4 Gauge for batt relocation?

[kotu100]

Some of you guys might have seen me bitching lately about the shop i brought my car to and all the issue that have arisen since.

Anywaaaaaay, this is just another thing i found the other day so i wanted to run it by u guys here.

I bought a batt relocation kit from summit http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-G1200A/

then i bought another 20ft of 2 gauge welding cable for them to run the ground to the front of the car, which they never did...

Instead of using the wire i supplied them they used this stuff which is only 4 gauge.
http://stingerelectronics.com/productDetails.aspx?ProductId=258&CategoryID=8

When i asked them why they used that stuff instead of the wire i supplied them with he explained that since the wire has a greater strand count that it would perform just as good or better than the "cheap" 4 gauge i brought them.

So should i listen to what they are telling me or am i getting bullshitted again?

 

[kotu100]

bump

 

[hvyman]

I used 2 gauge. 4 gauge would be fine for the ground.

I just grounded mine in the trunk.

 

[BoostMonger]

Eh, they did use higher quality, higher count, propose made wire. And they might have did it to save their ass if your wire fried. But it could be possible they used their wire to charge you more money.

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[CyFi6]

More strands does not = more current flow. The cross sectional area is what counts, meaning if you have a solid core wire it will flow the same amount of current as a stranded wire as long as they have the same cross sectional area, regardless of the number of strands. The stranded is just to make it more flexible.

 

[stevenr816]

Get out the lube


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[stolensupra]

I used 2 gauge. 4 gauge would be fine for the ground.

I just grounded mine in the trunk.

Not to thread jack but hvyman I know you're a very knowledgeable guy about things but I was under the impression from my electronics training that when you mismatched sizes of wires you were selling yourself short due to the ground path being as important as the + flow?

One can only hope Jetjock or Ian could chime in as well?

 

[hvyman]

Should also be grounded to the body. That's how stock is. And grounds take the path of least resistance.

 

[GrimJack]

Not to thread jack but hvyman I know you're a very knowledgeable guy about things but I was under the impression from my electronics training that when you mismatched sizes of wires you were selling yourself short due to the ground path being as important as the + flow?

One can only hope Jetjock or Ian could chime in as well?

The ground path is just as important, however, the car uses the body as the ground path. There's a LOT more conductor in the body than there is in either of the cables listed. The only weak link is old grounding straps with less than flawless connections.

 

[stolensupra]

Thanks for the reply Grim, I do understand that the chassis of the vehicle is a very large ground path but I was more referring to the cable itself being able to carry the grounding properties of the negative side of the battery to the chassis with adequate capacity for high amperage draw such as when the vehicle is started.

 

[jetjock]

The same or larger awg (sized for total load including starting) should be used for grounding and wire is better than the chassis when relocating to the rear. Lacking that a bonding strap of sufficient ampacity from the block to the chassis is imperative.

On my car all ground points were chained and they, along with EFI grounds (including the igniter and O2 sensor), were then brought directly back to batt negative. The chassis was left as redundant. The headlamp wiring was also modified as was the cooling fan wiring and some other stuff.

 

[IJ.]

I always run 2 cables, one to the Starter terminal the other to a good point on the block close by.

Stuff I use is I think 0 gauge multistrand copper welding cable.

 

[jetjock]

Yep, that works fine. As long as the alt and starter has a good path home rather than finding its own way through other parts.

 

[IJ.]

Yep, that works fine. As long as the alt and starter has a good path home rather than finding its own way through other parts.

I use the factory cables for the ALT/Starter, so far it's fine, did the Supra much the same just replaced with new cable all the 20+ year old wire.

 

[stolensupra]

Ask and ye shall recieve. I love this website.