Battery Cable gauge [Archive] - Chevelle Tech

: Battery Cable gauge


David Nafarrete
Jan 27th, 00, 2:11 AM
I wan't to get new cables for the car and thought of maybe going bigger than the 4 gauge I have on the car now.

I have seen 1 gauge 2 gauge and 4 gauge battery cable for sale. What are your opinions on this. Does it matter on the size of the battery? I would assume bigger is better. Also must you run the same size cables for both pos. and neg. Why would it matter, the neg is just a ground right? Could you use 1 gauge for the pos and 4 gauge for the neg? Or must you also get a 1 gauge neg cable?

Philip
Jan 27th, 00, 3:05 AM
Don't think of the negative as just the ground. It is actually all one circuit. The power must flow thru the whole circuit or it won't work. Use the largest cables that are required for your application. If you will be trying to crank over a high compression engine by all means use the 1 gauge. If it is an 8.0-1 stocker the 4 gauge will be plenty. The more strands that make up the wire the better the current flow also. When doing trunk mount batteries I use welding cable which is a bunch of fine strand wire.

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Philip Valentine
Gold Member #42
"Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another."
philip@chevelles.com

[This message has been edited by 64elcamino (edited 01-27-2000).]