Jump leads

[The Patrolman]

Ok guys what jump leads do you use.
Cheap, expensive or inherited.
Ive had a few cheap sets and after a few uses they are no more use than a bit of string...:nenau
Having spent some time today it apears that a lot of the cheaper sets are CCA. Copper coated aluminium. This is also used as a selling point. They are sh!te.

[RJL Services]

i have always had good heavy duty ones the type that are used on lorrys good copper core and of a decent length cheap ones are a complete waste of time and money the ones i have must be 20 yrs old now:thumb2

[solarman216]

It is not dear to make your own, 50mm sq welding cable and 4 decent clips, from most on line vehicle electrical suppliers, Rick

[The Patrolman]

I had a great set and someone borrowed them ages ago and they never reappeared.
I found an electro marine outfit selling the cables and crocks but it worked out cheaper to buy the ready made set from them. Made by the same company that supply the cable in the uk:thumb2
5m long with 35m2 cables, quality crocks with the flexi braid links in them to.
Should be here tomorrow.
They are mine:thumb2

[stevew]

i`m with rick i made my own with welding clamps and earth wire i salvaged from a electric pole:thumbs

[The Patrolman]

It is not dear to make your own, 50mm sq welding cable and 4 decent clips, from most on line vehicle electrical suppliers, Rick

Wow.. how long did it take me to type my last message:nenau

[The Patrolman]

The crap set I tried using at the weekend cost me an hour fekkkin' about.
New ones here tomorrow:thumb2

[Lazy-Ferret]

I was asked to jump start a Merc at the end of the GDSF, last week, and he said he had a set of jump leads. I drove over, and connected up, but even after leaving my car running for 10mins, at high revs, his battery still had no charge.

I took the cover off of his leads, and while the wires must have been at least 10mm thick, the actual copper strands down the centre were less than standard 15amp cable. Then to top it off, one of the clamps was crimped round the insulation, not the wire... I fixed that, but again after another 10mins, it still would not actually turn over.

My leads were under the back seat, and the truck was fully loaded to come home, but I dug them out, and his car started instantly.

Instead of purchasing mine by current rating, as most of the cheaper ones lie about that, I purchased them by wire conductor size, so I have a set of 6m 50mm2 leads, basically made from welding wire.

[Blocky10]

It is not dear to make your own, 50mm sq welding cable and 4 decent clips, from most on line vehicle electrical suppliers, Rick

My brother has a set made from welding earth cable. They've outlasted every other set we've tried.

[The Patrolman]

Always make sure they are solid copper cores not cca ...... And that they are not crimped on the Insulation:D

[Banshee]

Mine are HGV ones but ran my battery that flat the weekend Blocky had to tow start me :doh

[macabethiel]

Mine are a multi stranded copper set around 6 mm core, one of the clips I replaced about 20 years ago as it was accidentally run over !

My Dad kept them in his briefcase along with a few sets of AC Delco contact breaker points and some short reach spark plugs.

The two cables were held together by a plastic sleeve that fell apart yonks ago so now it has some loops of insulating tape every 6 inches along. The springs in the clips are still very strong and make a good connection.

I lent them to my neighbour yesterday together with a slave battery as his car had a failed battery. I hope to get them back in a couple of days. There was a second set of even heavier and extra long ones that were used for 6 volts vehicles but they snapped about 30 years ago due to being folded into said briefcase!

[solarman216]

Mine are a multi stranded copper set around 6 mm core, one of the clips I replaced about 20 years ago as it was accidentally run over !

Think you are like me getting forgetful on numbers, 6mm is only good for 50amps 50 mm is good for 345amps but at 6 Mts long will carry less, Rick

[Barrbeast]

Mine are ones I had made from welding cable, 6mtr I think.

Jumped the tractor plenty times with no bother.

[solarman216]

Rob my old mate, do not confuse 6mm with 6Mtr Rick

[Barrbeast]

Rob my old mate, do not confuse 6mm with 6Mtr Rick

6mtr length Rick :thumbs can't remember the wire gauge just that they're welding cable and pretty thick.

[macabethiel]

Think you are like me getting forgetful on numbers, 6mm is only good for 50amps 50 mm is good for 345amps but at 6 Mts long will carry less, Rick

Now you have me thinking mine are about 6 feet in length, when I get them back I will check the O.D. of the cable in my mind it was around half an inch including insulation so I guess they must be nearer the 9-10 mm mark. As they are so old could they be a higher copper grade with more strands?

[Lazy-Ferret]

Don't forget that the cable size Rick is mentioning, is given in cross sectional area, so a 50mm2 cable has a conductor of 8mm diameter, and then the insulation on something like welding wire will take it out to about 13mm outside diameter.

6mm diameter conductor sized wire will be the equivalent of about 30mm2.

[macabethiel]

Don't forget that the cable size Rick is mentioning, is given in cross sectional area, so a 50mm2 cable has a conductor of 8mm diameter, and then the insulation on something like welding wire will take it out to about 13mm outside diameter.

6mm diameter conductor sized wire will be the equivalent of about 30mm2.

3.142 x r squared cant do the symbol for 22/7 !

[Lazy-Ferret]

3.142 x r squared cant do the symbol for 22/7 !
It's not as simple as that, as the conductor is made up of multiple round strands, and in order for the cable to bend, they need to not be too tightly packed together. It's also affected by the size and how many individual strands there are, that's why you buy cable by area, not the conductor diameter and why the conductor size is bigger than the logical size using that calculation.

[macabethiel]

It's not as simple as that, as the conductor is made up of multiple round strands, and in order for the cable to bend, they need to not be too tightly packed together. It's also affected by the size and how many individual strands there are, that's why you buy cable by area, not the conductor diameter and why the conductor size is bigger than the logical size using that calculation.

Yes the interstitial spaces didn't think about them !