Why not welding cable?

[kush-divinity 10+ year member]

Can you guys shed some light on why no one here uses welding cable for power wire?

Is it because of the looks?

I know that welding cable is more flexible, has a more heat/abrasion resistant jacket, and is ALOT cheaper. Also, Anchor Cable Co. wire has a teflon innner jacket that makes clean stripping SO easy.

4ga. is .53 a foot for Anchor--made in USA

2ga is .91 a foot

0ga is 1.87 a foot

4/0 is 5.48 a foot

All these prices are from 2 weeks ago.

I use Anchor wire exclusively on all my farm equipment for starter/battery strap wiring. It has never corroded or let me down. Anchor and Lenco also make wonderful terminators, connectors, and ground blocks. All for much cheaper than that pretty red stuff.

However, I do have a little of that pretty stuff from my distribution block to amp for the WOW effect. Red power/brown ground FTW.

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[Fusion_FREAK 10+ year member]

There's nothign wrong with it. I'd use it if I didn't already have 1/0 Kicker Hyper Flex.

Most don't use it due to it not being as flexible, but who really needs wire to be soft as a wet noodle?

 

[orangecounty1 10+ year member]

my 1/0 welding cable is PLENTY flexible, if you need it any more flexible then you have other problems.

 

[wilson 10+ year member]

2ga is .91 a foot

Where are you seeing it so cheap? Do you have any links?

 

[thehardknoxlife 10+ year member]

Weldingsupply.com They have the ultra flex wire. In all honesty their regular 1/0 is just as flexible as most car audio branded cable. I never understood why people pay $5 a foot for wire............that reminds me, I have like 50ft of this stuff stored somewhere.

 

[jdawg 5,000+ posts]

check out coppercableman on ebay, his shit is super flexible, any color available, 50fr rolls of 1/0 $120. Most people just like all the pretty colors and like most said welding cable isnt usaully as flexible. Not to mention alot of times you might get say 1/0 and it ends up being like 2awg. I know i got shit from Napa once and it said 4awg and it was like 8.

 

[thehardknoxlife 10+ year member]

check out coppercableman on ebay, his shit is super flexible, any color available, 50fr rolls of 1/0 $120. Most people just like all the pretty colors and like most said welding cable isnt usaully as flexible. Not to mention alot of times you might get say 1/0 and it ends up being like 2awg. I know i got shit from Napa once and it said 4awg and it was like 8.

There was a thread that a member started a loooong time ago. It had different brands of 1/0 wire placed next to each other(including some welding cable). Most were of the same size or very close except the cheap car audio brands which were mostly sleeve. The only one I remember being larger was the Kicker wire. Surprisingly the wal-mart brand was decent(can't remember the name) for the money spent.

 

[iamamp3pimp 5,000+ posts]

is all i have to say

 

[QtrHorse 10+ year member]

There was a thread that a member started a loooong time ago. It had different brands of 1/0 wire placed next to each other(including some welding cable). Most were of the same size or very close except the cheap car audio brands which were mostly sleeve. The only one I remember being larger was the Kicker wire. Surprisingly the wal-mart brand was decent(can't remember the name) for the money spent.

The only real difference is that you will need to buy 2/0ga welding wire if you want the same size as Knu Flex, Knu Kolossus, Kicker Hyperflex, Lightning Audio and a few others. 0ga welding wire is the same size as most cheaper 0ga audio wire.

From the right to the left...4/0ga welding...3/0ga welding...2/0ga welding...1/0ga welding...1/0ga Kicker Hyperflex...1/0ga Lighting Audio...1/0ga Knu Kollossus...2/0ga welding...1/0ga welding................The last four pcs of welding wire are from Ebay link and the first two pcs of welding wire are from my local welding supply shop.

The orange, red, pink and black welding wire on the right is from CopperCableMan on Ebay. The name of his company is Trystar Cable. They have a website and you can order it from them as well. My other new favorite place is the Cableyard.com. They only sell it in black but it is basically the same wire and you get free shipping at $250. They also sell all the sizes in bonded twin cable as well.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

The welding cable is actual AWG. The Hyperflex and Kolossus are oversized. Even going with 2/0 welding cable is cheaper than buying Hyperflex.

 

[skmfkr 5,000+ posts]

ive used wire from welding supply before, but now i prefer knukonceptz klmx

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

I've been using welding cable on car audio installs since the 80's...it works fine and a little cheaper than the labled stuff...just usually not as pretty....but even in welding wire as well as car audio wire there can be different grades and quality of wiring....

 

[groundpound4200 5,000+ posts]

I used 2/0 welding cable for my last install.... not too difficult to deal with if you can find the right ring terminals.

 

[jco1385 5,000+ posts]

Can you guys shed some light on why no one here uses welding cable for power wire?
Is it because of the looks?

I know that welding cable is more flexible, has a more heat/abrasion resistant jacket, and is ALOT cheaper. Also, Anchor Cable Co. wire has a teflon innner jacket that makes clean stripping SO easy.

4ga. is .53 a foot for Anchor--made in USA

2ga is .91 a foot

0ga is 1.87 a foot

4/0 is 5.48 a foot

All these prices are from 2 weeks ago.

I use Anchor wire exclusively on all my farm equipment for starter/battery strap wiring. It has never corroded or let me down. Anchor and Lenco also make wonderful terminators, connectors, and ground blocks. All for much cheaper than that pretty red stuff.

However, I do have a little of that pretty stuff from my distribution block to amp for the WOW effect. Red power/brown ground FTW.

sig check on aisle 3

 

[iamamp3pimp 5,000+ posts]

i cant get away from using it, i got about 70 feet from a friend, ao im still making goo duse of all of it

besides, its not like you need to make a noose out of it or something, the run in my car is mostly flat