Welding cable size?

[Dmopar74]

2013 txt48, the battery bank has welding cable about the size of a dime including jacket, but the wiring to the controller and the motor are stock size. I'm going to have Bob rework my controller and figured I should upgrade the rest of the wire. What size should I run?

[cgtech]

4g minimum, for all cables that are currently stock size. Anything larger isnt a real benefit with a stock controller.

[BobBoyce]

I recommend 2 guage, even for the TXT48. OTR testing of TXT48s with larger tires showed a few tenths of a MPH improvement when all high current cables (all except for the 2 smaller sepex stator wires) were upgraded to 2 guage. I've not compared 2 guage to 4 guage on the TXT48, as I've always recommended 2 guage. There is a lot of high current cable length on a TXT48, and that loss adds up.

[JohnnieB]

Going from a 4Ga to 2Ga cables reduces power loss (energy wasted as heat) by 59%.

A series drive has about 23' of cable and 4Ga loses about 57.2W per 100A while 2Ga loses about 35.9W per 100A, so there is 21.3W per 100A less loss.

DCS and PDS drives have about 15' of cable, so 4Ga loses 37.3W/100A and 2Ga loses 23.4W/100A, for 13.9W/100A less loss.

The total cable length for carts with 6 X 8V 48V packs, have about 3' longer, so a TXT-48 would likely have 18' of cable, so the power loss for 4Ga is 44.7W/100A and 28.1W/100A for 2Ga, or 16.6W/100A less loss.

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Going to 2Ga cables was the first upgrade I made on my 2008 PDS cart and was in 2011 when the OEM cables were only 3 years old and there was a noticeable (seat of the pants) increase in low end torque, but no top speed change because the stock PDS controller RPM limits the motor to 4400RPM.

[Dmopar74]

So 2awg or 2/0?

[JohnnieB]

2awg.

[fpainter]

My brother just did one up with 2g it gains about 1/2 hp by seat of pants dyno.