Originally Posted by eglish

True. I never solder anything larger than 10ga b/c by that time we're talking massive amount of power, but since this is partly a technical discussion, soldering is still WAY better than crimping.

Originally Posted by Subs4life

I didn't wan't to print it(it sounds crazy), so I called a friend, and he said it, Mopar performance stated you lost 100 amps a foot, they were talking about a battery up front & loss to the starter. I'm assuming they're speaking of factory wire which is 4 gage. I made my first attempt to the trunk with 16 feet of 2ga, the motor turned over slow, so my next stop was 1/0, cranking the motor was still slow when cold, so I skipped to 3/0. I know the amplifiers don't cry for 600caa, & if the cable actually lost that much, my engine would still not start. I'm very interested in the science of it all, I'd have saved money & time.

Originally Posted by creyc

Don't need to solder if you have crimps

Originally Posted by lanman31337

2 runs of welding wire should will be plenty.

Originally Posted by eglish

Many companies also tin the strands for a number of reasons (rigidity, corrosion resistance and helps if you actually solder your wire like you're supposed to), like the Hyperflex mentioned.

Originally Posted by Optimus_Prime

Who makes the best 1/0 power cable. and how many runs from alt to batts should i run for saz4500d.

Originally Posted by eglish

What you're talking about could make sense if you posted some numbers. I am trying to explain things in the realm of science and numbers, not just "rules of thumb." The fuse rating on an amp is another rule of thumb that isn't always accurate as an example.

With your situation you could be running enough power that you should have upgraded your power wires anyways, or if you're talking about playing music, you could be hitting transients in the song that effect your performance.

I talk too much for a lurker.

Originally Posted by johnecon2001

Welding wire tbqh.
4 runs positive, 4 negative.

Originally Posted by Subs4life

My experience with large cable came when I mounted my cranking & accessory batteries in the trunk for better/quicker weight transfer at the dragstrip. I've never had a multimeter to the ends of the cable, but in my endeavors I've used 2ga, 1/0ga,& 3/0 Which is curerently what's on my '72 Challenger now. I rember a "general rule" in racing magazines which stated a certain loss of amps per foot, I didn't get satisfactory cranking until the 3/0 was installed. Ever heard of this loss rule, I can't find it list now, I know it's why wall current is A/C today instead of D/C. I was guessing restance & amps loss went hand in hand.

Originally Posted by eglish

Very true. Strands vs. more strands vs. solid is an AC argument when talking about resistance. So Optimus, buy 1/0 and run two strands since your planning on running more than 300amps (typical 1/0 rating).

Many companies also tin the strands for a number of reasons (rigidity, corrosion resistance and helps if you actually solder your wire like you're supposed to), like the Hyperflex mentioned. Be aware it says "silver-tinned" not silver/copper alloy. Any change in materials would technically increase resistance (because it's a change). Also if a wire is thicker than another wire of typical size, don't you think the company would market it better? So don't take the increase in size as a higher rating than the company gives it, they still use the same amount of copper.

And just as a curiosity, how many of you have actually worked with a strand of 100+ foot cable, regardless of gauge and tested the resistance yourself to know that it's actually higher or lower vs another strand? In your 10-20 ft, demos you shouldn't be seeing any resistance of your multimeter unless you have poor contacts or a poor meter or really small gauge wire.

tl;dr It's all about cross-sectional area when measuring same materials in 12VDC applications.

Originally Posted by eckolancer

X2 this info is correct you can get less resistance from a solid piece of copper vs. high strand count copper. There are some companies that sell 1/0 that is actually the size of 2/0. I had a 0 gauge that was the diam. of 000 gauge wire before.

Originally Posted by creyc

Normally you're spot on john, but in this case you are quite misinformed.



Strand count = marketing (and ease of bending)

Cross sectional area of copper = amperage!


If you want to carry more current, you need more copper, not a higher strand count. This means multiple parallel runs or 2/0, 3/0, 4/0 etc...

Hope this helps

Originally Posted by fosg8freak

This is where you're wrong. If you go look at a 4 awg scoche wire you'll see the diameter of the individual wires is pretty big. Add more strand count to those same size wires and you're right, theres more current capability. But no one does that. They make each individual strand smaller in diameter and stuff a crap ton more strands the the space given.

The difference between the current capability is more of what the material is made of, and the diameter of the wire bunch as a hole (given that the wire is round) than it is strand count.

Originally Posted by Subs4life

I do have a friend who is obsessed with ohms rating of speaker wires and has professed an ohms increases in coarse wire, however he bypasses the terminals in sub boxes, citing them as an check point for ohms increases too( I've taken his word, he's a ITT grad). If this is the case I've wasted money on fine 12 guage wire, I bought 200 feet to wire my home stereo speakers.

Originally Posted by johnecon2001

Here's where I'm coming from guys.
If the average 1/0awg cable has 4200~ strands of copper in it, and you find a cable with the same diameter strands, but with double the amount... It's going to carry more current/the same amount as 2 1/0awg lines.
I know strand count can equal greater flexibility, but if the strands are the same size and there are more of them... its going to be a bigger, higher current carrying cable.

Originally Posted by Subs4life

I do have a friend who is obsessed with ohms rating of speaker wires and has professed an ohms increases in coarse wire, however he bypasses the terminals in sub boxes, citing them as an check point for ohms increases too( I've taken his word, he's a ITT grad). If this is the case I've wasted money on fine 12 guage wire, I bought 200 feet to wire my home stereo speakers.

Originally Posted by eliterox

So this means that for example if u run several wires from my subwoofer terminal to the terminal on the box the imp rise would be lower? Mm... i know i just sound dumb but im just asking.

Kind of, larger wire and/or multiple runs of wire between the sub and amp will lower resistance generated between the sub and amp. Itwon't have any effect on impedance rise itself as that is generated by the woofer.

And btw , can anyone explain to me how do you guys run several power wires to a single wire input amplifier? Because im just running a single 4 gauge cable from my front batt to my rear one and then a single one to the distro blocks...

From what I understand, you don't. You do several runs of wire to a distro block that is located close to the amp and then do as many runs of as large of wire as the amp will support from the distro block to the amp (most amps only have one 0/1 gauge input). The only other thing that I can think of is that you could do a run of as large of wire as you can find between the distro block and the amp so as to cut down resistance as much as possible. (i.e. running 0/4 to a 0/1 input and cutting it down to fit.)

Please explain and clarify that to me and what are the benefits and how to please (I know im asking too much lol).

Ty in advance ppl