power wire gauge q.
04-04-2005, 12:37 AM
#21
500 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 614
i dont know what you your talking about welding cable not being flexable. i ran some in a car for a kid the other day and it was more flexable that some branded car audio powerwire i've encountered. and it was like a dollar a foot for 2 gauge. it seemed pretty decent to me.
04-04-2005, 06:31 AM
#22
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Posts: n/a
so the welder and the elevator guy both say that the wire stands up to heat, flexing etc based on their experience in a more volatile environment than cars, and the ability to transfer current from 1 place to the other is the same as "car audio" cable, what does all this mean? i would like to hear the welding cable detractors comments
04-04-2005, 11:35 AM
#24
Guest
Posts: n/a
i use welding cable in alot of boats where the ground cables can be 20ft and longer, if the wire isnt seen or doesnt have to look fancy welding cable is used in 1/0awg due to its cost/value factor does that make us a hack shop?, and by the way you didnt answer my question
04-04-2005, 08:40 PM
#25
500 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 756
I installed 4ga. hi-flex welding cable in my old truck oh..... about... 6 or 7... maybe 8 years ago. Then when the FD "removed" my truck from the highways (that's another story, unrelated), I transfered a couple piees of it into my van, my current vehicle.
Only two years ago when I started upgrading my audio did I replace those lines. Full of corrosion? Nope. Brittle? Nope. Worn connections? Nope. To small? Yup.
The van now has 2 ga running throughout, and some 2/0 (I sell 4, 2, and 2/0, didn't bother with the smaller 1/0, 2/0 is bigger than 1/0) in key areas. Maybe I'll continue replacing the 2ga with 2/0 as my power needs increase, but there's no wear anywhere on any of my lines. And being a van, the lines run under the chassis and then through the floor in the back, with simple nylon tie-straps here and there, rather than through the firewall and routed through the car. So they're exposed to road splash & Canadian weather 365 days a year, 50,000+ city km's per year.
No wear. No brittleness. No tears, just good flexible cable. It's more flexible than the twisted pair & jacketed 10 ga. speaker wire I use. Oxygen free? I have no idea, I guess so. A gazillion strands inside? Probably, sure looks like a gazillion.
Install your ends properlly (crimped AND then soldered, AND then hit with some dbl-wall shrink tube), grommet where necessary, loom it near heat and other high risk areas, run gel battery(ies) as they're almost totally corrosion free, and you won't have a problem, for many years. This goes for any kind of cable, not just welding.
Many used car lot vehicles pass through my shop, after being bought at auction and the prepping for resale begins, and most used car lots want as much evidence of custom stereos stripped out as possible. That means I strip a lot of left-behind cables, wires, RCA lines, and fuses, etc. out of cars. I've seen both welding and stereo cable, in good and bad condition. It all depends on how well it was installed.
I do agree, however, that if cosmetics matter in your vehicle, the pretty red stuff at stereo shops is the way to go. Welding cable is just flat black, there are no choices of color, other than what you color code with with colored shrink tube.
Only two years ago when I started upgrading my audio did I replace those lines. Full of corrosion? Nope. Brittle? Nope. Worn connections? Nope. To small? Yup.
The van now has 2 ga running throughout, and some 2/0 (I sell 4, 2, and 2/0, didn't bother with the smaller 1/0, 2/0 is bigger than 1/0) in key areas. Maybe I'll continue replacing the 2ga with 2/0 as my power needs increase, but there's no wear anywhere on any of my lines. And being a van, the lines run under the chassis and then through the floor in the back, with simple nylon tie-straps here and there, rather than through the firewall and routed through the car. So they're exposed to road splash & Canadian weather 365 days a year, 50,000+ city km's per year.
No wear. No brittleness. No tears, just good flexible cable. It's more flexible than the twisted pair & jacketed 10 ga. speaker wire I use. Oxygen free? I have no idea, I guess so. A gazillion strands inside? Probably, sure looks like a gazillion.
Install your ends properlly (crimped AND then soldered, AND then hit with some dbl-wall shrink tube), grommet where necessary, loom it near heat and other high risk areas, run gel battery(ies) as they're almost totally corrosion free, and you won't have a problem, for many years. This goes for any kind of cable, not just welding.
Many used car lot vehicles pass through my shop, after being bought at auction and the prepping for resale begins, and most used car lots want as much evidence of custom stereos stripped out as possible. That means I strip a lot of left-behind cables, wires, RCA lines, and fuses, etc. out of cars. I've seen both welding and stereo cable, in good and bad condition. It all depends on how well it was installed.
I do agree, however, that if cosmetics matter in your vehicle, the pretty red stuff at stereo shops is the way to go. Welding cable is just flat black, there are no choices of color, other than what you color code with with colored shrink tube.
04-07-2005, 04:09 PM
#27
0 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 33
I ran welding cable in my car and the 1/0 was much much easier to use that the 4ga of actuall car audio cable i had in there before and it was still more flexible that the 8 ga Stinger wire that was in their before. Cable is Cable, if you want to believe that you can buy stuff that costs 4-5 times as much as it should, go ahead. It will not make any difference what so ever. Realistically, there are not too many places out there that make wire and it is most likely that your "car audio" cable is actually the same as the welding cable with a different jacket.
The manufacturers realize that "car audio cable goes in once and stays there. Now compare that to welding cable which is in a dusty dirty oily shop 24/7. The jacket is better suited in my opinion.
7.50 a foot for streetwires or 1.79 a foot for welding cable. I'd rather keep the 6 buck/ foot and spend it on somthing useful. The only time anyones ever gonna see that wire is when their have to cut it cause their stealing your system.
The manufacturers realize that "car audio cable goes in once and stays there. Now compare that to welding cable which is in a dusty dirty oily shop 24/7. The jacket is better suited in my opinion.
7.50 a foot for streetwires or 1.79 a foot for welding cable. I'd rather keep the 6 buck/ foot and spend it on somthing useful. The only time anyones ever gonna see that wire is when their have to cut it cause their stealing your system.
04-09-2005, 07:32 PM
#28
500 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 923
I have not seen it yet, personally, but I hear that Kicker's power wire is some of the most supple wire in the industry. Car audio or welding. I understand, it's because the jacket is rubber.
Loom, grommets and clean termination I believe are the key.
Loom, grommets and clean termination I believe are the key.
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