4 guage not enough?

BRS

Well I was running 48v, 700amp, D-380 wide open for about 15-20 mins. and puff. Checked under the seat and my orange or forward motor cable from F/R switch to motor lead broke clean thru. All controller and motor cables were too hot to touch, no melted casings...yet. Batt. cables were very hot but could be touched. It appears the shifting of the F/R switch generated a weak spot on the cable about two inches from the connection on the switch. Anyway, cable was frayed in two. Could too much length in cable cause a problem as this cable was about 18" longer than needed?

BGW

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scottyb

I'm guessing the added length and the damage done by the constant flexing of the cable led to it's demise.... There is a formula on amperage losses due to length of cable...18 inches of extra length on a 36 inch cable is a lot of extra. How old were the cables? I never did like the club car moving cable F&R

BRS

Cables are only about a year old...bought a pre-fabbed set...probably the mistake. I've never been real impressed with this set, they are the ones you see on every website (all white with color coded ends) about $130. The crimped ends are not soldered nor are they crimped that well...some wiggling by hand would cause these cables to work their way out of crimp.

rcdd

New Cables?.....Cheapest I could find on-line.....

https://weldingsupply.securesites.co...:AND:304-1170R

$0.68 per foot of black #4 if ordering more than 25'

$1.17 per foot of black (or red) #2 if ordering more than 25'

Then just find some good lugs, and your set....

scottyb

My buddy and I differ on this .... I solder, he crimps. I feel the soldered connection is as good as it can get

rcdd

Well, you can always "tin" the crimped connector as well.....best of both worlds....crimped for strength, and soldered for connectivity.....

And spray the heck outta them with "Battery Protector"...

scottyb

I don't see where crimping is stronger than soldered ?

rcdd

as far as "pulling force", compression connectors are stonger than a solder connectors....but truthfully, this should never come into play in a cart "enviroment"....

scubabud

Both are find if done correctly but…
I don't remember the last time a good soldering connection pulled apart.
I do remember when a crimping connection has pulled apart, (one case right here on this thread,) or worse yet caused enough resistance to create excessive heat or even a fire.
To unsolder you'll need some serious heat, like 360 degrees Fahrenheit and then some.
To loosen an improper crimping connection you’ll need movement or some heat and cold along with movement, expand and contract.
So to each his own but I’ll stick with the soldering type.

GLEEMO

The shorter the better, bigger is better,
solder is better since it tends to combune a hundred wires into 1 core,
any corrosion on a crimp and U start loosing core potential >

Just my openion, It may or may not reflect the views of any other person(s) (dead or Alive) !