Best way to extend large cable.

[spoonraker 10+ year member]

I need to simply lengthen my 4 gauge cable. I don't want to wait for an online order to come, I know they make simple 4AWG/4AWG terminals, but there are none available locally.

My question is what is the most efficient way to add a length of 4 gauge onto my existing 4 gauge. I want to minimize voltage drops.

My idea was simply use a fuse/holder. Somebody else told me to put a ring terminal on each wire, and then nut/bolt the terminals to each other.

Anybody have a better idea?

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[mapolley07 10+ year member]

a small piece of copper tubing that will fit the 4 guage and then crimp it. they also sell 4AWG butt connectors at most car audio stores

 

[mapolley07 10+ year member]

don't use a fuse holder, if you go that way use an unfused distro. the fuse will add resistance and will likely be in a place that will be hard to access if the fuse blows

 

[supra06 10+ year member]

i have the same problem here, sorry doing this on ur thread. anymore recommendations for us?

 

[spoonraker 10+ year member]

I live in Lincoln Nebraska which isn't exactly a big car audio town. I've checked a couple local shops for 4 gauge butt splices with no luck, there is only one other stereo shop in town to my knowledge. I'll try lowes/home depot as well.

Here's another question. I want to basically make my own distribution block of sorts. I basically want a stip of metal to drill a bunch of holes into to connect wires with. What would be the best material for this? I was thinking probably aluminum. I have two runs of 4 gauge going to two amps and a car pc, grounds and remote wires for all. LEDs will be added in the future. I basically want to make it so that I just have two big metal strips, one for grounds and one for power. I'm fine with leaving the remote wires just crimped together since they are simple. Two 4 AWG would go into the power block, split to whatever is needed, and then all of the grounds would connect to another block which would have two 4 AWG terminals connected directly to the vehicle chassis. That's a lot of explanation, but basically all I'm wanting to know is what is the best material for this?

 

[mapolley07 10+ year member]

i've seen people use the copper tubing as a butt splice. just heat-shrink it, probably 2 layers because there is a good amount of current running and you will want good insulation.

use like the copper tubing for water supply lines, you should be able to find it at home depot

 

[spoonraker 10+ year member]

The more I think about it the more I like my idea of making a custom distribution block. So what material should I look for?

I would just need two small strips of conductive metal with two holes drilled in each one. One strip would connect to two 4 gauge runs, and then output to whatever is necessary using the other hole I drilled in it...then all of the grounds would connect to the other strip of metal, which would then output two 4 gauge wires directly to ground.

It will make it very easy to add and remove stuff in the future since it will simply be a matter of removing one nut/bolt.

 

[mapolley07 10+ year member]

i don't know the answer to that one, but it will be a ton of work. you will need access to a machine shop for the tools. you will need tappers, precision drill presses, etc. not stuff most people have in their garage. you will also need to make custon hardware for set screws.

look for i think they are called power bar maybe? just a big metal bar with a bunch of terminals on it.

 

[spoonraker 10+ year member]

I believe it's called a bus bar.

I don't see why I would need any special tools for it?

All you do is take a piece of metal and drill two holes in it. Take a bolt, put it through the ring terminals and the piece of metal, and then tighten a nut on the other side. Same process for the other side. Drill more holes and add more bolts if needed, but ring terminals can be stacked, so I shouldn't need more than one hole for the small number of components I'll be running.

 

[95BlackGA 5,000+ posts]

If you're wanting to lessen the voltage drops, why are you adding more wire? Shouldn't you be making the wire shorter, or am I missing something?

 

[spoonraker 10+ year member]

I'm moving my amp to a different location, wires are already run and cut to proper length for the original spot

the only thing I really need to do is lengthen one of the two 4 gauge runs, but I figured while I'm at it, since I change stuff around so much, I might as well make some kind of a system to easily unhook and change stuff around.