Solenoid relay size?? please help!

[boywonder]

Originally Posted by evy

What is the risk of buying used welding wiring?
I'm thinking the outside can be used up from rubbing on the ground and may be damaged from objects in the shop?

The conductors can be corroded internally.....if they look nasty on the ends that's a possible sign.

I bought 2 AWG battery wires on ebay terminated with eyelets. Really nice for much less $$ than having them made locally.

The seller that I bought them from is genuinedealz but there are many on there.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Gauge-AWG-...e/271564807829

[Flux]

Geniunedealz is also Bestboatwire.com

I found the bestboatwire.com to have the best pricing and they ship really fast. They sell american made marine grade wire which I think is unbranded Ancor cable, about as good as you can get really. Sometimes you can snag deals on Ancor cable on ebay for really cheap. I ended up using 2/0 and 1/0 for all my main connects. Way overkill, but it was a deal so why not??

I bought all my lugs at bestboatwire as well, smoking deals for tinned ring terminals. Got a hydraulic crimper off amazon. All of this is serving me well and I am one bolt away from having my electrical up and running. Just gotta connect the house battery and I am good to go.

[Scalf77]

+ 2 for Bestboatwire.com.

I know you are in Canada and may have are harder problem getting stuff from US. Used wire is just that, you may get relatively good condition wire, maybe not. It is generally considered not good to use welding wire in areas that may get oily, so that generally rules out engine compartment.

About 105°C, while that is generally a good temp rating to look at, 90°C maybe a reasonable alternative, but you need to make sure you run it through the calculator as 90°C.

Making you're own cables is not hard, but it does cost for the proper tools. I would seriously look into a hydraulic crimper, if you choose to go down this route. It allows you to crimp cables in place, a hammer crimper is really limited to the bench and not as consistent as a crimp. It may be easier to just have the cables premade.It does make all the pre-work and planning all that more important.

I am not against the cutoff switch, but you need to seriously look at fusing you house batteries, that is generally done within the first 7 inches of the positive terminal.

-greg

[evy]

Thanks for the info guys,

I checked out genuinedealz on ebay and bestboatwire.com
for 2awg cables
genuinedealz is at 3.36$/foot (free shipping)
bestboatwire is 2.69$/foot (+10$ shipping)

I understand that it's premium quality copper cable but on bestboatwire they use this picture for the cable...


Is there a logical reason for the copper to be a silver looking color?

Originally Posted by Scalf77

+ 2 for Bestboatwire.com.
About 105°C, while that is generally a good temp rating to look at, 90°C maybe a reasonable alternative, but you need to make sure you run it through the calculator as 90°C.
...
I am not against the cutoff switch, but you need to seriously look at fusing you house batteries, that is generally done within the first 7 inches of the positive terminal.

-greg

I have a question about the temp rating, I think the most common numbers are -20°C to 105°C
Let's say we're in the heart of winter and I want to leave for a Roadtrip down south to hotter destinations, as you know I live near Montreal Canada and It get's much colder than -20°C (-4°F) + windshield factor...
So the cable coming from the engine bay charging the house batteries is exposed + windshield (factor while driving) won't it have a problem?

Ho and by the way Greg, I did add a breaker between the house batteries and the kill switch like you told me to do, If you look at my latest drawing it's there.

Thanks again for all the advice!

[Scalf77]

The marine wire is tinned.

The low temp rating really comes into play when installing and bending, that may cause cracking of the insulation. So unless you are installing in a 20°C environment you should be fine, you of course don't want your wire bouncing around or flexing while in use. Remember, while in use, you will have current going through wire causing some level of heat.

The high temp side really becomes the temp where it will start to deteriorate. In this case the wire in use and size of the wire and current for the circuit come into play.

I do see that you list a kill switch, Is it a breaker or a switch? I was trying to say that you need a properly sized fuse or breaker before that switch.

-greg

[evy]

Originally Posted by Scalf77

The marine wire is tinned.
I do see that you list a kill switch, Is it a breaker or a switch? I was trying to say that you need a properly sized fuse or breaker before that switch.
-greg

Look at my last drawing "Electrical Setup", it's component #16 (main switch breaker) before component #3 (main kill switch)
I don't really know how many amps is enough...

In fact there are many switch breakers on my drawing that I haven't bought yet because I''m not sure how many amps is enough...

[Scalf77]

Got it, I see it now.

You kind of intermingle the terms of switch and breaker. Certainly some breakers can be used as switches.

For your battery bank capacity and wire size , and load calculations you are pretty much limited to 200 amp fuse or circuit breaker off of the main battery.

if you want to use a switchable breaker then :


Blue Sea Systems 187-Series Circuit Breakers -200 Amp $$79.00

for a fuse you could use :

Blue Sea Systems ANL Fuse - 200 Amp $19.04

Blue Sea Systems ANL Fuse Block with Insulating Cover - 35 - 300A $17.88


or


Blue Sea Systems Terminal Fuses - 200 Amp $15.54

Blue Sea Systems MRBF Terminal Fuse Block $18.21

all these solutions meet the current capacity (192 Amps - Max load) and (210 Amps wire capacity) and Interrupt capacity 3000 Amps needed for a main branch circuit.

Your picture also shows a aluminum bus bar (home made I presume), again aluminum would not be my first choice for a bus bar.

you may want to look at :

Blue Sea Systems Common BusBars (100A-250A) $27.38


-greg

[winmag4582001]

My dad gave me one of these books when I was 9. It was the only electrical reference I used while growing up on the farm.(I grew up long before smart phones, youtube and forums. LOL) Still have it today.
This will really help get you to understand electrical work.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000E95IYK...a-312239925303