Ready to hook up batteries... Cable?

[Danny]

The book - Designing Electical Layouts by George Myers recommends using a 4/0 welding cable to hook the batteries up.  4/0 seems really big.  I understand the reasoning behind this, however.

Two questions -

What has other folks used in hooking up the house batteries?
Where would a person find such a cable?

Thanks,
Danny

[NJT5047]

Truck alternator and starter repair shops will make up cables to match your needs.   Another idea for house system leads is the much softer and easier to work with welder cables...welding supply houses make these up.
Both will install whatever terminals you want.   This beats trying to stake your own...which is doable...but the tool to properly stake the big cables may cost more than the cables. 
If you plan to parallel your house batts for starting, or plan to use an inverter, the size of the cable is dependent on the max potential load.
The jumpers should be the same size as the pos and neg leads.
Cheers, JR

[Brian Diehl]

I highly recommend spending a little more for the welding cable.  SOOOO much easier to work with!  Also, go with 4/0 cable if you plan on running an inverter with more than 2000 watts of output (24v system).

[jjrbus]

I used weld ing cable from welding supply house 4/0. The local welding shop only had a cheap crimping tool and untinned ends so I went to a battery place. The battery place did not have tinned 4/0 connectors the size I needed or heat shrink tubing.  The only place I could find them was West Marine. So I went from   welding supply house to battery place to west Marine to battery place. Try calling first. Some place that does electric golf carts might be a good bet also.
There is a lot of amps involved here, it really is no place to skimp on cable, connectors or switches. it is also A good idea to line the walls of the battery compartment with a non conductive material.

[belfert]

I used 4/0 welding cable for my runs from battery bank to inverter.  I really should have used even larger cable, but the big sizes are really hard to find.

That 4/0 welding cable is amazingly flexible stuff.

[grantgoold]

I just finished my house battery system and struggled with the same issue. In the end, I followed the recommendation and went with 4/0 cable. I found my cable on ebay and had it shipped to me. I was very happy with the quality and service. I got both black and red 4/0 cable and it came to a little under $3.25 per foot. It was a bit more difficult to find connectors. I did find the correct connectors at a local industrial electrical supply. That hurt a bit as each quality connector was about $5.00. Needed 20 of those suckers....

Be careful when you purchase connectors to make sure they will either connect them for you or you have access to the correct crimper tool. These crimper tools cost way too much to be used only once! ($200.00+).

In the end, to connect everything as described in the books, including the large disconnect switch and the 300 amp t fuse in the system the total cost was about $500.00 to do it right.

I am now a bit more comfortable with the safety the large cable provides and the reduction in heat.

Good luck!


Grant
Sacramento