Romex Wire, Crimp Connectors?

[Buggieman18]

I found some 12/2 Romex laying around, and figure I can use this to supply B+ to the reducer and B- to the negative block, and it all stays neatly together. Any issues with crimping the connectors to solid 12 g wire or higher gauge solid wire?

[BobBoyce]

Originally Posted by Buggieman18

I found some 12/2 Romex laying around, and figure I can use this to supply B+ to the reducer and B- to the negative block, and it all stays neatly together. Any issues with crimping the connectors to solid 12 g wire or higher gauge solid wire?

Yes, solid wire in anything that moves is a big issue. It will fatigue, crack, and fail. That is why all vehicles use higher count stranded wire than house wire uses. The higher the strand count, ie the finer the strands, the better it holds up to movement that causes fatigue to the copper. Even stranded house wire is not fine enough to hold up long term. You'll want automotive wire for small guage applications, and welding wire for high current applications. Use good quality copper lugs, crimped AND soldered. You don't want power glitching to electronics (such as inside of the DC Converter) caused by the copper oxidizing as it ages and making/breaking connection.

I designed aircraft and spacecraft for the Department of Defense, and we used Mil-Spec wire. It was silver plated/teflon insulated stranded wire with really high grade copper cores on each strand. It was rated to carry 3 times the current of the same guage in stranded copper wire. I still design power systems that use Mil-Spec wire, though not for defense use anymore. I've found over the years that it is still required for certain high end applications where regular copper wire would be too large to fit in a tight space. It's overkill for golf carts and EVs though. LOL

[ThreeCW]

Bob,
A lot of people on the forum say to use the the fine standed wire only because it is better ... but you tell us actually "why" it is better! Thank you (again) for sharing your knowledge on BGW
Regards, 3CW

[Buggieman18]

Dang, now I have a piece of Romex still sitting around....

Great info, thanks!

[BobBoyce]

Originally Posted by ThreeCW

Bob,
A lot of people on the forum say to use the the fine standed wire only because it is better ... but you tell us actually "why" it is better! Thank you (again) for sharing your knowledge on BGW
Regards, 3CW

I can't help it, it's the aerospace engineer in me leaking out. I actually want people to learn the how and why, if I am not in a rush to make a quick post and take off somewhere...

Originally Posted by Buggieman18

Dang, now I have a piece of Romex still sitting around....

Great info, thanks!

You may find a use for it, eventually.

I had $82K in tools and materials stolen from my shop in 2013. $42K of that was copper wire and cable, including numorous rolls of really expensive Mil-Spec wire. The thieves sold it all as scrap copper to a scrapyard in Morganton GA. I was glad that I had scraps of wire stored here and there, in my house and a storage building that the thieves did not bother with. I was sure that they intended to come back for more, so I hid my car behind the cabin out back. Early the next morning, a motion alarm in my driveway woke me. One guy had returned, and he found the shop locked up again. I heard him cursing! I was upset that I had left my handgun out in my car! I installed a trail camera on a tree along my driveway that day. The next day, I kept my gun with me. I did not see or hear him arrive. I was in my shop doing inventory for the insurance company. But I caught a dozen still pics of him walking up my driveway with bolt cutters, then running back down my driveway when he realized that I was in the shop. I attached a cropped photo of him.

[BobBoyce]

Originally Posted by ThreeCW

Bob,
A lot of people on the forum say to use the the fine standed wire only because it is better ... but you tell us actually "why" it is better! Thank you (again) for sharing your knowledge on BGW
Regards, 3CW

I can't help it, it's the aerospace engineer in me leaking out. I actually want people to learn the how and why, if I am not in a rush to make a quick post and take off somewhere...

Originally Posted by Buggieman18

Dang, now I have a piece of Romex still sitting around....

Great info, thanks!

You may find a use for it, eventually.

I had $82K in tools and materials stolen from my shop in 2013. $42K of that was copper wire and cable, including numorous rolls of really expensive Mil-Spec wire. The thieves sold it all as scrap copper to a scrapyard in Morganton GA. I was glad that I had scraps of wire stored here and there, in my house and a storage building that the thieves did not bother with. I was sure that they intended to come back for more, so I hid my car behind the cabin out back. 4:30 AM the next morning, a motion alarm in my driveway woke me. A guy had returned, and he had found the shop locked up again. I heard him cursing! I was upset that I had left my handgun in my car! I installed a Hi Def trail camera on a tree along my driveway that day. The next day, I kept my handgun with me. I did not see or hear him arrive. I was in my shop doing inventory for the insurance company. But I caught a dozen still pics of him walking up my driveway with bolt cutters, then running back down my driveway when he realized that I was in the shop. I attached a pic of him.

[Mooncarter]

Outcome?

[BobBoyce]

Originally Posted by Mooncarter

Outcome?

My insurance paid $12K, my policy limit of liability for personal property. The cops IDd him from scars on his arm that showed up in the photos. The guy had agreed to testify against his buddies, one of them a guy down the street from me, but he chickened out and ran. Cops caught him eventually and he went to prison. He's out of prison now, supposedly found the lord. If he ever shows up on my property again, it'll be the last thing he does. My property is Posted and registered as such at the Courthouse. He's indigent and lives with his parents, so no sense going after him financially for the $70K I'm still out. I swore out warrants against his buddies once I found out who they were. They both split to Florida to avoid the cops. It's the cops problem now, unless they ever show up here again.