bomax

iTrader: (3)

I was looking for 0 gauge wire but Lowes had 3/0 as their biggest. As I udnerstand that is like 2 sizes up from 0 gauge right? Now I'm not sure if that is the same as 0 or what...but it's rated at 200 amps. Does anyone see this as being an issue? Any suggestions at all would be of great help.

LS1thunder

iTrader: (19)

0 Gauge will be smaller than the 3/0 your looking at. 3/0 will be really stiff to work with. If you can get it to fit, it will be fine. Ebay has a lot of amplifier power cables that are a lot more flexible for cheap prices, or go to your car audio shops they should have it also. Do a search for streetwires on ebay and you should find some.

Tom L. Busby

Look at welding cable. It's flexible and not expensive. Home type cable is way too stiff. 1/0 is fine for the load in this application. When I did the calculations I chose 1/0 because it had a 40% more than necessary load carrying capacity. Normal engineering looks for a 50% safety factor and 40% was close enough. Plus 2/0 or 3/0 weigh a lot more. I bought 18 feet and used 15 feet to move my battery to the back.

bomax

iTrader: (3)

Thanks a lot for the tips. I was about to buy the expensive stuff from eBay (car audio power cable). I called a local welding store and asked if they had any 0 gauge cable. He didn't know what I was talking about, but said they stocked "3/8 inch cable" Think that is good enough?

Tom L. Busby

Look here: http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm
You can do the math, or buy 1/0, or if you are weight-sensitive and don't have a sound system you can get away with 1 gauge.

I think the guy that you talked to didn't know what he was selling, or thought you didn't know what you were talking about. (sorry). It isn't that hard to say "one aught" even if one sounds like grandpaw, and that is how 1/0 cable is sold in this country. Anyway, just show up at the store. Every welding store has the cable you need, regardless of what they sound like on the phone. You can buy some black cable for the ground and some red cable for the positive. Then, a battery shop or a tractor/farm supply store will have the right terminals. You can't effectively solder a terminal onto welding cable, so plan to clamp the terminals on real good with a hammer and vise grips, or have a battery/generator shop do it with the correct tools if you like. Be sure to put the little plastic beauty-covers on first, before you clamp the terminals on, if you are using these. I like the heat-shrink stuff too, to make a neat cover. This comes in black and red and in the right size, at any electrician supply store. All this is pretty easy, and actually figuring out where to route the cable is a bitch. Yes, you can rout it under the car, but not on the bottom of any frame rails. Imagine what would happen if both tires blew out on a curb and tuck the cable inside the frame rails, under the car. Wrap some sheet metal around the cables, or use plastic-flex conduit from Home Depot. Pay attention to where the cable goes from inside the passenger compartment in the back to the outside of the passenger compartment, and imagine what would happen in a wreck. (The cable will arc weld wildly to everything around it.) So you want the wild arc-welding to happen, if at all, away from the gas tank and away from the driver. Grey plastic conduit stuff is useful and lightweight, especially for turning the corner from inside to outside, where you don't want the cable to crush to metal without a good wrap in a crash.

LS1thunder

iTrader: (19)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...093968689&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...093420083&rd=1

Here are a couple of auctions for the amplifier 1/0 cables.

bomax

iTrader: (3)

Yea, thats the expensive stuff on eBay I was talking about. They are both over $2 a foot...that's a lot of money for just some cable.

bomax

iTrader: (3)

I called another local welding supply store and he did have 1/0! But, he wanted $2.10 a foot for it What is good price for this welding cable stuff? Ebay its about 2.20 a foot shipped.

maddboost

iTrader: (11)

The best price your gonna find is around $2 a foot. Not gonna find it for less unless you buy a TON in bulk.

bomax

iTrader: (3)

Bought 22 feet for $1.28 a foot today Thanks again for your help Tom Busby!