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  • Thick wire or thin wire ? Battery charging content
  • simmy
    Free Member

    Mate is charging his leisure battery but the wires are getting hot. The wires were made up by another mate


    To me they are too thin being 2 normal wires instead of one thick one. Is that correct ? This is the charger

    Cheers

    richmars
    Full Member

    It’s the total cross sectional area that matters. So still too thin even with two.

    nickjb
    Free Member

    18A is pretty hefty so will need decent cable. If it is getting noticeably warm then it’s too thin. 2.5mm should do it but I’d probably go for 4mm

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    Yeh, assuming it’s fused properly, there’s no harm in going for a slightly heavier guage wire than what’s nessesary.

    Cables getting hot is a fire risk… It’s not like electrical cables are expensive.

    The fuse should always be the weak point in a circuit.. At the moment your wires are basically fuses!

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    you can work out what you need as its to do with cross section and number of threads no just one of these facts. I very much doubt the cable says this on it but the fact it is getting warm suggest [ quite strongly] the charge is getting or exceeding its maximum

    http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/section.php/48/1/cables

    This will have what you need and its pretty cheap

    http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/product.php/320/multicore-cable for example you can get it for sub £2 er metre + VAT

    Dont go for actual charging cable as that will have 60 + amps rating . IIRC my boat was set at 90 amps but its the dump when starting that does the high load not the actual charging.

    Blazin-saddles
    Free Member

    As mentioned above, cross section is what matters, you could have 1 thick or 400 thin as long as the area is the same. What size cable is he using? I have the very same charger on my camper, I can’t remember what size the cabling is off hand but can look in a bit. Also, how long is the cable run? Ideally the charger should be as close to the battery as possible.

    charliew
    Full Member

    Charging cables often get warm but shouldn’t be hot. Does your friend know what size cables he used when making the wiring? Using the gauge of the wire (AWG or something similar) you can look up the max current capabilities. Be aware that there is a difference between AC current carrying capability and DC. Typically AC current carrying capabilities of a wire are more than DC. Also if you’re thinking of fusing it then get DC fuses too. The blade types you find in cars/motorbikes are the easiest to get hold of.

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