What determines battery cable size?
Hey all, I'm looking into replacing the factory battery cables in the spring to hopefully get more efficient (as in shorter) generator charging time. My question is, what do I "need to do" vs. what...
Forum Discussion
enblethen wrote:
You must consider the length of the conductors and their resistance. The positive would be copper with more resistance then a welded frame. The welded frame will have no voltage drop that you would need to consider into the calculations. Blue Sea is most likely figuring a boat where both the positive and negative are using copper conductors.
Good point. However, the entire negative run from battery to converter wouldn't be just the frame of the trailer ... from my negative battery post to where it connects to the frame the run consists of ~ 4' of 6 gauge. The converter is located at the far rear of the trailer so the positive cable which is also 6 gauge would have to be at least 25', if not longer, while the negative run from the converter to the trailer frame is likely also several feet of 6 gauge. No wonder my WFCO can't deliver it's rated 14.4 volts at the battery. :M
Mounting any replacement charger as close as it can be to the battery location is the best solution, along with using as heavy a gauge of cables as is practical.
