Cable

[dogioio]

Hi All  Does anybody have spare approx 1mtr each red & black 6mm multistrand cable for motor   Richard on holliday for another week and Im desperate.All cost reembursed Many Thanks....

[brian]

Where are you?

You should have no trouble going to any electrical wholesale outlet and getting what you require.

Just ask for X mtres of 6mm red and black, or more likely brown and blue, tri-rated cable. This is a fine multistrand cable used in industry for high vibration locations and panel wiring.

DO NOT accept 4491 x cable, this a seven strand cable that looks very similar, but is much stiffer to bend, often used for conduit installations but not suitable for Toylander installations due to the vibrating environment it will be subject to.


Regards,

Brian.

[dogioio]

Many thanks for your reply . Hi Brian Damp Ramsbottom.
Have tried a few local supplies but will ring a few more now I have a more technical description
Regards Roger

[brian]

Hello again Roger, glad to be of help.

It will have to be a wholesale electrical outlet to get that type of cable, you are unlikely to get it from any of the DIY sheds or shops, it is a specialist cable, comparitively speaking.

A large industrialist contractor might have an odd drum end he would be prepared to lop a couple of metres off.  Remember, even if only one colour is available, don't turn it down, you can always mark the cable ends to indicate positive and negative.

Ramsbottam eh, well I suppose you've got to live somewhere, as a true Yorkshire lad, living in Rotherham, I would have to get my passport out to cross the M62.

Good luck with your search.

Regards,

Brian

[Fordy]

Hello All,

I have another question about cable that I'm hoping you guys of an electrical background might be able to help with.  I'm using the motor, axle, twin batteries, etc. from an old mobility scooter for my T2 build, but I need to extend the battery cables from the existing loom.  I got hold of some 'High Current Wire (50/0.25)' rated at up to 600V and 30A and thought this would do the trick.  However, reading this thread and a couple of others, the recommended cable should be 6mm in diameter.  Mine is only 3.81mm!  Is my cable up to the job, or do I need a rethink?

Thanks,

Steve

[electric4fun]

i'm more in the mm² :-)

here a usefull  link

http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

but keep in mind that AC and DC are not the same as it comes to amps !
(a calculator is on the bottom of the page)

best regards,
Luc

[multisync]

Hi Steve
I stand to be corrected but I believe 4mm is about 25 Amps, 6mm cable is rated at 32 Amps, this is what I used and would reccomend. I think 10 mm is rated 43 Amps, but there are other factors to be considered.

The voltage quoted for cable, is a reference to the quality of the insulation, and as long as it's above your operating voltage, then all is fine. If you are operating at 24 volt, then cable rated anything above that is fine.

Then there's the current carrying capacity, this must obviously be above the maximum current that the circuit will ever carry.

The other point that must be considered is volt drop. Although the cable may be thick enough to carry the operating current, it must also be sufficiently large to avoid any drop of voltage between the power supply and the motor. This means that all joints must be well made, either crimped or soldered, and the longer the run, the larger the cable that is required to avoid problems. Voltage drop can result in poor performance and at worse overheating of the cable.
Go for the largest that is practicable but I don't think 4mm is sufficient.
Regards
Walter

[Fordy]

Thanks Luc, thanks Walter!

I'd better upgrade to something a bit beefier!  Perhaps I can use the thinner stuff for my lights :-)

Steve

[electric4fun]

Steve,

your post made me tinker again  :-) , i used to have a nifty calculator(exe file) for dc volt-amps-lenght,hence can't find it

for my other jeep , running at 12v (will be changed to 24) i calculated the size to 16mm² as the motor is 400W , drawing 40amps peaks...
 
400W : 12V = 40A (average)

i found a similar one online specially DC , typical for solar panels ,as all our is DC,same rules apply

http://www.solar-wind.co.uk/cable-sizing-DC-cables.html

each build i put on the road is tested by myself and extensivvely by my son (under supervision) forward-reverse full throttle , 2 adults ,uphill , stalling... just to make sure none of the wires or cabling have a weak point or heat up  ,

 please provide sufficient fuses too... when batteries go in short (by e.g. + and  - wires melting together) things will smoke - blow - burn ... and there will nothing you can do to stop if not properly fused





regs,
Luc

[Fordy]

Hello again Luc,

The motor, etc. I'm using is from a Shoprider Deluxe mobility scooter.  It's a 24V system, and according to the manufacturers spec, it only draws 18 amps 'under load'.  I'm sure it has the potential to peak higher than 18 amps under certain conditions, so it's better to be safe than sorry.  Since a 6mm cable seems to equate to about a 25mm² cross section, and the wire I had to hand was only about 11mm² or so, I should definitely go for something bigger.

Steve