Why you should run OFC cables, not CCA.

[Boomsday 10+ year member]

Like I have stated for years, there is a reason why every audio company that makes wire sells cca as well as ofc, they wouldn't sell it if it where just complete junk and a waste, if a company rates there cca wire for 250a @20ft that's what it will do as long as you use it within its limits you will be fine

 

[Beatin' 10+ year member]

you call the OP dumb and then throw out a word like "ampacity", alrighty then..

Ampacity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

good day

 

[Dmac1991]

Welding Cable FTW. Cheaper than your overpriced car audio OFC, and better than CCA.
That being said, I just bought 100ft of CCA 1/0 lol. But i do have 100ft of 1/0 Welding cable sitting in the garage not being used. Wish it came in the colors i wanted.

https://weldingsupply.com/cgi-bin/einstein.pl?PNUM::1:UNDEF:OR:304-1170

 

[4bannger 10+ year member]

eh, personally ill stick with my knukonceptz cca 0aug. it would still be cheaper to do double runs than run 1 ofc run.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Welding cable will corrode. It's exposed to the elements. It will cost you more in the long run, electrical is one thing you shouldn't cut corners on.

 

[72Impala 10+ year member]

CCA will corrode. I have yet to see my welding cable corrode after years of use, but cca... To date I have see cca speaker wire and power wire corrode to the point that it does not send a clear signal. Door speakers were cutting in and out because of it, that was 2 week old audio technix... I have seen SHOK 1/0 cca power cable corroded nasty, sky high 8 gauge ON SUBWOOFER DIRECT LEADS, corroded to ****. When u trim the jacket and dust falls out or you flick the actual strands and dust looking stuff/crap falls off. Your wire is done, no longer correctly conducts electricity. Aluminum corrodes much much faster than copper wire in car audio conditions and especially when water is presented

 

[tprj82 10+ year member]

Amazon.com: Noalox® Anti-oxidant Compound (4 Oz. Bottle): Electronics

works quite well

 

[csu87 10+ year member]

if you do your connections right with heat shrink/electrical tape/anything, you shouldn't have to worry about corroding. I have only ever ran welding cable for years with no issues, and I know others that have been doing it for even longer with no issues.

 

[Roland 10+ year member]

So the Numbers appear to be 80 amperage over about 10-15 feet of 8ga CCA to get to 190F and about a 2 volt drop.

Another cool thing to get out of That video and his other tests is that 8ga OFC with a 80 amps for 10 minutes only got to 103F and drop of only 0.3volts!

I wondered why 4 ga OFC worked so well in my van running 3 amps with less than 0.3 voltage drop.

 

[csu87 10+ year member]

https://weldingsupply.com/cgi-bin/einstein.pl?PNUM::1:UNDEF:OR:304-1170

not the right colors

 

[negolien]

Well here's a question...Taking into account you usually get used to an audio system isn't it best to use 0 gauge OFC the 1st time that way if you want to upgrade your wiring is already done? I recently had to rerun a 4 gauge run to 0 gauge OFC for upgrades. I thought crap if I would have done this the 1st time I could have saved a little cash and a lot of headaches.

 

[Umbra]

Well here's a question...Taking into account you usually get used to an audio system isn't it best to use 0 gauge OFC the 1st time that way if you want to upgrade your wiring is already done? I recently had to rerun a 4 gauge run to 0 gauge OFC for upgrades. I thought crap if I would have done this the 1st time I could have saved a little cash and a lot of headaches.

Yes, going bigger allows for future proofing, but that can be said about a lot of things. I'm only running 4 gaugue because I know beyond that I'd need a high output alternator and I'm just not going that big in this car.

 

[Roland 10+ year member]

Well here's a question...Taking into account you usually get used to an audio system isn't it best to use 0 gauge OFC the 1st time that way if you want to upgrade your wiring is already done? I recently had to rerun a 4 gauge run to 0 gauge OFC for upgrades. I thought crap if I would have done this the 1st time I could have saved a little cash and a lot of headaches.

No Doubt about it, better to have over kill.

I was going to upgrade my 4ga when I added another amp and sub. But decided to test it first. When i put a meter on everything, and turned it up all the way with music, it turned out the 4 ga was enough. The voltage drop was only 0.3 max. But my next van getting a thicker ga just the same.

 

[SounDrive Pro Seller]

They only tin the outside layer of the entire bundle and it offers no measurable benefit (except on HDMI) plus tinning only makes the connection more brittle and you actually lose connectivity. IMHO, pure copper cable or oxygen free copper cable is always the best choice..

Not true, each strand is tinned

 

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

No such thing as future proofing.. Then you will be need 2 runs of 1/0 then 3,4,5.. Never ends lol