Thread: Wire size for 12vt friut

1 large wire or a pair of 6mm2 cables would be a good idea....

Depending on your needs OFC Car Audio Power Cable works well (the good stuff)

Cheers
Mike

Hi Sly, there are a number of sizes of cable that could do the job and ways to set up, but it all depends what are planning to power by this cable. :?:

Cheers.

Thanks for your thoughts, Ive scrounged up a decent lenght of narva double core sheathed cable 5 or 6 mil.I was hoping to fit 2 work lights,1 small travel light and a couple points for the fridge,compresor.

Originally posted by Sly
Thanks for your thoughts, Ive scrounged up a decent lenght of narva double core sheathed cable 5 or 6 mil.I was hoping to fit 2 work lights,1 small travel light and a couple points for the fridge,compresor.

Hi Sly, check that cable’s size making is 5mm2 or 6mm2 and if this is the case then the cable is OK but I think you will find that Narva cable is 5mm or 6mm automotive, which is considerably thinner and if it is actually 5mm automotive, it is too small to run your fridge.

To do what you want, you need to fit at least 6mm auto cable just to run the fridge. If you run anything else while the fridge is running, the voltage drop will cause the fridge motor to run a lot harder and longer than it would normally be run.

This is the only developed country in the world that uses the automotive gauging of cable and it is a measurement that taken over the total width of the cable including the plastic insulation and does not reflect the actual current capacity of the cable.

The only way to get the correct known current capacity of the cable is from a marking based on the square area of the copper and this is usually marked on the label as “ 6mm2 “ and as both 5mm2 and 6mm2 are NOT common cable sizes, the chances are that the cable you have is a lot smaller than what you need.

Next, even if you fit fuses at the end of the cable, to protect everything from a possible short somewhere along the cable, you should also fit a circuit breaker at the other end, near the battery’s positive terminal.

Cheers and hope this is of some help to you.