What gauge wire ?

[Sweety]

Right guy's as i'll be adding a few extra electrics to the motor & not having very much room left on the end of the clamp bolt (got amp power cable already hooked up) & to keep things tidy i'm going to add another fuse box like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/230965752213?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 just not sure on what gauge wire to use as i'm in 2 minds whether to use 10 AWG 5.26mm2 or the slightly heavier 8 AWG 8.36 will also be adding a couple of relay mounting brackets to the inner wing aswell to again to keep things looking nice & tidy:augie

 

[solarman216]

this will depend on what amps your item draws and how long the cable runs are, for instance I have a winch front and rear with two batteries one front and one rear, but still need starter sized cables to the rear one for charging as cannot afford any voltage drop or it will not charge fully, Rick

 

[briggie]

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/elepow.html

 

[Sweety]

this will depend on what amps your item draws and how long the cable runs are, for instance I have a winch front and rear with two batteries one front and one rear, but still need starter sized cables to the rear one for charging as cannot afford any voltage drop or it will not charge fully, Rick

Cable length should be about a meter max but need to measure it as there is a good chance it'll be under that & ideally to be able to handle a 100 amps but TBH it'll prob only ever peak at 80 amps if i'm lucky. Plan is to run have the towbar charging circuit coming off the new fuse box instead of direct to the battery, 4 roof light, poss 2 spot light on the bumper & an air horn which will pull about 12amp

 

[Sweety]

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/elepow.html

Great link briggie but sadly have no idea what the wattage of the items i'm going to run are just roughly what amps they'll draw:doh

 

[solarman216]

Great link briggie but sadly have no idea what the wattage of the items i'm going to run are just roughly what amps they'll draw:doh

then use the calculator, enter your volts = 12 and your amps say 30 and then click on POWER and it will return the watts, , but it is the amps that is easier to determin the cable thickness over a given run, Rick

 

[Sweety]

well just tried it & it's come back with 1080W:nenau so still not sure which size to use:doh

 

[rayf3262]

1080W at 12V is around 90A... so you would probably be looking at 16mm2 according to table:

<table width="80%" border="1"><caption align="center">Minimum cable size in mm² (for max 5% volt drop on 12V DC wiring)</caption> <tbody><tr><th align="center">Amps</th><th colspan="8" align="center">Cable length (one way, metres)</th></tr> <tr><th>
</th><th align="center">1</th><th align="center">2</th><th align="center">5</th><th align="center">10</th><th align="center">15</th><th align="center">20</th><th align="center">25</th><th align="center">30</th></tr> <tr><th align="center">1</th><td align="center">0.75</td><td align="center">0.75</td><td align="center">0.75</td><td align="center">1.5</td><td align="center">1.5</td><td align="center">1.5</td><td align="center">1.5</td><td align="center">2.5</td></tr> <tr><th align="center">2</th><td align="center">0.75</td><td align="center">0.75</td><td align="center">0.75</td><td align="center">1.5</td><td align="center">2.5</td><td align="center">2.5</td><td align="center">4</td><td align="center">4</td></tr> <tr><th align="center">3</th><td align="center">0.75</td><td align="center">0.75</td><td align="center">1.5</td><td align="center">2.5</td><td align="center">2.5</td><td align="center">4</td><td align="center">6</td><td align="center">6</td></tr> <tr><th align="center">4</th><td align="center">0.75</td><td align="center">0.75</td><td align="center">1.5</td><td align="center">2.5</td><td align="center">4</td><td align="center">6</td><td align="center">6</td><td align="center">10</td></tr> <tr><th align="center">5</th><td align="center">0.75</td><td align="center">0.75</td><td align="center">1.5</td><td align="center">4</td><td align="center">6</td><td align="center">6</td><td align="center">10</td><td align="center">10</td></tr> <tr><th align="center">7.5</th><td align="center">1.5</td><td align="center">1.5</td><td align="center">2.5</td><td align="center">6</td><td align="center">10</td><td align="center">10</td><td align="center">16</td><td align="center">16</td></tr> <tr><th align="center">10</th><td align="center">1.5</td><td align="center">1.5</td><td align="center">4</td><td align="center">6</td><td align="center">10</td><td align="center">16</td><td align="center">16</td><td align="center">16</td></tr> <tr><th align="center">15</th><td align="center">2.5</td><td align="center">2.5</td><td align="center">4</td><td align="center">10</td><td align="center">16</td><td align="center">25</td><td align="center">25</td><td align="center">25</td></tr> <tr><th align="center">20</th><td align="center">2.5</td><td align="center">2.5</td><td align="center">6</td><td align="center">16</td><td align="center">25</td><td align="center">25</td><td align="center">35</td><td align="center">35</td></tr> <tr><th align="center">25</th><td align="center">4</td><td align="center">4</td><td align="center">10</td><td align="center">16</td><td align="center">25</td><td align="center">35</td><td align="center">35</td><td align="center">50</td></tr> <tr><th align="center">30</th><td align="center">4</td><td align="center">4</td><td align="center">10</td><td align="center">25</td><td align="center">25</td><td align="center">35</td><td align="center">50</td><td align="center">50</td></tr> <tr><th align="center">40</th><td align="center">6</td><td align="center">6</td><td align="center">16</td><td align="center">25</td><td align="center">35</td><td align="center">50</td><td>
</td><td>
</td></tr> <tr><th align="center">60</th><td align="center">8</td><td align="center">8</td><td align="center">25</td><td align="center">35</td><td align="center">50</td><td>
</td><td>
</td><td>
</td></tr> <tr><th align="center">80</th><td align="center">16</td><td align="center">16</td><td align="center">25</td><td align="center">50</td><td>
</td><td>
</td><td>
</td><td>
</td></tr> <tr><th align="center">100</th><td align="center">16</td><td align="center">16</td><td align="center">35</td><td>
</td><td>
</td><td>
</td><td>
</td><td>
</td></tr> <tr><th align="center">125</th><td align="center">25</td><td align="center">25</td><td align="center">35</td><td>
</td><td>
</td><td>
</td><td>
</td><td>
</td></tr> </tbody></table>

 

[Terranosaurus]

Ignore wire gauge and look at manufacturer spec for a given wire/cable. You should be using multistrand for auto use and the number of strands can have as much or even more effect in the current capacity of a cable as it's overall gauge. Thickness of insulation also has a large bearing on current capacity. Vehiclewiringsolutions are a good place to look and to buy what you need.

 

[Sweety]

Cheers for the help guy's:thumbs just had a look through my little pile of cables & found some 4 gauge ofc which should be upto the job & I need less than I first thought as it's only a 1/2 meter run