power wire under car

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nbb350

Member - Posts: 14

Joined: March 13, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: March 20, 2004 at 8:38 PM / IP Logged

in my old GMC Yukon I ran 4 ga. power cable inside the watertight metal flexible conduit from the battery down the frame rail and along the frame to the back of the truck and up into the area behind the spare tire. that kind of conduit can be bought at any menards, lowe's, or home depot. it's more expensive than the non-watertight flexible metal conduit, but when you're outside the safety of the vehicle, you want that extra protection. this is the same stuff electrical contractors rely on to handle 120 volts and 200 amps. it'll definately be safe for 14 volts and 50-60 amps (or more).

Nick B. ~ MN

2001 Monte Carlo LS

Kenwood KDC-MP925

Hifonics Zeus

Rockford 12" Punch

markcars

Silver - Posts: 662

Joined: December 11, 2002

Location: New York, United States

Posted: March 20, 2004 at 8:47 PM / IP Logged

I think the safety we are concerned about when having a wire outside the vehicle is not of voltage capacity but of the elements etc the wire or protection such as pipe is exposed to. Another concern is that the wire must be very well tied to whatever you are tying it to. If it sags or becomes loose in due course, under your car or truck, it might get caught with something and cause it to hook up to something. That would either break the pipe and tear the wires causing a short or whatever else could happen, or even break something in the car. Is it doable, yes but is it the best way I would not be on it.

nbb350

Member - Posts: 14

Joined: March 13, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: March 21, 2004 at 10:04 AM / IP Logged

yeah, SAFETY. like if it's capable of SAFELY handling 120volts and 200 amps, it will SAFELY handle 12 volts and 50-60 amps. i'm assuming that the conduit will be properly mounted to the body and/or frame and have nothing dragging or hanging free to catch on something while driving. typical mounting clamps for this conduit is 1/8" glavanized steel with either 1 or 2 mounting holes in the flange and the fittings for this type of conduit are also watertight, so the only place for any "elements" to get inside the conduit and at the power cable would be either from the open end at the battery or from inside the vehicle (since the end that terminates inside the vehicle would use a watertight fitting to connect it to the vehicle's body).

Nick B. ~ MN

2001 Monte Carlo LS

Kenwood KDC-MP925

Hifonics Zeus

Rockford 12" Punch

markcars

Silver - Posts: 662

Joined: December 11, 2002

Location: New York, United States

Posted: March 21, 2004 at 11:19 AM / IP Logged

nbb350, read my post again if you missed what my point was. I know that the safety we all are talking about is NOT the voltage that you are jumping on, but PHYSICAL risk. Hey its your car, and if you feel safe about your plan go ahead by all means. We all are only trying to help. Good luck with it.

Paradigm

Silver - Posts: 284

Joined: November 25, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: March 22, 2004 at 9:06 AM / IP Logged

My brother-in-law ran his 4-Gauge wire under the body and back inside between the bed and the cab. It's been running for over 6 months now (rain, snow, sun, etc.) with zero problems. Not sure if he used any extra protection other than flex-loom, but so far it seems that he did all right with it. That's how I plan on running my 0-Gauge when I do my install, although I may go with some extra protection as nbb350 suggested.

VEHICLE: 2002 GMC Sonoma ZR2

Alpine CDA-7940

AudioControl EQT x2

JL Audio 1000/1

JL Audio 10W6 (originals) x3

Kicker ZR120

Kicker ZR460

Polk GXR-6 x4

Polk GXR-4 x2

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power wire under car

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