Vehicle "starter" cable size ?

[CompoSimmonite]

I always get confused when buying cable for vehicles and tend to go OTT "just to be sure" however with the cost of HD starter cable that can work out very expensive
I'm planning on running a live from the battery on my Fiat Doblo (will be fused at battery end) to the rear of the vehicle were it will be terminated with an Anderson socket.
This will be for (a) powering a small winch to haul my mobility scooter into the back of the vehicle (b) run a 12V Wave Box microwave (with engine running) and (c) be able to use it as a jump start take off point (rarely needed but want option).
Looking on eBay, unless somebody can suggest a cheaper source, I'm not sure what size to buy.
What amperage / mm² do people recommend ?
Is welding cable the same as starter cable ?
Thanks

 

[premmington]

I always get confused when buying cable for vehicles and tend to go OTT "just to be sure" however with the cost of HD starter cable that can work out very expensive
I'm planning on running a live from the battery on my Fiat Doblo (will be fused at battery end) to the rear of the vehicle were it will be terminated with an Anderson socket.
This will be for (a) powering a small winch to haul my mobility scooter into the back of the vehicle (b) run a 12V Wave Box microwave (with engine running) and (c) be able to use it as a jump start take off point (rarely needed but want option).
Looking on eBay, unless somebody can suggest a cheaper source, I'm not sure what size to buy.
What amperage / mm² do people recommend ?
Is welding cable the same as starter cable ?
Thanks

This in bold will up your cable size requirements.

Your quote "run a 12V Wave Box microwave (with engine running)" - don't matter for cable size if engine is running or not - load/watts/amps are the same.

To quote cable size - we need to know amps loads and if cable is gonna be insulated or in the free air?


I always spec cable too high - as nothing is ever mounted - surface - "free air" on a vehicle.

 

[pint]

you can get a nice cable from BMW breakers. can even get the jumper point as well.

 

[m_c]

A quick google suggests the Wavebox is 660W, so that's looking around 55A at 12V.
10mm2 can handle 70A according to the first google hit I checked, but I'd probably go for 16mm2 (110A).

Personally, I'd just carry a set of jump leads.
Any recovery vehicles I've worked on, typically use 50mm2 for jump start points, but there's a big step-up in price from 16 to 50mm2.

 

[tom2207]

A quick google suggests the Wavebox is 660W, so that's looking around 55A at 12V.
10mm2 can handle 70A according to the first google hit I checked, but I'd probably go for 16mm2 (110A).

Personally, I'd just carry a set of jump leads.
Any recovery vehicles I've worked on, typically use 50mm2 for jump start points, but there's a big step-up in price from 16 to 50mm2.

Just finishing a boat ,,, all the battery work was done in 50mmsq ,,, these days 40mm sq seems to be the norm , but for the wee bit extra Id stick with 50mm , but not all cable is created equal , i used marine grade multi stranded cable , its expensive but its really nice . I ran 16mmsq up to the consul for all the things that go on up at that end, with a run down the van its the distance that messes up using smaller cable .

 

[Barking Mat]

35mm2 minimum.

 

[J1nx]

Just finishing a boat ,,, all the battery work was done in 50mmsq ,,, these days 40mm sq seems to be the norm…

40mm sq is a strange size, would usually be 35 or 50mm.

-
Engine running will make a difference. Voltage will be higher and sag less. Fixed wattage that equals less current, fixed resistance and more current. Can easily be over a 10% difference in 12v vehicles.

Id go for 25mm probably, you don’t need to rate a cable to full current for starting, it’s very limited duration. If you really want to spec it find a temperature rise chart.

 

[hotponyshoes]

Are you anywhere near BA11 area?
I just removed a rear mounted anderson from a hilux. That's 35mm cable I think ...

 

[Trevorleach]

Just wired up starter circuit on a boat using 35mm, run was approx 5 metres, old twin pot lister.

 

[8ob]

I use welding cable for aux Anderson couplings.You also need to check the vehicles battery to body earth cable is of adequate size if you are robbing/bolting down the neg local to the coupling, I usually run both directly from the battery.

Bob

 

[tom2207]

I use welding cable for aux Anderson couplings.You also need to check the vehicles battery to body earth cable is of adequate size if you are robbing/bolting down the neg local to the coupling, I usually run both directly from the battery.

Bob

good grief ,, thats a blast from the past ,,, I certainly wouldnt dream of not running twin cables that single cable thing all stopped when alternators came in . [ and mighty tough on wooden boats lol]

 

[Morrisman]

A quick google suggests the Wavebox is 660W, so that's looking around 55A at 12V.
10mm2 can handle 70A according to the first google hit I checked, but I'd probably go for 16mm2 (110A).

Personally, I'd just carry a set of jump leads.
Any recovery vehicles I've worked on, typically use 50mm2 for jump start points, but there's a big step-up in price from 16 to 50mm2.

Someone once suggested cheap jump leads as a source of battery wire, for my last hot rod. I had an old Halfords set, so I chopped them up....
.....only to find that the cable diameter was about 80% insulation and the core barely 4mm diameter.

 

[Rrobson]

Jump starting can pull a lot of power depending on the engine. Big diesels can be hundreds of amps (albeit for a matter of seconds) so I’d want to be specing a cable capable of 200amp.
I re-routed a battery to the boot and went massively overkill because I had a length of very heavy duty welding earth probably 150mm2 or more. You absolutely wouldn’t need anything that big but if you’ve got something laying around then use it? Certainly don’t suffer with any voltage drop or starting difficulty in the cold

 

[GRW]

For jump leads it's the bigger the better, but for a run back to an Anderson socket 35mm is probably a good compromise between current capacity and cost.
HO7 double-insulated flexible single core is good stuff (it's what we make up generator powerlock cables from, to carry up to 130-odd Amps (AC) in free air.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Someone once suggested cheap jump leads as a source of battery wire, for my last hot rod. I had an old Halfords set, so I chopped them up....
.....only to find that the cable diameter was about 80% insulation and the core barely 4mm diameter.

I bought a set of jump cables that stated they were copper only to find they were actually copper coated aluminium wife !

 

[James1979]

I use welding cable for aux Anderson couplings.You also need to check the vehicles battery to body earth cable is of adequate size if you are robbing/bolting down the neg local to the coupling, I usually run both directly from the battery.

Bob

Do you bother with an isolator Bob?

 

[James1979]

good grief ,, thats a blast from the past ,,, I certainly wouldnt dream of not running twin cables that single cable thing all stopped when alternators came in . [ and mighty tough on wooden boats lol]

Boatiness, at least this side of the water, has to be tinned copper now. Has been for a while.

That’s only for code though. If it’s your boat for leisure you can do what you want.

 

[tom2207]

Boatiness, at least this side of the water, has to be tinned copper now. Has been for a while.

That’s only for code though. If it’s your boat for leisure you can do what you want.

its all I ever use ,, otherwise life becomes no fun . Black red cable is a pita and all for the price of a bit of tin.

 

[8ob]

Do you bother with an isolator Bob?

Have done in the past but gotten a bit lazy recently, its best to.

Bob

 

[James1979]

Have done in the past but gotten a bit lazy recently, its best to.

Bob

Just wondered what the thinking was.

I do if I’ve time, not if I don’t, but wasn’t sure what the ‘proper’ way is