Advice Plz! Cable Size for 400ah battery string??? with room to grow?

[texman38]

or do i need these crimpers?

[texman38]

Is this the right stuff for making my own battery cables and to inverter?
TEMCo 4 Gauge AWG Welding Lead & Car Battery Cable Copper Wire | MADE IN USA
1/2" heat shrink tube

[texman38]

thanks mike! great info exactly what i'm looking for... the wire has to be the fine strand type or what type is it that takes the regular copper lugs that can be made with an inexpensive crimper sold on ebay for $20... are those acceptable for wiring the batteries and/or inverter???

i just bought 4awg wire, terminals and the crimper, heat shrink... do i need to cancel it?
Color: Red, Black, or 50% Black / 50% Red
Conductor Size: 4 AWG
Length (ft): 5 to 1000 ft
Feet Per Pound: 6.8
Stranding (qty. x dia): 364 / 30
Nominal O.D. (in.): 0.331"
Conductor Material: Copper
Insulation Material: High Grade EPDM
Max. Amps: 150
Max. Voltage: 600
Min. Temperature Rating: -50

[texman38]

HOWEVER - looking up the ampacity chart, #6 wire will overheat at 85A, so you must use #4 wire, good for 85A and place no larger than an 85A breaker or fuse on it.)

thanks mike! great info exactly what i'm looking for... the wire has to be the fine strand type or what type is it that takes the regular copper lugs that can be made with an inexpensive crimper sold on ebay for $20... are those acceptable for wiring the batteries and/or inverter???

[Mike90250]

A 1Kw inverter, on 24v system, should be able to surge 2Kw. At 24V. that's 85A Then you factor the Cable length into that, so that you have less than 3% loss in the cable

using 4 feet from the battery (* Please use one-way distance to the load. Not round trip distance.) I get #6 cable would do the job

http://www.calculator.net/voltage-drop-calculator.html

HOWEVER - looking up the ampacity chart, #6 wire will overheat at 85A, so you must use #4 wire, good for 85A and place no larger than an 85A breaker or fuse on it.

http://www.cerrowire.com/ampacity-charts

If you use fine strand wire, you need special lugs and crimpers rated for fine strand, or buy the wires pre-terminated from a reputable vendor (not always Joes WIre Shack on flea bay)

[texman38]

Review some websites that describe "Wire Size vs Ampacity"

like this one ...

http://www.cerrowire.com/ampacity-charts

thanks but i don't get it??? i know use-2 is the column (i guess) for pv wire but what about battery cables, they are fine strands as well. and still just would like an answer to my question 4 6volt batteries in series 24v system what size cabling? with room to grow? i can wire A/C all day long no worries, dc stuff is still a mystery, with different loads, so with a 1000w inverter hooked up, powering a refrigerator and maybe a few other small things what kind of wires do i need for my battery bank?

[NEOH]

Review some websites that describe "Wire Size vs Ampacity"

like this one ...

http://www.cerrowire.com/ampacity-charts

[texman38]

Here is a quote from another thread
"On the other hand, a bank of 2-3 strings of 6 volt @ 220 AH "Golf Cart" batteries is not a bad bank. It is cheap, relatively rugged and reliable, and will probably last you 3-5 years"
looked like a good/reasonable plan IMO... I'm just starting, so my system is small (2 60 cell panels with a 40a CC) so it was recommended to use 4 x 6v golf cart batteries (which i already have some good golf cart batteries) in my cart they are wired with 4awg wire in series (36v golf cart) so i'm planning on pulling the 4 best to compose my battery bank... what size cabling should i use? I saw a video where a guy had some huge cable 2/0 looked like? I'd like to go big enough to reuse down the line (so i'm not having to rebuy/make new cables later, should i decide to grow my battery bank. Is there a certain size that is "big enough" to handle most reasonable sized battery banks? thanks!!!