What size wire from trunk battery to starter

[Samckitt]

I was told #4 welding cable would be enough.


I know the welding cable has more individual wires which means it will handle more amps. But is it enough?
Thanks,
Scot

[rocketrod]

Two gauge ws supplied with my kit from DSE. Have you contacted http://www.madelectrical.com/ yet/ They have everything you will need....

[red67camaro]

This is not a place to skimp. Shop a few prices on cable. When I moved my battery to the trunk I used 2/0 welding cable. I realize values are different now but when I did this job 25 years ago, I remember paying slightly over $20 for 20 feet of cable.

[sinned]

4ga is not even close to being heavy enough, 2ga is pushing it at that distance. I use 1/0 welding cable. Most trucks use 2/0 welding cable if not bigger and they only run 70-100 amp systems.

[Jim Nilsen]

I just went through all of this on my car and decided to go with 2/0 welding cable. I went to ebay and found a place called Genuinedeals and got 25 ft of red and 25 ft of black along with 12 lugs for $97 including shipping. It was $1.45 per ft. and the box weighed 27 lb. I still have 10lb left of the black. I ran both cables the whole length and also ran to the rear panel with a kill switch.

2/0 doesn't weigh that much more than 1/0 and gives you the extra assurance that you have full current flow. 1/0 is the least I would have gone with after a bunch of research but I did consider going with 2 ga. for a long time. 2 ga. is what I commomly see in a lot of kits.

I also considered at one time buying a jumper cable set and using the cable that is connected to each other and usually in the spring or even right now you can buy them at a really discounted price and save a lot. Jumper cables are usualy made from high quality wire and because the manufacture gets it in bulk they can pass on a significant savings to you.

You can get almost all of the sizes you are looking for from Genuinedeals.
http://stores.ebay.com/Genuinedealz

Jim Nilsen

[paul67]

Don't forget to put an earth to the trunk from the battery , earth to the subframe from the engine and subframe to body ,I run to diesil batterys from the trunk running 1100 cranking amps + it evens the weight out .
paul67

[gmachinz]

I've heard conflicting stories about whether or not welding cable can handle the abuses of harsh weather extremes. Meaning, it is much more susceptible to the insulation cracking in cold weather (I'm thinking storage here...). I don't believe the "kits" that most people buy to relocate batteries actually contain welding cables do they? At least I've never seen them before. The relocation cables I use are from Taylor and they can be ordered custom length or bought as a roll-they are certainly not welding cable though. Just curious. -Jabin

[Jim Nilsen]

In my case the cables will never see the light of day or be exposed to the elements, but I can tell you from experience that if you can expose your car to as much abuse as I have done in the past to welding cables that have lasted for years you will be driving in the Dakkar Rally a few times or more. I have never seen good quality welding cable that didn't have good insulation on it. Remember that welding cabe has to be approved by many different saftey regulatory groups just to pass the ability to sell it that would resist cracking in cold weather conditions. I wouldn't worry about the insualtion compared to the size of the cable you are using and strand size. Welding cable is usually more strands per wire gauge and less expensive for what you get because of the quantity that it is made in. It cost more money to make finer wire and no matter what you use more smaller strands will have less resistance. Most kits don't use welding wire because of cost and if you want your name on the wire it will take a special order from someone to get it. I will add that Taylor requires nothing but the best of what they sell and should be considered more than sufficient to do the job but to beat the price of what I got for the money from them would be a tough deal. I would have gone with something from Taylor like you are talking about if they had been less and maybe I missed the deal of a lifetime somewhere but I just didn't see it when I was looking.
Let us all know if you can get 2/0 cables for less than what I paid and we will all have to support the supplier that does.



Jim Nilsen

[HzEmall]

When you mount batteries in the trunk you need to make sure that your ground system is no overlooked.

We get alot of clients come in for new electrical systems and the one thing they always miss in their cars are the grounds.

Everycar we build has the following in it, after all with our ground you have nothing to complete the circuit.

In the front......
1. Ground from engine to frame
2. Ground from alternator to the same stud that goes from the motor to the frame.
3. Ground from the starter to the same stud that goes from the motor to the frame.
4. Ground from the frame to the main body (not fenders and rad supports)

In the back.....
1. Ground from the battery to the frame.
2. Ground from the battery to the main body.

Some people think it's over kill but since the car relys on ground to work you need a solid ground for items like your starter, alternator and body.

Welding cable is ok, how ever if you intend to race your car it will not pass most "Tech" inspections. To be safe use SAE rated battery cable. 4awg is fine for most simple vehicles (motor, ignition and maybe basic lights). If your going to run a full electrical system you should run 1/0 for power and ground and use the same for all power and ground points.

The above is just my opinion but custom electical systems is a main part of our business so we deal with this all the time........