At 06:10 PM 11/13/2009, John Meeks wrote: >... the wire is good for 37 amps. Will the connectors and the wire >do the trick or will I have a meltdown or worse? Don't know about the connectors, but the wire shouldn't be a problem. Keep in mind that the current rating for wires is based on heat dissipation. If you draw 100 amps through 6 gauge wire for 5 seconds, the wire will barely warm up. This calculator suggests 100 amps through 2 feet of 6 gauge wire would generate about 8 watts of heat: http://www.stealth316.com/2-wire-resistance.htm You'd have to crank the engine for awhile before the heat would build up enough to permanently damage the insulation. Of course, if the wire is in the center of a bundle, it'll heat up that much more quickly, because the heat can't dissipate as well. It's important to consider the voltage drop due to the resistance of the wire. The voltage drop is small for a short run of 6 gauge wire. About 0.08 volts across 2 feet of 6 gauge at 100 amps, according to the above calculator. In short, while it's not exactly a best practice, I wouldn't worry about running a lot of current through a short length of 6 gauge wire briefly, and the voltage drop probably won't be a problem, either. Of course, wire with really high-quality insulation, like Tefzel, will tolerate this sort of abuse better: http://www.bandc.biz/electrical-wire.aspx http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefzel |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.