Battery cable question

[Casper]

Ok, I am finally getting to my duel battery set up. I have a question I can't seem to figure out. I am using the Nation Luna kit that come with 16mm cable, however it says to use 35mm cable if running a winch. Can I just run the 16mm cable twice? It might be a dumb question, but I figured I would ask. I have no problem buying the bigger cable if I have to, just don't want to if I can use what I have.
I hope I explained my question right, and thanks for the help.

Casper
:Mechanic:

 

[AFSOC]

The short answer is, nope. Two 16mm doesn't equal the capacity of 35mm, much the same that you get more water volume through a 2" pipe than two 1" pipes. As far as electrical cabling for a winch goes, I would look at your winch manufacturers recommendation and consider up rating one size. My advice is very general and dumbed down in tems I can understand. This forum is filled with 50lb brains who can respond properly with the science to prove the theory.

 

[TCM]

16mm cable equates to about 6ga cable using the standard nomenclature used here in the US. Most winches come from the factory with 2ga leads which is the same as the 35mm cable recommended by National Luna. I have the N. Luna system and use 2ga cable. I would not use anything smaller. In fact I decided not to use the complete N. Luna kit because of this. I just purchased the controller and the solenoid and then sourced the 2ga cable and terminals separately. The cost ended up being less as well. I would not try to double up the 16mm cable in that the double strands will make routing quite difficult.

 

[Casper]

16mm cable equates to about 6ga cable using the standard nomenclature used here in the US. Most winches come from the factory with 2ga leads which is the same as the 35mm cable recommended by National Luna. I have the N. Luna system and use 2ga cable. I would not use anything smaller. In fact I decided not to use the complete N. Luna kit because of this. I just purchased the controller and the solenoid and then sourced the 2ga cable and terminals separately. The cost ended up being less as well. I would not try to double up the 16mm cable in that the double strands will make routing quite difficult.

That makes sence. I was not going to use the 16mm cable for the winch, but just the conections between the batteries themselves as they are only about a foot apart. The run to the winch is going to be 1 ga or bigger since the batteries are roughly 12 or so feet from the winch.

Thanks for the info guys.

Casper
:coffeedrink:

 

[ExploringNH]

Im not going to repeat what has already been said, but another thing to consider is that if you use two runs, you are essentially doubling your possible points of failure. Simple is better.

 

[rusty_tlc]

The short answer is, nope. Two 16mm doesn't equal the capacity of 35mm, much the same that you get more water volume through a 2" pipe than two 1" pipes. As far as electrical cabling for a winch goes, I would look at your winch manufacturers recommendation and consider up rating one size. My advice is very general and dumbed down in tems I can understand. This forum is filled with 50lb brains who can respond properly with the science to prove the theory.

No 50# brain here but a little experience with electrons.

Current capacity is relative to cross sectional area of the conductor.
Cross sectional area is a function of the square of the radius.
A=πr²
If a wire has a diameter of 1 the cross sectional area will be 3.14*1² or 3.14

If we double the wire diameter the area will be 3.14*2² or ~12.6, which is about four times the cross sectional area of the first wire.