Sterling 50A B2B - reinstalling - what size cable please to battery connections

[MisterB]

i am reinstalling a Sterling 50A B2B, which i bought from a member on here about a year ago. can anyone advise on the size of the cable i need to connect to the battery? i understand it may depend on the length, which is under 2m - if i fitted a cable larger than a 50A capacity, would that suffice? i was looking at a 100A rated cable which is twice as much as the B2B rating (or have i got that wrong?)

Thanks

 

[DBK]

Off the top of head I would go for 25mm although you could use thinner.

 

[Jaws]

i am reinstalling a Sterling 50A B2B, which i bought from a member on here about a year ago. can anyone advise on the size of the cable i need to connect to the battery? i understand it may depend on the length, which is under 2m - if i fitted a cable larger than a 50A capacity, would that suffice? i was looking at a 100A rated cable which is twice as much as the B2B rating (or have i got that wrong?)

Thanks

You cannot fit cables too big ! The bigger the better

 

[MisterB]

Off the top of head I would go for 25mm although you could use thinner.

25mm equates to 170A - i was thinking that if the B2B is rated at 50A then the cable doesnt need to be a higher rating than that, however i was looking at 16mm which is 110A - so rated as twice as much as the B2B

i do understand your point Jaws, but there seems little point in using a sledgehammer to crack this particular nut ...

 

[tonyidle]

25mm equates to 170A - i was thinking that if the B2B is rated at 50A then the cable doesnt need to be a higher rating than that, however i was looking at 16mm which is 110A - so rated as twice as much as the B2B

i do understand your point Jaws, but there seems little point in using a sledgehammer to crack this particular nut ...

There are two issues to consider when choosing cable cross-section: the first and obvious one is to pick a size that will carry the likely current. The cable data will tell you how big you'll need to go. The second and more important when considering low-voltage supplies is the resistance of the cable. This can range from irrelevant for a very short cable run to very important if the run is more than a couple of feet. For a 2M run err on the side of caution and go with Jaws suggestion.

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[DBK]

25mm equates to 170A - i was thinking that if the B2B is rated at 50A then the cable doesnt need to be a higher rating than that, however i was looking at 16mm which is 110A - so rated as twice as much as the B2B

i do understand your point Jaws, but there seems little point in using a sledgehammer to crack this particular nut ...

16mm over 2m will give about a 2% voltage drop. The recommended maximum is 3% to 4% so you should be fine. I would still use 25mm but 16mm will work.

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[MisterB]

Thanks everyone. 25mm cable ordered as advised !