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SuzukiSavage.com
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Positive battery cable /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1347307339 Message started by thumperev55 on 09/10/12 at 13:02:19 |
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Title: Positive battery cable Post by thumperev55 on 09/10/12 at 13:02:19 Hello again....Want to replace the positive battery cable on my Savage with one that doesn't look like speaker wire..Has anyone here made their own and what gauge did you use ??? Thank you in advance |
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Title: Re: Positive battery cable Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/10/12 at 16:50:49 How big you wanna go? Ive never seen anyone solve that particular problem.. but hey, I guess you can be the first. Before we decide what gauge to go with, maybe you could help me with the clues needed to make that decision scientifically. First, how long did you run the starter before the insulation on the wire got soft? |
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Title: Re: Positive battery cable Post by thumperev55 on 09/10/12 at 17:25:48 Hello justin_o_guy2 I meant the starter cable.....Seemed awfully flimsey for the draw a starter might have...I know for a fact that my Yamaha Vstar had starter cable issues and I guess i'm a bit paranoid...If it is what it is then so be it....just curious whether anyone ever beefed it up...Thanks for your reply !!! I'm a big fan of overkill especially after seeing my cam chain tensioner dynamite after 7000 miles........ |
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Title: Re: Positive battery cable Post by Serowbot on 09/10/12 at 17:59:36 If I was gonna' beef up,.. I think I'd beef up the ground strap... That's a dinky little turd... ;D... |
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Title: Re: Positive battery cable Post by John in Kalifornia on 09/10/12 at 18:01:40 Have you taken any voltage readings? What is the drop between the battery positive and the starter terminal? A cheap HF digital meter is plenty good enough for testing purposes. I even got one free once with one of the weekly “gift with purchase” promos. You may be looking for a solution to a non-existent problem. Most electrical related problems are due to bad connections not under designed components. From a quick look-see on the Internet the necessary multi stranded wire isn't available in short quantities. If you have the parts, go for it. Lots of tutorials on YouTube for cable making. Just remember you can’t use house wiring. The high vibration environment of a motorcycle demands many small strands of fine wire. A marine supply place might have made to length cables available. Some online motorcycle supply places also sell ready-made cables. Don't know the quality, though. There are places that make cables to order, don’t know the cost... I’m not trying to discourage you from making your own cables. It’s the availability of the needed wire in short lengths that may be a problem. I’ll let you know if I find a supplier. John in Kalifornia. |
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Title: Re: Positive battery cable Post by rfw2003 on 09/10/12 at 18:26:10 If I was to make my own I would most likely use 8awg wire. This will handle the load of the starter easily and have a very minimum of voltage drop in that short distance that it will be run. You can get 8awg power wire at pretty much any place that does car stereo's by the foot. You can order it online by the foot from the same type of stores. R.F. |
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Title: Re: Positive battery cable Post by Serowbot on 09/10/12 at 18:30:23 R.F,.. he don't want it to look like speaker wire,... and you're telling him to buy speaker wire... ;D ;D ;D... Just be sure to buy speaker wire, that don't "look" like speaker wire... :-?... |
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Title: Re: Positive battery cable Post by rfw2003 on 09/10/12 at 18:36:20 6472657860757863170 wrote:
Nope wasn't saying to buy speaker wire. Was saying 8awg power wire. Car audio shops are a great place to buy power wire by the foot in all sorts of sizes. If ya think 8awg looks to small then 6awg would work as well, it's just harder to find by the foot. Although I'm sure you could get a 6awg wire from the auto parts store via the cheap battery cables and just the ends off and put your own connectors on that was needed for the savage. Crutchfield.com has 8awg power cable for $1.99 per foot and 4awg for $2.99 per foot, but I think 4awg is kinda overkill and might pose a few issues in the tight confines around the battery on the savage. http://www.crutchfield.com/g_718/Power-Ground-Cable.html?tp=578 |
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Title: Re: Positive battery cable Post by thumperclone on 09/10/12 at 22:57:33 go to your local car audio shop they should have some fine strand #6 awg that they use to wire high current amps with.. by the foot $$. get the gold terminal ends while youre at it |
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Title: Re: Positive battery cable Post by LouSiana on 09/11/12 at 01:35:48 I would say the original is about AWG 6. A stronger one might be desireable, but I think it is not required. What you should bear in mind is a multiple insulation at the cable! Don't ever use a simple PVC-insulated cable. Choose one with at least heavy silicone insulation and maybe additionally a cotton cloth insulation. Temperature of the engine would melt down PVC easily. AFAIK the stock wire is triple insulated with PVC, cotton and an ugly rippled hose (did I say that correct?). And if you go with the wire to the starter, you did ony the half job done. The other part is the ground wire and the "hot" wire fom battery + to the starter relay. As mentioned otherwhere here, the initial current is about 200 Ampere, the average current with compression strokes is about 50-60 Ampere, depending on how much the battery voltage drops. Therefore: The lower the losses in the high current wiring, the more the battery may drop in voltage. We got a critical point at about 9.5 Volts, then the plug would not fire anymore. So the limits in current through thinner stock harness may have still an advantage. If you only think it's ugly, right. But remember, you then might need at last a heavy duty battery. Some aftermarket batteries have only borderline values... Especially if you try to start her in winter. Oil gets thicker, voltage drops more by higher consumption and restricted battery chemistry. |
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Title: Re: Positive battery cable Post by Cavi Mike on 09/11/12 at 03:11:53 Without replacing the negative cable as well, there won't be any point. It's a myth that the positive should be larger than the negative especially considering electricity flows from negative to positive. |
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Title: Re: Positive battery cable Post by Gyrobob on 09/11/12 at 04:41:02 1634233C183C3E30550 wrote:
You'd think this would be obvious,.. but old wives' tales just won't go away. |
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Title: Re: Positive battery cable Post by 12Bravo on 09/11/12 at 06:05:54 7654435C785C5E50350 wrote:
Exactly! I have had to put bigger positive AND negative cables on vehicles when installing amps and sub woofers. And like Lou said, get cables with good insulation on them. |
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Title: Re: Positive battery cable Post by Gyrobob on 09/11/12 at 08:47:19 Welding cable works pretty well too. |
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