6mm cable not enough for rear 12v sockets

[TimE]

I have run three separate 6mm dual core cables, one for the fridge, one for the HF and one for the 300w inverter, all using Anderson plugs and running off the aux battery, both + and -.

Runs fine for me, no problems so far, touch wood. Note, all cable have suitable fusing close to the 105ah battery.

[bordertech]

Question for Bordertech

I'm about to put in a 100w HF Codan NGT radio, with the aerial on the bull bar and will probably put in a 3rd battery in to run it, with that battery being located under the pod at the back.

Is 6mm strong enough to go the distance/length (it's not a loaded question for you sick people, either!!)

Thanks.

Rossco

?Gday Rossco, not sure what pod in the back you mean for the battery but 6mm cable should be fine for the Codan from the radio to the rear as it isn't going be that long a run and as Yobbo said the HF draws more current than your average UHF, driving an auto tune antenna as well?
6mm is 4.58sq.mm and can handle 50A continuous but the longer the run the more the voltage drop. Say over a 4mt length in 6mm (depends where you mount your radio and battery) you'll only get 0.29V drop @ 20A draw which is perfectly acceptable, less than 3% drop. If it was 5-6mts long I'd say go to 8sq.mm (100A rated)
Sparkies use a max of 5% drop rule of thumb for 240V etc but for 12-24V etc it needs to be 3% or less.
Hope that helps,
Cheers, Dave

[JoeG]

One thing to watch is some auto stores sell wire with the mm dia being total dia. including insulation not just the copper conductor- I have seen these so called 25A cables and they are more suited to wiring in a stereo than a high current draw item
Joe

[DX grunt]

I’ll either put the aerial next to the mobile phone aerial or take the phone aerial off and stick it there.


Was thinking about swapping the water tank over from the back left to the back right underneath the pod to make room for the 3rd battery

[DX grunt]

One thing to watch is some auto stores sell wire with the mm dia being total dia. including insulation not just the copper conductor- I have seen these so called 25A cables and they are more suited to wiring in a stereo than a high current draw item
Joe

Thanks Joe.

I'm gunna take it to a proper HF radio installer and they can supply all the wiring ect and do it properly the first time.

[bordertech]

One thing to watch is some auto stores sell wire with the mm dia being total dia. including insulation not just the copper conductor- I have seen these so called 25A cables and they are more suited to wiring in a stereo than a high current draw item
Joe

Gday JoeG, all auto cable has always been identified and sold as the total diameter which doesn't really help as some of them have thicker insulation and dont relate to the actual copper conductor size, whereas all good quality auto cable does. Good auto cable states the actual conductor size in sq.mm on the packaging and there is a total diameter to conductor size standard with all good cable.
Cheers.

[megatexture]

totaly agree here i hate running wires, just run one for over kill and fuse it all out the back makes fitting things later soo much easier
.

[Yendor]

I normally shy away from recommending what size cable people should run down the rear of their vehicle for their accessories because there are just so many varying factors.

There are so many different options available for accessories (even just in the 3 main items people want to run from the back, fridge, lights and air compressor) and they all draw different amounts.

Then there is the confusion regarding wiring size, as stated above some of the cheaper wire has more insulation then wire.

I think MudRunners advice to AB is sound and will allow for any extras that AB might want to add later.

The downside is the extra cost in buying the larger battery cable.

The other thing to remember when using B&S cable is that the cable lugs/terminals require a special tool to fit them correctly to the cable.

A cable is only as good as the quality of it's connections.

[beansathome]

whats wrong with brazing or soldering the connection ?

[gregs]

whats wrong with brazing or soldering the connection ?

Nothing wrong with soldering the terminals on larger cabling but I would also crimp them as well, this way you have a better chance of the terminal and the cable staying together, but in saying that, soldering can also make the cable brittle and more susceptable to corrugations.

I have always crimped and soldered (and heatshrink) my connections on 8 B&S cable and bigger, regardless of whether they go into an anderson plug or a bolt on terminal. Anything else is usually just crimped and heatshrinked. And I also use an exorbanant amount of cable ties to hold my wiring in place so it doesn't move. I have done all my wiring this way for a while now and whether it be right or wrong I have never had an issue.

Oh and I always use split tubing on all my positve cabling, and on the chassis rails I run the positive inside 2 sizes of split tubing, for about $10-$20 it is great protection for the wires. Overkill?? yeah probably...but I know that they will not rub through and short out.

cheers

Greg