earthing cable = grounding wire

[fried]

my earthing cable ( the wire attached from engine rocker cover to chasis/radiator support ) needs replacing.

is it ok to simply use something like 8 gauge speaker grounding wire?

[wynode]

As long as its the same thickness (or thicker!) it should be fine.

[fried]

:thumbsup:

cheers. i dont know how thick the earthing cable is though.... its all ratty (being a 10yrs +) car. like lotsa of ripped up little strands..... *shrugs*

[DLO01]

8 guage is way too small thats like 3.2mm diameter.

Like Wyn said make it the same thickness as the original or bigger.

[fried]

hmm the 8 gauge i was reffering to is like 8mm-10mm diameter i think. its got 8 bundles of wires inside.... i think.

[DLO01]

Go to Supercheap Auto, they have ready made lengths of battery type thickness cable, with terminals pre crimped on. :thumbsup:

[spardikis]

never mind using something from super cheap - use a bit off some jumper cables.

[DLO01]

hmm the 8 gauge i was reffering to is like 8mm-10mm diameter i think. its got 8 bundles of wires inside.... i think.

Google:
http://www.dcwireworks.com/rings/conversion.html

8 guage = 3.2mm

Weather its 3.2mm diameter or 3.2mm Squared (area) its still too small. :thumbsup:

[wynode]

Or some left over cabling that you use to power your amplifier (From the battery).

[lerroy]

yeah acutally eric i had 4 guage before 8 guage is a little to small

ill bring some over if you want

[fried]

BRING! lol cos now im confused... cos the wire the guy @ motoqiup :thumbsup: lol suggested, looked really thick... and had 8 bundles of wires inside. the guy at repco had no idea wat i was looking for.

[lerroy]

hahah u serious wire whats that ???

8 bundles yeah thats a earthing kit..you dont really need that

ill bring some 1 4 and 8 guage stuff and some loops :P

[EGB16A]

i seen a civic with 2 guage (maybe even 0 guage) amp cable with gold plated battery terminals for connectors.. nice touch

[DLO01]

hahah u serious wire whats that ???

8 bundles yeah thats a earthing kit..you dont really need that

ill bring some 1 4 and 8 guage stuff and some loops :P

Na, man he means it has 8 STRANDS of wire inside the insulation. :D

[lerroy]

ah ok either way 4 guage la :P

[crispy]

All i did with mine was get some 4 gauge ground cable, and then i put on battery lugs and crimped them and put heat shrink over the crimped end of the lugs and put it on.. works a treat, although i didnt notice any difference in anything, but it looks nice

[nedgeworth]

my earthing cable ( the wire attached from engine rocker cover to chasis/radiator support ) needs replacing.

is it ok to simply use something like 8 gauge speaker grounding wire?

I believe the stock size is 10 or 12gauge from there. So 8 gauge will be more than enough :)

[nedgeworth]

Na, man he means it has 8 STRANDS of wire inside the insulation. :D

he did mention bundles! Otherwise i'm sure he would of said tiny little strands lol :thumbsup:

[DLO01]

he did mention bundles! Otherwise i'm sure he would of said tiny little strands lol :thumbsup:
He also said "it got 8 bundles of wire INSIDE"

its got 8 bundles of wires inside.... i think.

[DLO01]

I believe the stock size is 10 or 12gauge from there. So 8 gauge will be more than enough :)

8 guage is 3.2mm which is definatley smaller than stock.

[lerroy]

it doesnt really matter what stock is
thicker the better to a degree...
i guess you want it as heavy as the positive terminal cable

[DLO01]

Yeh man, not exactly sure without looking, just get a thick one. :thumbsup:

[fried]

lol okok - i was totally confused so i went back to motoquip to check ouy their styles y0 lol

after looking at it myself i realised that 8 gauge - is THINNER than 4 gauge. when i was saying 8 gauge - it was actually the 4 gauge wire i was refering to.

so i guess i actually meant 4 gauge.

when i said 8 bundles.... i meant there is some wires bundles together, and there is 8 of those bundles.... but of course... there wasnt 8 lol


lololol omg i sound like a n00b. but i guess us old-schoolers gotta fit in somehow. :P

[joneblaze]

lol okok - i was totally confused so i went back to motoquip to check ouy their styles y0 lol

after looking at it myself i realised that 8 gauge - is THINNER than 4 gauge. when i was saying 8 gauge - it was actually the 4 gauge wire i was refering to.

so i guess i actually meant 4 gauge.

when i said 8 bundles.... i meant there is some wires bundles together, and there is 8 of those bundles.... but of course... there wasnt 8 lol


lololol omg i sound like a n00b. but i guess us old-schoolers gotta fit in somehow. :P

BAHAHAHA...noob. :D

[nedgeworth]

hahah most confusing topic ever!!! lol!

Thanks Dean i couldn't be assed reading it all lol

[lerroy]

lol okok - i was totally confused so i went back to motoquip to check ouy their styles y0 lol

after looking at it myself i realised that 8 gauge - is THINNER than 4 gauge. when i was saying 8 gauge - it was actually the 4 gauge wire i was refering to.

so i guess i actually meant 4 gauge.

when i said 8 bundles.... i meant there is some wires bundles together, and there is 8 of those bundles.... but of course... there wasnt 8 lol


lololol omg i sound like a n00b. but i guess us old-schoolers gotta fit in somehow. :P


ahhahah eric n00b at wires....
takes a man to admit it though

[SiR JDM]

Theres actually a thread here somewhere where one of the members (cant remember exactly where it is, a bit busy to search it up atm but i think it was Thangy or somethin) did a DIY grounding and replaced his 10+ yr old stock cable and from memory there was a slight improvement in responce i think =] search it up if you have the time

[incoming]

go to Battery world and have them replace it!!
ask them these questions!! im sure they'd know what they talking!

[bennjamin]

dont listen to me but some part of my brain tells me "thicker = better" and less resistance to electrical flow (or should i say more capability)?

[fried]

we just replaced with 4 gauge earthing cable from any shop (same as the one i saw at motoquip).

it was red - so i used electrical tape... alllll black lol.

[Paul1985]

id say if you change it and your battery doesnt carc it anytime soon, then its fine. I didnt ground mine and it eventually killed my battery

[lerroy]

you covered my cool red cable you monster !!!

ahha

[DLO01]

dont listen to me but some part of my brain tells me "thicker = better" and less resistance to electrical flow (or should i say more capability)?
Yeah, true. Generally thicker the better, less resistance, capable for more current flow and less voltage drop.

Also the shorter the better too, for the same reasons above.

Also make sure your bolt connections to the engine & chassis are metal on metal and are clean and free from dirt and/or paint, otherwise your nice thick cable won't mean crap. :thumbsup:

[iamhappy46]

Amazingly enough, if the cable from your battery to earthing points is smaller than the new cable you have gone to the trouble of making, it will only flow as much current as its weakest link.
2 gauge wiring from battery to chassis rail would improve things as well.

[spardikis]

Yeah, true. Generally thicker the better, less resistance, capable for more current flow and less voltage drop.

Also the shorter the better too, for the same reasons above.

Also make sure your bolt connections to the engine & chassis are metal on metal and are clean and free from dirt and/or paint, otherwise your nice thick cable won't mean crap. :thumbsup:


that is until u start gettin wires so thick that the amps and voltage drawn from your gets "lost" imagine running a AAA on like small little wire - runs fine, now imagine running that AAA battery on jumper cable or on steal rope or something stupid like an inch or two thick!!!!.. BWHAHAHA

[DLO01]

that is until u start gettin wires so thick that the amps and voltage drawn from your gets "lost" imagine running a AAA on like small little wire - runs fine, now imagine running that AAA battery on jumper cable or on steal rope or something stupid like an inch or two thick!!!!.. BWHAHAHA
Ok, I can sorta see what your thinking. Yes too big can be an over kill for more $ wise than anything else. But electricity does not get lost and your example above would actually work. For current to flow there has to be a complete circuit. If theres a complete circuit from Battery to Load (bulb for example) and back to the Battery current will flow. It will not get lost as it will try to find the easiest (least resistance) and shortest (length) route back to the source. :thumbsup:

[iamhappy46]

Thick wire works by using each strand of copper wire to conduct electricity. If a single 1 metre strand of copper wire has 1 Ohm of resistance compared to a piece of 4 gauge wire with say 400 strands, the 4 gauge wire should "theoretically" have 1/400th of an Ohm of resistance by running each 'resistor'(each individual wire) in parrallel.