Battery Cable Length

[david_lee]

"Length of the Cable between the Battery Posts is is 62.5 inches in Length, and is 2/0 gauge Cable. The Length of the Cable from the Battery Terminal to the 3/8 Lug Terminal is 52.5 inches in Length. The Accessory Lead is 22 inches Long and is 6 gauge in size with a 5/16 Ring Terminal Attached."


i found this description of a new factory type battery-to-battery-to-starter cable, and the lenghts seem a little off to me. i am making this comparison by memory, but from what i could tell with the battery and starter cables still on the truck; the battery-to-battery cable is shorter than the battery-to-starter cable.
my question is directed to those that have replace thier cable sets: is this description correct?

i have converted to studded batteries, and while replacing the cable ends with lugs, i found that there was a lot of corrosion on the inside of the factory cable jackets.

i am planning to purchase some lengths of wire to replace the factory crap that is still in the truck. i found the above description while trying to locate some info on how much wire to get. i am planning to get 4/0 cable to go from battery-to-starter and 2/0 cable to go from battery to battery, and get both in SAE J1127, Type SGT rating which is acid, oil, moisture & corrosion resistant and good to 105C (221F). sound good?

if these measurements are correct then it would save me some time in having to remove the starter cable to measure it

sorry its a bit long winded

 

[gatorman21218]

Dunno where you are getting your stuff from but Napa sells cable by the 25ft roll. I just did mine and how I did it was had my grandpa hold it at the battery and uncoil it - routing it where it would go and then marking it with a felt marker. I cut the wire with a sawzall metal blade (bolt cutters just crush big wire) and soldered the ends to lugs using solder pellets they had at the store.

For your 4/0 to 2/0 how are you going to make the connection? i dont think they make a flag terminal like that. Search Napa's website and they have all sorts of different ends you can use dunno if they have that one.

Are you going to crimp or solder? Crimping is only as good as the tool you use (and therefore howmuch you spend on this tool) I like soldering because it makes a solid connection (thus the most surface area for current to flow). I had a propane/mapp torch some ROSIN CORE flux (dont use flux for copper pipes get it from radioshack or the like). Solder pellets make it easy or you can just melt a lot of rosin core solder into the lug and stick the wire in. Heatshrink tubing finishes the project. (SLIDE THE TUBING UP THE WIRE BEFORE SOLDERING. you cant fit the tubing over the lugs. made that mistake myself)

One last thing it sounds like you went to custombatterycables.com He is not making cables at the moment which is why I had to make them myself. Not sure he is selling parts either.

Oh and always buy a little extra- better to have to cut off an extra foot then be 6 inches short- copper doesnt stretch too well

 

[oldmisterbill]

Why did you decide to use 2/0 from bsttery to battery & 4/0 to go from battery to starter??

 

[gatorman21218]

x2 not only about the ends not fitting together but why not just go 4/0 all the way? (btw 2/0 works fine) the problem with 4/0 is its hard to bend

 

[RLDSL]

Read the description folks, he's got stud top batts, the different size cables will fit together just fine, and the idea of going to a heavier wire to the starter is really a good one, it's carrying twice the current as the wire from one batt to the other and the pass batt to the starter doesnt have too many bends, so I' think he's on a good track here, the thing is going to spin like a maniac.

That corrosion on the factory terminals was from dry assembled cables, I always saturate the cable strands with a conductive grease like Noalox ( available where the service entrance boxes are at Lowes etc) then seal the crimped connection with heat shrink. My cables last way longer than factory cables , never any signs of corrosion in the strands.

I've always found an easy way to measure is to take some string and run it along the cables while still installed and cut it to length, then get the wire cut just a bit long to allow for bends in the heavier wire.

 

[david_lee]

i am happy to see some good interest in my little topic.

i decided on my cable sizes thru a bit of calculation given that i plan on also replacing the starter(current one seems a bit slow even given the corroded wires and i dont know enough of the truck's history to trust it) with a nippondenso as soon as the cables are done. i took into account the the power rating of the starter, the length of the cables, the probable high heat in my area, and the possibility of needing to cranck it more than a few times due to a fuel filter change. then i ran the average price of 2/0 cable(absolute minium you should use) against the average price of 4/0 while factoring in my peace of mind and came up with using the 4/0 to the starter only is the most economical and makes the best sense because as RLDSL put it "it's carrying twice the current as the wire from one batt to the other".

this truck started out as a project truck that i wanted to use solely for the purpose of getting me up and down the beach for fishing. but the more i mess with it(its still a little ways away from being road worthy) the more i want to make it a reliable ride of many talents.

but it seems that i will have to take a few measurements and i like your suggestion RLDSL of using a string to trace the wire as i dont want to remove the cables until i am ready to install them so that i can still move it around the yard. i dont want to buy a spool of cable because i will be having a guy cut them to length and professionally crimp the terminals on and put adhesive filled shrink wrap on for the cost of parts. this way i dont have to mess with that and i can trust that it is done right.

 

[oldmisterbill]

My mistake I was thinking backwards . Your answer was what I was hoping for. Guess I'm gettin senile-been working with electrical cable much of my life.