Welding cable to relocate winch solenoids

[Eric N.]

Moving my solenoids off the winch ( Ramsey RE12000 ) and up into the engine compartment and was wondering if any of you electric gurus think that 1/0 welding cable would be good enough to run from the solenoids to the winch motor.. Looking to make sure that the wire can handle it.

Looking at the Super Flex "BLACK" Copper Welding Cable 1/0 ExCELENE from welding depot and then either using hammer on or solder on connectors..


edit: the battery cables that came with the winch were only 2 gauge so I'm assuming that this would be plenty for what I want.. I guess the thing that is throwing me off is "30 gauge extra flexible stranded annealed uncoated copper conductor with kraft paper separator." Is that per strand?

 

[roverover]

I was told, after I paid out the ass for marine cable, that welding cable is exactly the same for about 1/10th the price

 

[azarmadillo]

I used 1/0 welding cables for my Superwinch Husky 10k. Works great.

 

[marc olivares]

1 used 1/0 welding cable for mine too...your fine

 

[D Chapman]

Just wondering, but why move it? Weather related? Keep it out of the mud?

 

[Eric N.]

ya, pretty much those reasons plus, it will make it much easier to change out the solenoids when one dies on me.. Since I have the winch in an RTE bumper with the a-bar I have to remove the winch from the bumper in order to get the solenoid pack cover off.. So putting them under the hood will keep them cleaner and make my life easier next time I have to change one out again. Much easier to pop the hood and undo 5 bolts then it is to drop the winch while your sunk in mud or where ever and try to change them out.

I'm doing it more for the ease of replacing them then keeping them cleaner though.

 

[Eric N.]

Question for the folks that have rewired their winches using 1/0 cable.. What did you use for connectors? I ordered some hammer on lugs but, they are freaking huge and there's no way they are going to work..

 

[Leslie]

Question for the folks that have rewired their winches using 1/0 cable.. What did you use for connectors? I ordered some hammer on lugs but, they are freaking huge and there's no way they are going to work..

Go to Lowes, to the parts drawers (where all the different sized bolts, etc. are). THey have an assortment of different sized ones there.



-L

 

[Eric N.]

You think I might be better off hitting the Tractor Supply Store? The lowes and Homey Depot around here sucks..

 

[Leslie]

Quite possibly..... I go to TS a lot; they don't have much in the way of fine-thread, so I stop by Lowes a lot, too (plus, Lowes is really close to the house, TS is on the other side of town). HD got rid of their assorted parts drawers, so you can only find bagged stuff. Sometimes they'll have something that Lowes doesn't, but more often than not, things run a few dollars more at HD than Lowes for the same item. And, the folks at Lowes are more helpful; at HD, they'll turn and run away if you want to ask them a question so you won't interrupt their perpetual smoke breaks...

I just happened to be getting some bits from the drawers at Lowes this afternoon and saw them; and, it was because of my winch that I noticed them. The cables have already been swapped over to welding cables on mine, but the power lead just terminates in the bare wire. I'm going to pick up a side-post terminal and install onto the cable for that, and didn't need to pick up a crimp-on standard end.

What's funny about my winch, is that it is a worm-drive Koenig, like the usual King PTO winches you see on Series, but instead of a PTO, it is driven by an electric motor... much more like the Husky or Ramsey. (Actually, it's still around, Koenig was bought by Rawson, and is now RKI.) But, the solenoid box is off a Warn, the typical four-solenoid setup. I'm going to mount it behind the grill, below/in front of the battery box, with the remote socket mounted to the grill so that it is easy to plug into, but not readily visible.

-L

 

[Quentin]

Question for the folks that have rewired their winches using 1/0 cable.. What did you use for connectors? I ordered some hammer on lugs but, they are freaking huge and there's no way they are going to work..

I used solder on connectors. Found some seriously industrial ones from a local electrical wholesaler. Worked like a charm.

 

[apg]

I was told, after I paid out the ass for marine cable, that welding cable is exactly the same for about 1/10th the price

Roger that....

I was making up some battery cables for my sailboat and wanted to use welding cable. Figured 2/0 was plenty big, and the shop would fit lugs to each end. So I call up the place and ask him to make up some "two oh" cable, so many feet long.

Guy sez, "You mean two ought?"

"Sure," sez me, not wanting to sound ignorant.

When I picked it up it was 0-0 cable...which is some bloody big wire. No voltage drop there....

Cheers

 

[antichrist]

I've posted before on this. The best cable I've found is Carol Nu-vu welding cable, it's orange, but has more strands so gauge for gauge carries a higher load than standard welding cable, so you can use a smaller size for the same load. It's also more flexible and more resistant to oils, greases and heat. It's more expensive, but for the lengths folks like us need, it's not a significant amount. For connectors I use Amp (owned by Tyco Electronics), the best I've found, crimp on with vasious different heat shrink coverings depending on application.

 

[enonz98lr]

welding cable also makes some kick ass jumper cables

 

[Chuck]

Question for the folks that have rewired their winches using 1/0 cable.. What did you use for connectors? I ordered some hammer on lugs but, they are freaking huge and there's no way they are going to work..

I had the same issue using those connectors, ended up using these 1/0 crimp on ones from Stinger: http://www.stingerelectronics.com/web/prods/terminals.asp

The 5/16 opening was the same size as the terminal on the solenoid and I didn't need a sledge hammer and the crimping tool to install them.