wire length

rberg31

so im thinking of buying some bulk 2 awg gauge wire and was curious if any of you all had any idea of how many feet to order so that i could upgrade the wiring on my cart? my cart is a 2006 ezgo txt. i don't mind having a few extra feet, just didn't want to over do it. is 50feet enough?

BGW

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JohnnieB

Hopefully it's welding cable with neoprene jacket (oil and acid resistant) and high strand count (600 for 2 Ga), you're planning on buying.

As for length, it depends on the drive system. Series carts have 13 or 14 cables, while PDS carts only have 10.

My guess is that 50' would be enough for 2 series carts and 3 PDS carts.
I'm pretty sure on the PDS, since I replaced the cables on mine last summer.

rberg31

johnnie, my cart has 13 cables. the wire I'm buying is called "carol super-vu tron welding cable. it is 600 stand and it says oil resistant on the jacket. the cable says nothing about being acid resistant. i can buy this stuff by the foot, so would 30 feet be a better estimate? you say 50 foot is eniugh for 2 carts? lastly, this stuff is only $1.85 a foot with free shipping. is that a good price? person selling it says it normally sells for over $6 a foot. so if 30 foot is enough, i can upgrade the stock cables for around 60 bucks. does this sound about right? thanks for your feedback.

chloe

Measure your existing cables and add 10 to 15% for error and/or waste. That is, if your cable total is 9.5 feet, you would add 1 to 1 and one half more feet to your total. Always round up to the next whole number.

Gonkulor

I fabricated the cables on my series cart and used 26 feet. I did use extra length so my cables could be parallel, straight and perpendicular to various lines. I'm sure if you were to make the new ones to same length as original 50 feet would get you 2 carts.

win1

Sorry for the newb questions. What is the advantage of 2 vs 4ga wires? I have stock wires in my 09 pds. i will slowly start to upgrade. Wire is one of my 1st mods. Should I get 2ga?
Thanx

kab69440

I bought a 25' spool of 2ga battery cable and it did all the high current cables and battery jumpers with a good bit left over to make spares.

The larger the gauge and higher the strand count, the more current the wire can handle. I didn't use welding cable, but all I have is a stock controller and stock motor.

rberg31

So, from what I have read, 25 feet should be sufficient for one cart. At least I hope it is when I order...What about the cost? Does $1.85 sound like a good deal to you all?

kab69440

If I recall correctly, the spool was $70 or so.

JohnnieB

Cables were my first update also.
Be sure to replace all 10 high current cables.
The stock F1 and F2 cables are probably okay. Make sure their connections are clean and tight.

When Amps flow through resistance, a voltage develops across the resistance (Ohm's law: IXR=E or Amps x Ohms = Volts).
When moving a large number of Amps between the battery pack and the motor, even the small amount of resistance in the cables "Steals" some of the battery voltage being applied to the motor and "Voltage = Speed"

2Ga cables have less resistance per foot than 4Ga, so less of the battery voltage that can be applied to the motor is lost.

If you plan to limit your cart to a 500A controller or less, 4ga will probably suffice.
If you might go 500A or more, 2Ga would be better.

I seriously doubt if I'll ever install a controller over 500A, but I went with 2Ga cables because they are more efficient (less battery power wasted as heat) even with a stock controller and only cost $30 more a set.