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Old 01-05-2012, 12:27 AM   #11
sonicj
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Default Re: Advantages of cable upgrade

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Originally Posted by shadowman View Post
when is enough to much? anything bigger than 2 gage would be a waste wouldn,t it? i mean even 2 gage if current flows into just 1 cable smaller than its either gonna be that smaller cable melts or theres a bottleneck anyways .........i think 4 gage is overall the best thing to upgrade to...........now just my opinion as i have never felt a difference going from 4 gage to 2 gage but going from 6 gage to a good premium set of 4 gage i have noticed real nice differences on carts...........................
heres a simple voltage drop calculator. http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

*note - this is just the Voltage drop across xx ft of cable at a fixed voltage and current. this does not take into account; ambient temperature, temperature of the wire, resistance of the lug, termination quality, corrosion, etc. all of these add resistance to the circuit.

i went ahead and grabbed screen shots for 48V @ 500A for the popular sizes (6awg, 4awg, & 2awg) + 2/0 (aka: 00awg, what some consider to be "overkill for a golf cart"). since the current and voltage are fixed values in the calculator, we can use the "PerCent voltage drop" variable to represent the potential loss.

so lets take 4awg as an example, if you pull 500A through 30' of 4awg at 48V input, 15.96% of your available power potential, is lost through the copper cabling alone.

do we drive around at 500A all the time? no, but say if you are trying climb a hill or wondering why your front wheels won't lift off the ground while pulling 500A @ 48V through 4awg wire, you can be certain that 15.96% of your voltage potential is being turned into heat inside of the cabling instead of work at the motor.
-sj
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Old 01-05-2012, 05:41 PM   #12
DJBlade
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Default Re: Advantages of cable upgrade

Great info sonicj! You helped me decide to pay the extra for the 2GA. It isn't much more money to run cooler and more efficient if you encounter hilly terrain often.
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Old 01-05-2012, 06:49 PM   #13
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Default Re: Advantages of cable upgrade

What's that old saying, " bigger is better! "
When it comes to wire thickness, it's the truth!
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Old 01-05-2012, 08:05 PM   #14
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Default Re: Advantages of cable upgrade

i understand all that but there are so many bottlenecks in these systems it makes me just wonder.................................
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Old 01-06-2012, 01:12 AM   #15
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Default Re: Advantages of cable upgrade

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Originally Posted by DJBlade View Post
Great info sonicj! You helped me decide to pay the extra for the 2GA. It isn't much more money to run cooler and more efficient if you encounter hilly terrain often.
NP! seeing the difference in black & white makes the decision a bit easier imo.

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Originally Posted by simple man View Post
What's that old saying, " bigger is better! "
When it comes to wire thickness, it's the truth!
tru dat!

Quote:
Originally Posted by shadowman View Post
i understand all that but there are so many bottlenecks in these systems it makes me just wonder.................................
a current "bottleneck" doesn't behave the same way as something like say... traffic.

think of each element in your power circuit as a resistor in series. (resistors in series are additive) lowest total resistance is the goal.

ohm's law:
I = V÷R


if V (Voltage) is steady and you want a increase in I (Current), you must decrease R (Resistance).
-sj
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Old 01-06-2012, 01:51 AM   #16
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Default Re: Advantages of cable upgrade

Quote:
Originally Posted by sonicj View Post
heres a simple voltage drop calculator. http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

*note - this is just the Voltage drop across xx ft of cable at a fixed voltage and current. this does not take into account; ambient temperature, temperature of the wire, resistance of the lug, termination quality, corrosion, etc. all of these add resistance to the circuit.

i went ahead and grabbed screen shots for 48V @ 500A for the popular sizes (6awg, 4awg, & 2awg) + 2/0 (aka: 00awg, what some consider to be "overkill for a golf cart"). since the current and voltage are fixed values in the calculator, we can use the "PerCent voltage drop" variable to represent the potential loss.

so lets take 4awg as an example, if you pull 500A through 30' of 4awg at 48V input, 15.96% of your available power potential, is lost through the copper cabling alone.

do we drive around at 500A all the time? no, but say if you are trying climb a hill or wondering why your front wheels won't lift off the ground while pulling 500A @ 48V through 4awg wire, you can be certain that 15.96% of your voltage potential is being turned into heat inside of the cabling instead of work at the motor.
-sj

There is not even 30ft in a whole cart?
I think the longest cable in a cart is 5ft, so your calculations based on drawing current thru 30 ft of cable are off.
But we get the point. This is a commonly know fact about amperage traveling thru wire. There are losses in new wire.
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Old 01-06-2012, 02:37 AM   #17
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Default Re: Advantages of cable upgrade

5ft to the F&R switch x 4 = 20ft
10ft for the batteries & to the controller/solonoid
30ft seemed like a fair estimate at the time...
-sj
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Old 01-06-2012, 08:09 AM   #18
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Default Re: Advantages of cable upgrade

Yes, but new wires certainly look cool !!
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Old 01-06-2012, 09:30 AM   #19
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Default Re: Advantages of cable upgrade

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Originally Posted by sonicj View Post
5ft to the F&R switch x 4 = 20ft
10ft for the batteries & to the controller/solonoid
30ft seemed like a fair estimate at the time...
-sj
The path of amperage delivery to the motor does not run through all of the cables at once to reach the motor... you're guess looks over-stated from a golf cart tech's point of view...
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Old 01-07-2012, 03:35 AM   #20
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Default Re: Advantages of cable upgrade

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Originally Posted by scottyb View Post
The path of amperage delivery to the motor does not run through all of the cables at once to reach the motor... you're guess looks over-stated from a golf cart tech's point of view...
heres a basic wiring diagram for a solid state controlled, series motor golf cart. so from a "golf cart tech's point of view", please explain how current bypasses any of these cables?
-sj
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