Can I double up on wire?

[Naio]

Doing this on the megawatt made me wonder: I have a bunch of 8/4 wire, nice and flexible, in heavy housing. Could I run 2 pos and 2 neg, and use it for my battery connections? 2x 8ga = what gauge?

[time2roll]

No person in their right mind will connect enough #8 to go 4/0 :R

That would be 13 wires, 13 fuses and a nice bus bar.

Get the right stuff already.

211592 / 16509 = 13

[MEXICOWANDERER]

AWG circular mil chart?

[DiskDoctr]

SoundGuy wrote:

The OP is asking about doubling up 8 gauge cable - so what's the problem? :h

No problem, but the table is of limited use if it doesn't support the larger gauge wires, which would seem to be a common need for our fellow RV'ers 😉

(I know I was looking at the same info not too long ago and intended to save a few helpful links, like calculators :C )

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Permutations Sound Guy.
The forum is and was ripe with permutations for just about any post.

They're great for learning but permutations must have objectives pointed out exactly what you did. Self regulating threads are great but re establishing OP objectives IMHO is vital. Done right such treads are treasure troves. At risk without corrective comments is losing the OP and followers.

[SoundGuy]

Hiking Hunter wrote:
Use this chart.

SoundGuy wrote:
Here's an even easier to use Wire Gauge Combination Calculator.

DiskDoctr wrote:
Yep, easier, but only goes up to effective size of 1 AWG. No x/0 gauges 😞

The OP is asking about doubling up 8 gauge cable - so what's the problem? :h

[DiskDoctr]

SoundGuy wrote:

Hiking Hunter wrote:
Use this chart.

Here's an even easier to use Wire Gauge Combination Calculator.

Yep, easier, but only goes up to effective size of 1 AWG. No x/0 gauges 😞

[SoundGuy]

Hiking Hunter wrote:
Use this chart.

Here's an even easier to use Wire Gauge Combination Calculator.

[brulaz]

BFL13 wrote:

Bobbo wrote:
Be sure each wire, alone, is sized to carry the entire load. That way, if one of them loses connection, you won't have a fire hazard. The second wire in that scenario is merely to reduce voltage drop.

You can also fuse each wire so if it gets all the amps, its fuse will blow.
...

That's what I did with my Meanwell.

Had exactly 3 free slots in the STC fuse holder, so a 7.5A fuse for each of the 3 wires from the Meanwell, covering its max of ~16A.

[BFL13]

Bobbo wrote:
Be sure each wire, alone, is sized to carry the entire load. That way, if one of them loses connection, you won't have a fire hazard. The second wire in that scenario is merely to reduce voltage drop.

You can also fuse each wire so if it gets all the amps, its fuse will blow.

If a fatter single wire would need a 300a fuse, you can put a 300a fuse on the positive battery post and run two thinner wires to that fuse, or you can put a 150a fuse on each wire and put the two fuses on the battery post.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

How much izza "bunch"? I've got some DLO 4AWG that maybe I can tradeya. DLO is the finest quality non airplane wire on the face of the earth.

[time2roll]

Naio wrote:
That is not as good as I thought.

So twist all four together and the cable becomes one wire 😉

Or you could get the right stuff.
http://www.genuinedealz.com/marine-wire/marine-battery-cable

Fully custom cables are a great value with the correct wire, proper lug, pro crimp and heat shrink.

[Bobbo]

Be sure each wire, alone, is sized to carry the entire load. That way, if one of them loses connection, you won't have a fire hazard. The second wire in that scenario is merely to reduce voltage drop.

[wa8yxm]

Artum Snowbird wrote:
Sure you can. Can you get all the wires under the lug at both ends though?

Another thing is if one wire is even a little bit longer the current won't be balanced,,, BUT if you have enough wire.. no problem.

IE if you are likely to pull a max of 200 amps, and your wires are rated at 100 amps each, and you ran 3 or 4 of 'em.. NO PROBLEM.

[folivier]

And if the extra wires won't fit on the battery lug then something like this works well:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HZU42Z2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1