The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 1950 CHEVY

ANYONE KNOW THE CORRECT SIZE BATTERY CABLES TO USE? POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE, I DONT THINK NEGATIVE MATTERS.

Turn off your cap lock please.

Negative cable size matters
“ Kirchhoff's current law (1st Law) states that current flowing into a node (or a junction) must be equal to current flowing out of it.”

The negative cable will move the same current as the positive cable unless there is measurable surface leakage from the chassis over the battery body towards the negative terminal.
For all intents and purposes that leakage can be assumed 0, but we know it happens a tiny amount.
-s

Doug is it 12v or 6v? That will have a bearing on the correct answer.

12v. Sorry for the caps. My work computer has to have them on.

Bottom line...you can't go too big when it comes to battery cables. But 12v is ok with smaller wiring than 6v.
Then it becomes a matter of measuring the length of cable you need. And that is also determined by the amperage of your system and what you're powering, how you're charging it, etc.

Here's a chart:
Recommended Length and Amperage for Battery Cable while maintaining a 2% or less voltage drop at 12 volts:
Battery Cable Size 50 Amps 100 Amps 150 Amps 200 Amps 300 Amps
6 Gauge (AWG) 11.8 ft 5.9 ft 4.4 ft 2.9 ft 2.2 ft
4 Gauge (AWG) 18.8 ft 9.4 ft 6.3 ft 4.7 ft 3.1 ft
2 Gauge (AWG) 29.8 ft 14.9 ft 9.9 ft 7.4 ft 4.9 ft
1 Gauge (AWG) 37.7 ft 18.9 ft 12.6 ft 9.4 ft 6.3 ft
1/0 Gauge (AWG) 47.5 ft 23.8 ft 15.9 ft 11.9 ft 7.9 ft
2/0 Gauge (AWG) 60 ft 30 ft 20 ft 15 ft 10 ft
3/0 Gauge (AWG) 75.6 ft 37.8 ft 25.2 ft 18.9 ft 12.6 ft
4/0 Gauge (AWG) 95.2 ft 47.6 ft 31.7 ft 23.8 ft 15.8 ft.

Thing is, we know you have a 1950 Chevy. Truck, car, bus, cement mixer? We don't know where your battery is, whether you have a generator or an alternator or anything else, so we really can't do much more than to give you some guidelines at this point.

When you figure out what size cables you want/need, I just found this online supplier that allows you to custom build battery cables with length/gauge/color of wire, and type of ends. They're "Made in the USA", though the components probably come from offshore. They ship them via USPS for just $3.97 and are extremely fast. I ordered Wed morning and my cables are arriving today (Friday).

BatteryCablesUSA

I used 2 gauge for my 12v system in my ‘52 1/2 ton. I ordered them custom made from a seller on eBay called “gaugewireandcable”. 100% positive feedback, really reasonable and “Made in the USA”!

I buy 0 gauge welding cable in bulk, and solid copper crimp-on connectors, and custom make my own cables. A hammer-type crimping tool and a 3 lb. BFH completes the setup.
Jerry

I used battery cables Canada (west rock battery). They made up my cables for my 54 gmc six volt .I used 00 gauge and was impressed with the cables they made up ,had nice quality ends with covers and the wire was quality wire that is very flexible .

Thank you all. I think I can make it happen from here. I know now to give a little more info next time. I am using 4 ga and I think that will be fine with what I have read. This is a great group with very knowledgeable people hopefully I can give some advice later. I sell battery cables and make them up but just wanted to make sure if the size. I also sell all the nuts and bolts and wiring if anyone wants to pm me I hope that is allowed. If not sorry.

4 Gauge is barely adequate for 12 volt systems, if the cable runs are fairly short. Otherwise, you're sending a boy to do a man's job. John has advertising space available to purchase- - - -support the Stovebolt site and buy an ad, or just post your offerings on the swap meet forum!
Jerry