Quick Connectors and the Art of AWG Cable Ratings

[Andyba20]

Follow if you can…

 

I have a Ramsey worm gear winch rated at max 280 amp draw

 

Winch originally came with #4 awg cable

 

Charts say #4 cable good for 100 amps at 9.4 feet

 

I am installing Anderson power pole SB175 quick connectors to be used with the winch and homemade #1 awg jumper cables. (Passenger battery with connector by the grill at the bumper)

 

Chart says #1 cable good to 200 amps

 

SB175 good for 175 continuous amps according to Anderson.

 

Largest size cable compatible with SB175 is 1/0…but charts say 1/0 good for 300 amps at 8 ft…this is well beyond the 175 amp rating. 

 

So I’ve got a winch that will draw 280 amps that came factory with #4 cable which is only rated for 100 amps. A 175A connector that is compatible with 1/0 gauge cable that is rated up to 300 amps. I have #1 awg cable good to 200 amps. This is why people go rogue…more disinformation than the CCP virus. None of it adds up. I guess this 12vdc stuff is more of an art than a science. 

 

Now, I’m guessing  the whole “continuous draw” thing is the key here, and Anderson does say the SB175 can handle higher loads, but that’s pretty vague. (How much higher and for how long?)

 

They do make a larger SB350, but most of the accessories I see myself using with the quick connectors are smaller and wouldn’t be compatible with the larger SB350 housing/contacts (winch with #2 cable, #1 jumper cables, inverter, etc)

 

Anybody using the quick connects like this? Tips and best practices appreciated.

[Haggar]

The real engineering answer for why you can't get a good easy to understand  answer.  " IT DEPENDS "  my friends know it is gonna be a long day when I start the explanation that way....

 

It is hard to give a straight answer because none of the variables stay constant long enough.  For wiring, the whole problem is temperature rise.  The very second amps are applied the temperature of the conductor changes.  So the amp carrying capacity changes.....   It is a snake eating its own tail constantly.

 

So if you look at the derating vs ambient   4 gauge goes from 200 amps to 175 amps when ambient changes from 80F to 110F  or so...  1/0 goes from 290 to 250 in the same range....

 

There will be no perfect answer for you.  It will depend on how long at what amp draw you need to run.   You will be fine with short pulls at full amps.  If you need to pull longer you will just need to stop and let it all cool for a bit, or upgrade everything to handle it. 

 

HTH

 

Hag

[wil440]

Where I used to work before going it on my own we had a jump start pack NATO 200 Ultra Heavy Duty Jump Start | Powervamp  which was 2 of the Nato 200 together in a trolley 

Used for starting large earthmoving stuff, this pack was all Anderson connectors and each pack was 2450 peak amps, Anderson connectors connected both together then another lead connected to the vehicle to be started although we had several leads one of which had a Cat connector on one end for Cat stuff, I cannot remember which size Anderson but the cabling was around little finger thickness, sorry I know that's of no real use but that's all I can remember, the terminals were maybe 3/8th wide on the connection side

Connect these 2 packs to a Cat 775 dumptruck and hit the starter and the cabling would jump but never overheat, Cat 775 are V12 27litre  with twin starters.

 

Also having some winch experience it will always be a trade off between sensible sized cabling and connectors and sometimes having to double rig to bring the electrical load down 

 

Sorry that's of no use technically

 

[Andyba20]

I appreciate the wisdom, fellas. It does seem good old fashioned experience is more helpful with these types of things than “charts”. 
 

Also, those lithium ion jump starter packs are the way of the future, I’m just the worlds worst at losing or breaking stuff like that. Jumper cables aren’t as convenient but they are somewhat harder to lose and somewhat harder to destroy.

[wil440]

52 minutes ago, Andyba20 said:

I appreciate the wisdom, fellas. It does seem good old fashioned experience is more helpful with these types of things than “charts”. 
 

Also, those lithium ion jump starter packs are the way of the future, I’m just the worlds worst at losing or breaking stuff like that. Jumper cables aren’t as convenient but they are somewhat harder to lose and somewhat harder to destroy.

TBH you'd have a hard time losing the packs we had, you could just about lift one pack at a time, built in on/off key so the pack is off until everything connected and ready and if some dumbass has connected wrong it gives a warning and doesn't go up in smoke

Used by Nato and the UK MOD to start planes

[Andyba20]

I’ve personally seen these things in real world use, and they work. I bought one (not this brand, an Amazon brand), used it once…long story short it got snowed on, snow melted, then it stopped working. My fault, but life happens. But it’s pretty amazing what these little packs can do. 
 

https://www.hulkman.com/products/alpha100?variant=39387734966444&gclid=EAIaIQobChMImu3q7Juw9QIV7SlMCh03MAg-EAQYAiABEgKmefD_BwE

[Mopar1973Man]

Interesting... 

 

[wil440]

I see the link I posted on the Nato 200 didn't actually post as a link

 

 NATO 200 Ultra Heavy Duty Jump Start | Powervamp       

still not posting as a link

[Silverwolf2691]

@wil440 ctrl + shift + v

[wil440]

https://www.powervamp.com/products/battery-jump-start-packs/nato-200/

13 hours ago, Silverwolf2691 said:

@wil440 ctrl + shift + v

Got it, but I'll be forgot that inside 10 minutes 

[Silverwolf2691]

Pc or mobile?

 

If on pc, when you right click to paste there are 2 paste options (at least on windows). Use the one that has ctrl+shift+v next to it 

 

Mobile should paste as a link regardless 

[wil440]

47 minutes ago, Silverwolf2691 said:

Pc or mobile?

 

If on pc, when you right click to paste there are 2 paste options (at least on windows). Use the one that has ctrl+shift+v next to it 

 

Mobile should paste as a link regardless 

Ah now that is interesting as I use win 10 and the right click option paste as a link which is ctrl+v actually pastes as plain txt.   ctrl+shift+v is actually described as paste as plain text and guess what that pastes as a link

 

Microsoft garbage

 

 

 

 

[Mopar1973Man]

 Enuf Said...