How to Select and Purchase Battery Inverter Cables Part2
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- čas přidán 14. 10. 2013
- In this series I describe my method for choosing a proper gauge of cable for the application based on length, continuous draw, surge draw, and other factors. While a novice user would be best served by following the user manual, a more educated consumer would be better served by following this selection method.
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As a certified Master electrician I approve of this tutorial video. Excellent walkthrough
I was an electrician in the military and then residential for a short time. I have to say this guy knows what he's talking about. Proper cable type and gauge for a battery to inverter tie is a little complicated, but he covers it nicely.
Finally a guy who talks a lot with out any bull shit!! You seconded my thoughts about using jumper cables and especially the ground wire welding welding cable! Welding cable is the wire I liked best for possibly connecting a inverter in my pick up truck
Geez! Who knew how complicated it can be??? This was EXTREMELY helpful & appreciated, especially since I haven't purchased my inverter or cables yet!! (Just the panels, so far.) Thanks very much--Carry on with more videos, please!
Thank you for doing this video. The explanation of why so many strands in the wire for these setups was very helpful.
At last, some very rare information about the mystery of wiring! And you're dealing with it pretty well. I like the way you break the process down into comprehensive steps. Keep up the good work!
A total electrical newbie here - best video I have come across yet for this type of information, thank you so much for putting it out there on the interwebs.
Thank you for the time and effort that you put into making videos like this.
really want to say thanks ive learned more than i ever even new existed about wire . very cool !!!
Out of everybody on CZcams you are the best I love the way you explain everything for a beginner like myself I even watched the videos that don't pertain to me because I like the way you explain everything you're the bomb buddy
I came across your video, I know it's many years old but I really learned a lot. Thank you.
Glad to hear that this old video is still useful! Thanks for the comment.
Ah, I see you have a Bestek review--that is one I've been considering. Looks like I have a multitude of new videos to watch. Thanks again
These videos have been very helpful . Thanks for sharing.
Great job....very thorough I'm a house wife with no knowledge of inverter and battery..amps..ect...and I was able to follow you and retain all the information you provided. Thank you
Great informative video. It will let me sleep at night knowing failure will not be A factor in my application thanks so much M.M.
Fantastic video! Thanks for taking the time to explain this stuff. I have no background or experience in this kind of thing and I followed along perfectly. You really demystified a lot of concepts for me.
I'd love to see more videos like this one.
This is good feedback, thank you! It is always helpful to know what type of videos people find useful.
Great video I just bought a 2000 W inverter and I’ve been scratching my head trying to figure out my wire size. this helped out a lot. Thank you.
All I can say is AWESOME!!!!!!!!
Simple explanation for getting started. I have watched dozens of videos in hopes of finding one on wire sizing. You have done a fantastic job of explaining for the beginner.
I am currently setting up my camper to run on solar as much as possible.
This is what I'm starting with in hopes that it will serve my needs.
100 watt mono crystalline panel
3000 watt inverter
2-160 ah AGM deep cycle communication batteries
30 amp controller
And I have about 100ft of 00awg welding lead cable, score!
I estimate a total of 5-6ft to tie the batteries together and connect to the inverter
Mainly what I will be using would be a small camper fridge lights and radio and occasional power tools.
I am a prospector and am used to not having power sometimes but would be nice to keep the food clod for longer without burning a lot of gas.
Thanks again for all the info and I have subscribed and plan on checking out more.
Btw This for mat is excellent if the person doing it knows their stuff and you sir do seem to.
Awesome information. Thanks for helping me select the correct cable for my installation.
Awesome, simple and very easy to understand with very good, helpful knowledge, thankyou.
Well done Sir. I'm a EE and still learned something!
Bit late for comments on this video I know. But I've watched many of your videos and find them vary informative and easy to understand ( unlike a lot of the guff out there ). Yes these non project based videos are great ( especially in my case solar related ). Concise and to the point, keep it up. Cheers.
Excellent videos! Using your explanation/demonstration on the proper selection of cabling for inverters I decided to go with the welding cables. Reason? I own and operate a tractor and trailer and need an inverter for the creature comforts of home while on the road and know that the proper investment in equipment will keep the operator and others safe. Now I may understand why some semi trucks catch on fire while parked; many of those fires start when the driver is tucked in his/her bunk with a ceramic heater for the winter months or a stand alone air conditioner for the summer months. Or, the driver has too much plugged in and the system and cabling is overloaded and the truck burns to the ground. The AWG table and calculator helped to Super Simplify the decision making process. Thanks again!
Good Stuff man keep the videos coming!
I would highly recommend this information. Thanks a lot Sr.!
Yes do more....I just got done putting together a solar system (there never real done). And wire size was a real eye opener.
Thank you for making this video..it was very informative and helped explain a bunch of questions I had about inverter cable types and sizes..
I just subbed, you're videos are extremely informative and I love how in some of the videos you draw up a diagram it really helps!
Hi, nice video. Thanks for explaining a theme that is really complicate and involve a lot of math, in a simple way and so clear.
I have been searching for this information and you provided it thankyou for that
Thank you so much for doing this video! Very helpful!
You are giving real valuable information to me of course thumbs up.. :)
I really like this video - especially the mentioning of often unwanted copper-clad aluminium ( CCA ) cables. Always check the wight of your cables.. :)
this guy knows his shit. Really enjoy your videos.
Enjoy the info. New to me learning much thanks.
Well I thought it was good information because I really had no idea what the proper wire was. Thanks for the great videos!
Thumbs up on the informational. I've heard about voltage drops over cable runs for years & have been satisfied to use large gauge wire as much as possible when any current was being dealt with but I understand it better now.
Thanks for the comment and support! Most people don't consider or understand the voltage drop portion of cable/wire sizing which is unfortunate, because most anyone can quickly understand it if they want to and are given the right information. I hope this video is effective for that purpose!
Very good and informative video. Thanks.
I like watching your videos and you have good well researched information
Thanks!!! great explanation, greetings from mexico
Informative videos are always the most helpful. Especially to cross reference the info. To bad less people are covering doing videos about the basic technical needs like trade skills of the past. Now its videos about how to program your Amazon fire stick with Cody. Or the like.
Helpful vid, thanks. I learned in high school electronics that electricity, which is the flowing electrons in the energy of voltage and current actually travel on the outside diameter of a wire, and not through the center, per se. That is the physics of how electricity moves along a conductor. So, accordingly, with stranded wire, the diameter of each strand provides more surface area for the EMF to travel compared to the same diameter solid wire. Also, then there is the added benefit that stranded wire is much more flexible, lasting much longer before breaking.
That is called the skin effect and is exhibited in AC circuits. These cables were sized for the DC side of the system.
Great video for the newbee. I haven't found any other videos explaining AWG size and length. Thanks
so many people dont know about this and blame the product ,great video ,808 back out
Thank you for this valuable information, blessings.
I enjoy your videos i am a retired electrician and you beat my former instructors
That is a serious compliment. Thank you. :)
Thanks ... love your videos.
just what i needed. Need to work on the math part some more but think I am good. You are correct about the Inverter manual. They must sell a rubber stamp to all companies for their response. That includes Xantrex. Have a Freedom XC 2000 coming looking forward to getting it connected.
A thumbs up on the vid. But I sure would like to hear more about crimp vs. solder ;-) I sized my cable based on voltage drop. Hadn't thought about heat. Thanks for the info.
I got what looks to be a good 2AWG jumper cable for my inverter. I crimped ring terminals on one end, but couldn't wait until final installation (~3ft) to try out the inverter, So I hooked the clamp ends up to the batteries, today, and fired it up. Whooo! 20ft (x2) of cable had a huge voltage drop.
I learn a lot, thanks!
Very informative. Thanks!
Thats 100% good info - thanks (still being outside US I would face some converting issues ;)
Thank you, it helps me a lot.
very cool video man, very informative. makes me wish i had finished my electronics courses. oh well.
Thumbs up today, Oct. 15, 2018....nice presentation and explaination. 😉
Excellent ..keep them coming :-D
I like this sort of thing!
Thank you.👍🇺🇸great information.
good back ground info - Thanks.
Definitely helpful....thanks.
Great vid thanks for the info.
Great info!
Good info. Thanks
Thanks very helpful
Good job!
Would like to see a video on fusing a setup like this too.
Ditto ^^
Thank you so much for doing this video. It helped me allot.
I like this guy ,,, no bull shit
It's a pleasure watching and learning from your video's. In this video you figured the same length of cable from battery to inverter but is there any reason that in a automotive situation you couldn't use a short length of Negative cable and ground to the closest appropriate chasis ground? Ex: Place the inverter in the bed of truck, run a positve cable from engine compartmant to inverter, say 10' and ground the negative to chasis with a 2' ground wire to bed or frame. If this is applicable do you use the same figuring for total cable lenght in the formulas?
Thanks for your time and keep up the good work !
Oh, I see what you mean now. Yes, you can use the chassis of a steel vehicle for electrical current carrying ground. You may need to beef up the battery to chassis connection, though.
I just bought a Go Power 300 watt pure sine inverter from Amazon for the car. Other recommended purchases on Amazon were a 4 gauge/10 foot wire and inline fuse box so I bought both of those. The Go Power instructions say to use a 6 gauge wire for 10 feet. If the cable is a bit larger than recommended, will that fly with no troubles?
Also, how the hell do you get those wires into the cab by the passenger side foot area? Is that the best place to put the inverter? Seems that distance would be about 8 foot from the battery in my 93 Corolla.
You can always use heavier gauge cabling without any problem - it's just more expensive, heavier, and more difficult to work with. Unless you purchased a marine grade inverter it should be located in a place that does not see water or condensing atmospheres, and the only place that fits those requirements is in the passenger compartment. As far as how to get the cabling there, well, that's up to your creativity. :) You may choose to drill/cut through the firewall and re-seal it with automotive grade seam sealer. I would not recommend using standard silicone caulk as it will crack and open back up. Seam sealer is expensive but very good stuff.
*****
Thanks. I've learned a lot from you.
+knurlgnar24, hey there i have a question. I too bought car audio wire for a 2000watt inverter 4000 watt max. The wire is 1/0 and ofc copper. Its very heavy and end terminals i used had to be 2/0 cause the wire is high strand count & $3.60 a ft. Inner diameter is 13.5mm and outer 16mm.
Now here is the question, i soldered the ends to the lugs, till they over flowed then i used shrink to seal the ends.
Will those ends be ok with just shrink as insulation??
***** Update: I used heavy gauge wires - the maximum length recommended for my inverter (10 feet). Had to drill through the firewall as you stated here. Sealed the hole. Came out fine.
I love my Go Power inverter. Yes it was expensive but it rocks. Last fall I traveled all over the country making videos and sleeping in my car. Every day I used the inverter to charge batteries and cook food in slow cookers. Excellent! Worked flawlessly. You taught me about pure sine. Thanks again.
Brett
Still a bit confused. I have a 75 watt solar panel connected to a 12volt 30amp charge controller, connected to a 12volt car battery. I just bought an eliminator 1500 watt inverter. from battery to inverter will be about 2 feet. what awg or gauge wire do you recommend?
Yes, on jumper cables; you will often find *'CCA'* printed on the insulation. This is the Copper Clad Aluminum designation.
Since they are an inexpensive source, it is an option, but de-rate it one wire size to get the pure copper equivalent.
2 Ga. CCA ~ 4Ga Copper as a rule of thumb. But packaging lies still exist.
Good tip. Unfortunately even CCA cables often are not the gauge they claim to be. Today (2022) with metal prices soaring almost no jumper cables are honest with their specs so this video is more relevant than ever.
That is one of the disadvantages of fuses: They add more connection/failure points and have a non-insignificant voltage drop that must be accounted for with heavier or shorter cabling. Not all audio vendors are a rip-off, but some certainly are!
I'm looking to hook up a 1000W pure sine inverter in my '08 Corolla. I want to use the inverter to power a battery charger for landscaping equipment. The company of the equipment states the charger needs 550W to work properly. So I figured why not go with 1000 instead of 600. I was initially going to install the inverter in the trunk (for ease of access). Until I read your comments about a moisture free environment. Now I will install it under the passenger seat.
I'm just curious about:
1) should I ground the inverter to the body instead of back to the battery?
2) will this be a problem for my battery/electrical system in the car?
3) any recommendations for wire size and in line fuse amperage?
4) anything else my noob self may have overlooked?
Thanks in advance for any advice and for this truly informative set of videos!
No I mean, I wanted to save on cable. So I ran one short 00 jumper from the Battery Neg to the Chassis, and one short one form the chassis to the bolt off the alternator bracket and then in my trunk I just put the negative cable from the inverter to the chassis and just ran one positive 00 all the way back to the trunk.
I know it's not really your thing but reviews on solar charge controllers would be greatly appreciated and even pros and cons of 12, 24, 48 volt systems would be interesting.
Great information thanks ! Just wondering though You talked about Voltage Drop and Heat effect/ High amp draw fire hazards etc. But what happens from the inverter to the load? I'm going to need probably a 25' 8/3 or 6/3 cable for AC outlets in RV parks to plug in. Then the longest run of 14/2 cable is going to be about 30'. So 25' of 6/3 plus 30' of 14/2 is the longest run. Is there a way to cut off that 25' of 6/3 cable and go straight to the 14/2 cable through the Circuit Breaker box?
do you have the link for the wire? thanks for all the good info on your videos
Purchase welding cable , it will be of bigger and it will be flexible too for easy bending.
thnx you very much ..
Hi guys, I just picked up a Cotek SD3500 and I bought 4/0 welding cable. Can I use 4/0 in a short length like that. Thanks for your knowledge.
Welding cable uses thinner strands, which conduct AC voltage better. But for DC wiring, it is more susceptible to corrosion and has higher resistance. You are better off looking for fully tinned "number three machine wire" which is closer to battery cable.
How do you feel about using the Chassis as the ground? Is is acceptable?
Where do you recommend buying these cables and the correct ends form thanks for your video by the way
Just bought 2/0 welding cable 20ft. Mounting my 1500w sine inverter in cargo area on my 4runner with hopefully 10ft or less each cable. Hope I it’s correct and enough to power my inverter correctly.
Based on the limited information in your comment it sounds to me like you are head-and-shoulders above what most people do. Commonly people install 4AWG at the heaviest and then wonder why it doesn't work well.. I think you will be pleased with the result! I am not familiar with the 4runner charging system but I know they are good vehicles otherwise. If you have heavy loads you run for long periods of time you may want to monitor the temperature of the alternator just to make sure it can handle the load since many vehicles cannot in their factory form.
@@knurlgnar24 Yea been doing a lot of reearch and most guys say 2/0 for 1500w more than 7ft length. At least I know I have heavy cables, never hurts other than cost. Lol
Thank you for this video ...
I was looking online for inverter cable set around 15feet long
I just found 10feet will be short and can't find the cable size the one I need and I no want to buy it and do cable extension ...
Can you tell me from where I can find cables for the inverters from the shop ..
Thank you
Ideally the chassis of the inverter should be connected to ground. This is a safety and EMI concern, but otherwise it doesn't really matter as far as function goes.
How about from battery to solar charge controller to inverter? Do you have insight on that? I'd appreciate it. Thanks!
I BOUGHT AN INVERTER YESTERDAY. I'M RETURNING IT TOMORROW. THANKS.
I just received my new 1kw pure sine wave Odyssey 24v inverter. You haven't mentioned a hookup which goes through the Solar Charge Controller. I expect to MAKE a few lithium ion 24v batteries for this system. I suppose that the gauge wire used should be the same through the charge controller connections. Right now I have 10 gauge in place and 10 amp circuit breakers as disconnects but i see that I'll need to increase that to 60 amp circuit breakers. (Surge watts might come to 1.4 kw) It looks like they've sent me 2' of a much thicker gauge wire than the #10 that I have used so far. Should I change it or am I all right?
Also after doing some further research. I've come to the conclusion that my little Corolla's alternator may not be able to handle the draw from the inverter on the battery. So it was suggested to put another battery in the car. I will be getting a Group 27 deep cycle battery. Should I get an ACR or Isolator? Don't think I would need one since I will only have the inverter running when the car will be. Any other advice or suggestions?
Awsome videos... Been watching a bunch of them and using the info in my array set up.
I have a question I am hoping someone can advise....
I am upgrading my Battery Bank to (4)- 100ah AGM batteries .... I have a 2000/3000 watt PSW Inverter (Ran 1/0 awg to it at 28" each way) So now when the batteries I am adding to array (will be 4 total) come what gauge can I get away with for the interconnects between the batteries In Parallel ? They will be aprox 10" long each or less , I don't know till I arrange them ... I have a few ft. of 4 awg I was hoping to use....
I don't work the inverter nearly as hard as it can take ...maybe 120 amps tops with a mini microwave for a short time...
should one account for the resistance of the connectors in calculations? If so would it be added to voltage drop? but does this matter?
3000watt/6000watt surge. So should I get 300 or 350 amp wire? Its gonna be mounted behind my truck seat prob around 12 to 15ft each way pos and neg.
How about on a 2000 watt inverter can I run 6 feet of 1 AWG for the positve cable and 6 feet for the negitive. And should I have a 200 amp fuse or 250 amp fuse installed ??
Just bought some heavy cable for an inverter install at a surplus store. It's a length of old welding cable I thought was 4/0. Turns out it's even bigger. The copper cross section is just under 9/16". I'm guessing it's 5.5/0 from the charts I've seen. Can't find lugs for it online. Any idea where to get them? I guess I'll stop by a welding shop, but will probably be $$$
watched pretty much all your videos .looking to do a cargo van conversation to camper.after watching your reviews i have decided on the tiger claw 15000 converter because of cost and the pure sine wave. im thinking of four 100amphr 12volt deep cycle batteries in parallel and a 400 amp controller.run off 3 100 watt flex solar panels.do you think this would power a 500k a/c unit? along with some lights.a small micro wave,small portable ice maker.small tv .not all run at the same time of course. does the set up sound ok? new to all this.
Very informative! Could you please share the URL of the site for the 2nd table you used? Also, can you provide some info on what size and type of chassis grounding wire should be used for a 2000W inverter?
Thanks.
The 2nd table came straight from wikipedia on the american wire gauge subject. Inverter chassis ground is a non current carrying conductor and gauge is largely unimportant. For safety reasons it should be sized so that the fuses open before it starts a fire. For a 2kw inverter 8AWG is plenty heavy and you could make do with 10AWG. I personally omit the ground in most cases, but that isn't recommended...
If you get a bigger gauge wire will that make a difference ? I also have to install an inverter 15 feet away i was thinkong of getting 2/0 gauge.