the altenator wire. Most factory altenator wires are 10 - 12 guage and only 8 guage for altenators rated over 200 amps. But keep in mind that when your engine is running it is the altenator that is running all your electrics including your stereo so using 4 guage for your altenator to battery is good piece of mind.

[lowlux86]

HAHAHA we buy 0guage double sheaf in 100mtr rolls at my work, we use it to flameproof the trucks sooo i get it all for free, but i have noticed that theres alot more weight in it than the stinger 0guage stuff

[bassman454]

voltage drop is a lot more of a problem when u only have 12 volts... at 12 volts a drop of 1 volt is pretty significant where at welding voltages etc.. one volt drop wont matter much.. i wouldn't try to start a car off 8 guage cable when the battery is in the boot.. and you want to try and get every bit of charge from the alternator.. specially when runnign a stereo

[myv8xd]

im runing standard size,1 guage i think ,welding wire to my amps.if you use welding cable make sure it is new as welding burns the wire inside and can cause dramas.welding cable is easy for me to get being a boilermaker/welder.the worst thing is the size of hole you need to put in the fire wall for a grommett to run the stuff through.but u get that.

[NISMOgemini]

iv run 0 gauge in a gemin b4 even my silvia has it.. its easy to geth from front to back under the carpet...

im not using it for sterio, just to start the car

as for getting it through the fire wall .. well every hole has been welded up and its all hiden under the front gaurds so theres no problem there

[audible]

bassman454 said:

voltage drop is a lot more of a problem when u only have 12 volts... at 12 volts a drop of 1 volt is pretty significant where at welding voltages etc.. one volt drop wont matter much.. i wouldn't try to start a car off 8 guage cable when the battery is in the boot.. and you want to try and get every bit of charge from the alternator.. specially when runnign a stereo

Well, welders are not that much better off than cars. A lot of adjustable output welders have a range down to 20 volts and most welders work only in dc. Voltage drop is an issue for welders as well which is why they use large cables in the first place. The cable sizing takes into account enough to minimize vd.

The americans worked out formula's for calculating cable size for car stereo years ago. But it was all a bit useless because of the availability and cost of cables. You would use the calculator and determine a size such as 7 or 6 guage, but try to buy those sizes? and why bother when 4 guage is only 5 bucks a meter?
After a while, people assumed that 4 guage was the norm with out realising it is twice as big as needed for the average multi amp system and started going up a size "just to be sure" when the original standard was uped a size of two already "just to be sure"

You know, when I was in the overhead power line industry, it was a bit of a joke going around about car stereo nuts running industrial sized power cable in their cars.
I used to run 8 guage in my system (only 200 watts rms back then) because I worked out the correct cable size for the system, then went up 2 sizes "just to be sure" then upgraded it to 4 guage only because I was picked on in install scoring because the judges didnt know any better.

Oh, and why is it that we insist on these huge power cables to connect to our amps, but we only use little cables to connect our amps to the speakers?
Seems a bit silly to me to want to connect 4 guage power cable to our amps for power and only 16-12 guage cables to our speakers. Aren't amps approx 50% efficient?

Ah but, I only worked in the over head powerline industry/big ass power line stuff for nine years.

What would I know?

[NISMOgemini]

i know 0 gauge is over kill.. as the starter only uses like 8 gauge in the first place.. but its all wank/bling factor :D haha

just like mags, u gont need em, but u still buy em

[>WAYCON<]

Shmeh - welding 0 Guage costs just about as much as Brand Name 4 Guage anyways so where is the hurt there?
As for the power wire I run from amps - well the sub gets 4 guage runs

[vanboy]

go big. one day u might want more do0f than u do now ;)
if 4 gauge is big enough, why do so many manufactures specify two runs of 4, or a single 0/1? me used welding cable and ran it tru the chassis/sub frames to avoid the bulging floor/firewall grommet problem. it worked too.