What gauge wire?

[Matt]

I am getting ready to relocate both of the batteries on my sled to the front of my boat and I was wondering what guage wire I should use for the power cord on my kicker. It is a Yamaha T8 and the guage is quite large.... just want input on what product you guys would recommend, that is the most important wire that will be moving up front (everything else is just 14g wire that runs to my accessories). Any input appreciated.

I was planning to just snip a piece off and take it into Harbor Freight when I go to get all the wiring and a new battery box.

[saltyseadog]

speaker wire:cyclopsan

I am getting ready to relocate both of the batteries on my sled to the front of my boat and I was wondering what guage wire I should use for the power cord on my kicker. It is a Yamaha T8 and the guage is quite large.... just want input on what product you guys would recommend, that is the most important wire that will be moving up front (everything else is just 14g wire that runs to my accessories). Any input appreciated.

I was planning to just snip a piece off and take it into Harbor Freight when I go to get all the wiring and a new battery box.

[Matt]

Oh for sure, now you're thinkin! Good thing I got a fire extinguisher on board.......

[mav186]

I never associate Harbor Freight and "Things my life may depend on"...as one of the same. It's just me and my opinion, be free and have fun...but to actually answer your question, I'm sure but G-Man or the like can answer it! Take care Matt.

Mav

[Anglinarcher]

LOL - OK, this is your electric power source for a high drain motor. Speaker wire, or any fine gage wire, will get so hot it will melt. You will be lucky if that is all that happens.

Keep in mind that the size of the wire can be smaller if you don't use the kicker a lot, but.................

I advise 1/0 gage multi strand wire. This is large enough to dissipate heat and with the multi-strands the resistance of the wire will be lowered. This equates to longer battery life. You can get this wire at places like West Marine, or at some automotive supplies. I think I even got some at Home Depot one time, but don't quote me on the last one.

[saltyseadog]

up... up... and away!! i hope you thought i was joking:albino:

LOL - OK, this is your electric power source for a high drain motor. Speaker wire, or any fine gage wire, will get so hot it will melt. You will be lucky if that is all that happens.

Keep in mind that the size of the wire can be smaller if you don't use the kicker a lot, but.................

I advise 10 gage multi strand wire. This is large enough to dissipate heat and with the multi-strands the resistance of the wire will be lowered. This equates to longer battery life. You can get this wire at places like West Marine, or at some automotive supplies. I think I even got some at Home Depot one time, but don't quote me on the last one.

[Matt]

Haha yah that's what I was thinking there is no effing way I would use speaker wire for any boat wiring application unless I was wiring in a nice sound system. I said harbor freight, but I was actually thinking of Harbor Marine in Everett. I usually go there whenever I buy stuff for my boat, they are good people.

[kidkodger]

I would do more research on this. I am considering the same move, but my main and my kicker will start from the batteries up front. I haven't really done the research myself, but I understand that there is voltage drop when the current moves through long wires. Depending on the size of your boat you may need to step up a size in wire to give your motor the juice it needs. Yamaha put heavy gauge wire on there for a reason. You'll being doing yourself a favor by spending more money on some quality "marine grade" wire for this job. Let us know how the performance changes.

[bassboattech]

most would run 4-6 gauge you wouldnt go smaller than what come out of the motor......that just spells trouble.

[tnj8222]

Yeah I was thinking the same. Atleast 4-6. I think 10 would get to hot.

[sickbayer]

My downrigger cables are 10 guage and that is what the manufacture recommends.4or 6 would be best IMO. Does your kicker charge the batteries too?
As for harbour freight...i do shop there...for stuff like rags or simple things that are a bargin. I dont buy tools or anything i would need to rely on.

[G-Man]

I'm assuming that this is to supply power to your kicker's starter motor and also for your kicker to charge the batteries once it's running. As much as I dislike the price gouging that goes on at West Marine stores, they do have some useful items and provide some good information. The following link is to a pretty good chart for determining appropriate wire guage by application. For your application, based on a guess of 40' round trip, I'd go with a minimum of 6 gauge multistrand marine grade wire. Marine grade wire has more strands per gauge than comparable automobile wire and therefore can handle more current. This should cover the current draw when using the starter motor, power tilt/trim, if you have it, as well as minimizing the voltage drop back to the battery to charge it properly. One thing to check is the kicker's voltage output as some pump out near 18 volts which will fry a modern battery. If you get anthing above 15V I'd look to get a separate voltage regulator. If you are going to have an electric trolling motor outlet back there as well, then you may end up needing to beef up the wire size depending upon the max current draw of the trolling motor.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... arine-Wire

[Matt]

Thanks G-Man, that is helpful info right there. The kicker puts our either 6 or 8V I am pretty sure, someone brought it up when I was shopping for the motor I will have to go back and look. I am going to run the kicker and electric downriggers off of 1 battery, and the main motor and fishfinder/boat electronics off the other battery how it is currently setup. Round trip is probably only about 16 feet or so I am going to put the batteries on a foot step right below my helm and center the weight near the middle of the boat. I am hoping this weight will help give me a better holeshot and also balance out the offcenter weight of the kicker in back.

[FishingFool]

16ft round trip, I imagine 6 AWG should be fine for your smaller kicker. So ~8ft in length on each end.

The cables on my motor is 6AWG and it has ~6ft cables . And that's with a 60HP motor and no problems there.

PS, I just bought some cables too from Geniune Dealz for my trolling motor. Great prices and the product is suppos to be very good. It just shipped today.

[dicinu]

the only thing speaker related I think would work on something like this is a battery cables for amps and subs but you could get it cheaper buying seprate and not getting a over priced kit unless you want a fuse block in the middle of the line side.

[Matt]

16ft round trip, I imagine 6 AWG should be fine for your smaller kicker. So ~8ft in length on each end.

The cables on my motor is 6AWG and it has ~6ft cables . And that's with a 60HP motor and no problems there.

PS, I just bought some cables too from Geniune Dealz for my trolling motor. Great prices and the product is suppos to be very good. It just shipped today.

Do you got a link for the site? I might order some on the net if that's the way to go. My boat is 17' overall and from the batter box to the windshield (the batteries are going on the shelf under the winshield/helm) it can't be much more than 6-8' so it is definitely going to be less than 20 feet round trip.

[The Quadfather]

I was just at West Marine doing some drooling this afternoon over everything marine/boat related. They have a TON of ALL gauge wire by foot. Don't know if you have a store up in Skagit land or not?

[sickbayer]

Thanks G-Man, that is helpful info right there. The kicker puts our either 6 or 8V I am pretty sure, someone brought it up when I was shopping for the motor I will have to go back and look. I am going to run the kicker and electric downriggers off of 1 battery, and the main motor and fishfinder/boat electronics off the other battery how it is currently setup. Round trip is probably only about 16 feet or so I am going to put the batteries on a foot step right below my helm and center the weight near the middle of the boat. I am hoping this weight will help give me a better holeshot and also balance out the offcenter weight of the kicker in back.

I would run downriggers and electronics or anything that uses battery power off one battery and to that battery i would have my kicker hooked up to. leaving battery number 2 for main engine.

On my tub i have gps, stereo, FF, broadband sounder, auto pilot and downriggers all hooked up to a bus terminal from there i use 10 gauge to my number 1 battery which is hooked up to the kicker. My amps never drop below 12.5 my other battery is main engine.

[saltyseadog]

thats how mine is set up minus the auto pilot:-({|=

[Matt]

I was planning to put essentially everything except the main motor onto the same battery as the kicker so it will charge the whole time I troll. I don't have a fancy pants boat like you so my electronics are staggering haha! FF, 1 Downrigger, helm electronics, that's about it.