Tinned cable is less susceptible to corrosion so it's generally preferred for marine use. At a minimum you (someone) should tin the ends and 'weld' (solder) them to their connectors. Then shrink to cover the exposed length. Usually (~90% of the time?) a connection is the point of failure. Also, corrosion most easily creeps into the wire _at_ the connector..., or at any break in the insulation... Keeping your wiring 'up' helps too. Significantly. But condensation is still going to be a problem.
If you observe standard house wire ampacities, normally you should be OK.
But, be careful what you're planning: P = IxE = I^2xR
10kW = 833A at 12V! Not 'home wiring.'
For 800A you just want a short run, and the biggest hunk of copper you can find. Forget the rest. And maybe a blast cover...er I mean, an electrical box. :-)
A regular lead acid car battery will usually actually do 800A briefly, if you ask it to. You can weld with them.
But consider: An errant one-onehundreth of an ohm (0.01Ω) in a bad 833A connection will dissipate over 6.9kW! (I^2xR) Ten Milliohms can put 7kW into the connection. That's often the one where the fountain of sparks and molten flaming metal shoots out the side... you've seen it in movies right? Probably not a good boating day. From maybe like a speck of dust on the mating surface.
Or, since you didn't say, lets assume you have something more reasonable...like a 48V setup. That's _still_ 208A. I'd look for maybe 4/0 for something like that. Maaaaaaaaabe 3/0, if it's a short run.
At hundreds of amps, worry more about the terminations and size of the wire than the stranding or tinning. And mechanical support. Like with plumbing. You don't want it to 'leak' :-)
MAKE SURE:
*NO EXPOSED LIVE CONDUCTORS
*Current limiting, like breakers or fuses immediately after the batteries(') positive terminal.
*Keep high current to a short run.
-The positive and negative currents should be routed together, minimizing loop area.
-tape the wires together every so often, and give the run a twist or two. "Twisted Pair" style.
On Saturday, November 28, 2020, 7:48:44 PM CST, Harley Clark <clarkharley37@gmail.com> wrote:
I used 2/0 marine cables. I have a 10kw drive and I generally cruise using 48 volts at 30 to 50 amps.
The Ancpr cables resist corrosion so you won't get hot spots that could be a fire source.
I realize that you may have to fit your budget between the best and let's get cracking.
On Fri, Nov 27, 2020, 10:16 AM William Shannahan via groups.io <shannahanwilliam=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
So I have the 10kw kit and my batteries on the way. I was looking at West Marine for battery cable, I am unsure what gauge I should use. Also there was a wide price variance for what appear to be the same gauge cable. Is there a reason to pay 13 dollars a foot for Ancor cable?
Thanks,Willie
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