1/0 Welding Cable for use as slave cable

[98G]

I picked up some slave plugs and ordered some 1/0 Welding Cable to use to assemble some slave cables.

The cable arrived and is smaller in diameter than my existing slave cables. My understanding is slave cables are 2/0, so I had every intention of the 1/0 cable being overkill, even when used at 50 foot lengths.

The cable is marked "1/0 (50mm2) welding cable 600v -50c to +105c made in USA CCI royal/excelene".

It's copper and looks like good stuff. Am I ok using this for slave cables? How does it compare to OEM? What am I missing?

Tha ks

 

[NDT]

2/O cable is bigger diameter than 1/O. You will suffer some loss of ampacity.

 

[gimpyrobb]

You should be fine if using common sense.

 

[steelandcanvas]

The 1/0 welding cable is rated for 172 amps, the 2/0 is rated for 200 amps. The 2/0 cable is larger than the 1/0 cable. You can use it for slaving purposes, but just as with any slaving scenario, keep an eye on the heat generated in the cables.

 

[98G]

I went looking before I ordered it. And tried to be educated prior to buying. I based my wire guage decision on the following information from wikipedia:

"Increasing gauge numbers denote decreasing wire diameters, which is similar to many other non-metric*gauging systems..."

The above excerpt is in direct conflict with the information you have provided (greatly appreciated by the way) and with my own observation....

Armed with this new information I will limit any cables I make with this stuff to 25 feet, and I won't be selling them.

Edit to add - upon further reflection I'll be keeping my 50 feet of 1/0 wire to use for extended reach when welding. Maybe I'll make some 50' slave cables out of 3/0 wire if it will fit in the slave connectors or at least 2/0 if the 3/0 physically won't go.

 

[98G]

Ok, I'm bit more knowledgeable now and I found the following information very helpful:

http://www.cerrowire.com/ampacity-charts

 

[Artisan]

I have gone that route, making a set w/ ends. It was a LOT of work to
do it right (in my mind anywho) . I think I dipped the ends in molten solder and soldered on
copper eyelet ends and shrink wrap etc, it was a LOT of work. Don't forget to get the
polarity right! Those ends are rated at 500 AMPS right? but the cables can't
handle it right? Go figure...

A 50' long slave cable set, that has 100' of cable is VERY heavy. I bought
some MALE x MALE Slave Cable connectors so I can connect two slaves
cables together in that rare emergency. You can make the same thing w/
Slave ports for trucks that have pigtail ends, just grab 2- 3/8' x 5/8?" long
bolts and nuts and shrink wrap and bolt them together so you end up w/
a Male x Male adaptor...

 

[steelandcanvas]

The larger the number, smaller the wire rule works until you get down below AWG (American Wire Gauge) #1. With 1/0, 2/0, 3/0, 4/0 the wire progressively gets larger as the number increases. After 4/0, the numerical measurement is the cross section of the conductor in circular mils. For instance, 250MCM cable has a conductor cross section of 250,000 mils. I think I've been an electrician way too long.

 

[goldneagle]

Let me make it simple for those who don't understand wire gauge sizes. 1/0 = 0 2/0 = 00 3/0 = 000 and 4/0 = 0000 (the more 0 the larger the wire size.) after that the wire sizes go into MCM. 250 MCM is smaller than 500 MCM.

 

[Whiterabbit]

The finer strands in welding cable should increase amp capacity right?
I've always had huge improvements in starting by replacing stock batt. leads with same gauge welding cable, esp. if they are long runs.

 

[m16ty]

Wire gauge number does get smaller as size increases. Here's the way I've always thought of it, two zeros (2/0) is less than one zero (1/0) so it will in turn be bigger.

I always figured that when they came up with wire gauge sizes, they didn't take into consideration that there may be wire sizes bigger than #1. When they started getting bigger than #1 they didn't know what to do so they just started adding zeros.

 

[doghead]

Undersized cables do not start any 5 ton trucks in the cold. The cable twitches, when cranking.

Go big or go home!

 

[M35A2-AZ]

I think you should be fine as long as you do not use them for a long period of time.

 

[doghead]

I think you should be fine as long as you do not use them for a long period of time.

Agreed, as long as he does not want to start one when it's cold out or the batteries are dead.

 

[VPed]

The amp rating for the cable posted before assumes continuous use. You can put a lot more though cables for short term. Consider that much smaller cable in a civvy truck handles 200, 300, 400 amps regularly. As suggested, be mindful of heat buildup. Also, make sure to string out the cable instead of leaving some of it coiled if it is longer than required. If you allow the slaved vehicles batteries to charge for a bit before cranking can help in lessening the load through the cables while cranking and is better once the slaved vehicle starts. Less chance of burnt alternators that way.

 

[jasonjc]

High amps + small cable + long run + cold temps = big voltage drop. Not good for starting big truck.

 

[98G]

I learned something and it didn't really cost me that much. I can use the 1/0 cable for welding (where the hottest I usually go is 106 amps) and I have already ordered 2/0 cable from which to assemble my 25' slave cables.

I got quite the education in wire gauge sizes and am now competent to differentiate. I'm just lucky I didn't end up with 2 AWG the first time around and would have had something that would have been of no use to me in any capacity.

Live and learn. Learn or you won't live long. Though I generally prefer to learn from the mistakes of others rather than making my own....

 

[98G]

The amp rating for the cable posted before assumes continuous use. You can put a lot more though cables for short term. Consider that much smaller cable in a civvy truck handles 200, 300, 400 amps regularly. As suggested, be mindful of heat buildup. Also, make sure to string out the cable instead of leaving some of it coiled if it is longer than required. If you allow the slaved vehicles batteries to charge for a bit before cranking can help in lessening the load through the cables while cranking and is better once the slaved vehicle starts. Less chance of burnt alternators that way.

I have been under the impression that we're sending somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 amps at 24v when we slave start these trucks... I've noticed that the OEM battery cables get quite hot with extended cranking and that that is the reason the TM instructs that we should pause to allow slave cables and battery cables to cool when extended cranking is required for slaving.

 

[VPed]

It will be pretty high amperage and yeah, extended cranking will build heat. The most likely cause is less than optimum connection at the quick disconnects. Extended cranking is also quite bad for the starter. The cables will cool down much faster that the starter windings so do not just allow the cables to cool and resume cranking. Neither the slave cables, jumper cables, or starters are designed for more than about 15 to 30 seconds of cranking max.

 

[steelandcanvas]

The finer strands in welding cable should increase amp capacity right?
I've always had huge improvements in starting by replacing stock batt. leads with same gauge welding cable, esp. if they are long runs.

The ampacity tables do seem to indicate that. Before yesterday, I had not looked at the ampacity of welding cable, so I got a little education myself.