Wire ?

BillM · Post by **BillM** » Fri Nov 26, 2010 5:40 pm

I am running the AKIT-1 amp kit and the matching TMC901K battery terminal. What is the best wire to run for my Big 3 upgrade. I read welding cable is very good, some good and some bad about CCA and tinned copper. What do you guys recommend as I am only going to need about 16 feet. So I could probably buy a 0 gauge install kit and just cut the wire in sections and use the extra pieces in another install. I may buy another AKIT and use the wire thoughts? There are so many choices I thought this would be the easy part. Thanks Bill

Post by **kg1961** » Fri Nov 26, 2010 5:49 pm

pm khpower he sells highend pg wire for the job. i have bought from him many times great guy

dvnt88 · Post by **dvnt88** » Fri Nov 26, 2010 6:04 pm

Bill - Stay far ...far away from the CCA crap

, go with the OFC 0 gauge stuff as it will give you the best current / power transfer

. You could just buy another AKIT1

, but I went with some Streetwires 0 guage stuff (Blue) and it's $60 shipped for 20ft

and great fuckin' wire

. Or you can go with the same stuff in the clear for $18 per 7ft length

, below are the links.

http://cgi.ebay.com/STREETWIRES-1-0-GAU ... 3cb04a978e

http://cgi.ebay.com/STREETWIRES-UFX007S ... 3a5e26c995

Stryker · Post by **Stryker** » Fri Nov 26, 2010 6:26 pm

Knukonceptz kolossus flex OFC....
You cannot find a higher strand count for the $$, in fact it is the highest strand count 0Ga if memory serves correct.
It's like a wet noodle.

BillM · Post by **BillM** » Fri Nov 26, 2010 6:48 pm

Thanks for the leads I will definitely check them out.

Pillow · Post by **Pillow** » Fri Nov 26, 2010 7:22 pm

Bill - Stay far ...far away from the CCA crap

Why?

It is an excellent product from Knu in the 0 gauge. Great for anything under 200A.

BillM · Post by **BillM** » Fri Nov 26, 2010 8:36 pm

I was wondering something else as well. When I look at my AKIT-1 wire its copper color and looks like pure copper. Now when I look at others they are silver even when they say OFC. Do they tint the wire? Sorry for asking such dumb questions.

Stryker · Post by **Stryker** » Sat Nov 27, 2010 3:34 am

BillM wrote:I was wondering something else as well. When I look at my AKIT-1 wire its copper color and looks like pure copper. Now when I look at others they are silver even when they say OFC. Do they tint the wire? Sorry for asking such dumb questions.

yes it's "tinned" makes it far more flexible. the older type's of wire don't have it, which in turn makes it less flexible.

dvnt88 · Post by **dvnt88** » Sat Nov 27, 2010 5:57 am

Pillow wrote:
Bill - Stay far ...far away from the CCA crap
Why?

It is an excellent product from Knu in the 0 gauge. Great for anything under 200A.

Compare the CCA stuff to the OFC stuff and you'll see why

. I accidentally bought some of the CCA crap from KnuKonceptz and compared it to the wire I got from Streetwires and PG and the stuff will not pull the current needed under heavy loads like the OFC

. Each to their own and if ya wanna waste the money on the CCA

, go ahead, but the OFC is a better investment in my opinion.

longboard · Post by **longboard** » Sat Nov 27, 2010 8:12 am

cca is pretty much useless in all but the most basic of installs you would be better of dropping a gauge of wire and using proper copper if you cant afford the gauge you want!

BillM · Post by **BillM** » Sat Nov 27, 2010 8:18 am

Just bought the Streetwires. Thanks for the help guys.

Post by **ttocs** » Sat Nov 27, 2010 8:22 am

I have not read any significant differences in the power handling ability in the wire. Are you saying that there would be an audible difference in the two wires? I would love to give you that test to A-B and have you tell me which power wire is which.

ZTwenty8SSR · Post by **ZTwenty8SSR** » Sat Nov 27, 2010 10:41 am

ttocs wrote:I have not read any significant differences in the power handling ability in the wire. Are you saying that there would be an audible difference in the two wires? I would love to give you that test to A-B and have you tell me which power wire is which.

X2 A lot of people say do not buy it but do not really give a reason why.

Post by **Bfowler** » Sat Nov 27, 2010 11:00 am

there is nothing wrong with cca at all. just know it has about %20 less current handling the copper.

if you are running under 200amps (but still more the 125) there is no reason not to use it.

@bill, yes there is a process called tinning wire. as far as i know it just makes the wire less prone to corrosion.

Stryker · Post by **Stryker** » Sat Nov 27, 2010 12:38 pm

Knu sells both OFC and CCA..... there is nothing wrong with CCA in
moderate sized systems IMO. I have the Knu OFC(Kollusus Flexs) and it's great to work with, I also want to squeeze every ounce of juice from my Battery bank, hence why I only use OFC. The tinning also does help with corrosion as well as flexibility, i'd forgotten about that. I doubt anyone would be able to tell the difference between the two. here's the write up that I read in July. Enjoy!!

http://caraudiomag.com/articles/copper- ... e-warnings

Tiger · Post by **Tiger** » Sat Nov 27, 2010 6:55 pm

I was waiting for this one to happen.

I'm Australia's Distributor for Shok Industries. They do both OFC and CCA. We had a car that was in the lanes running Reference Series CCA 1/0AWG cable and in was running 2 x SPL Dynamic 15s wired down to 0.25ohm on a DD Z1 amp and running 16V, it was able to see 152.6dB (and not be pushed all that hard either). The cable is rated at 260AMP.

Folk are quick to say the CCA is aluminium and it'll lose resistance. In a car.. that means nothing! If you are running something with a high amp draw... use multiple runs. Job done. 12V-16V, CCA still works fine. I believe there's a team of Americans (Team Shok) that appear to be doing just fine with the CCA cable.

Sure we can all agree that OFC is the preferred and does work better than CCA in general.... but CCA works, otherwise it wouldn't be on the market to begin with.

/end rant.

AAMP217 · Post by **AAMP217** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 9:34 am

Pillow wrote:
Bill - Stay far ...far away from the CCA crap
Why?

It is an excellent product from Knu in the 0 gauge. Great for anything under 200A.

Here is an article from Car Audio and Electronics explaining the differences:

http://caraudiomag.com/articles/copper- ... e-warnings

Here is the video Stinger did on CCA vs. Copper as well:

The Golden One · Post by **The Golden One** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 10:23 am

interesting its like you guy's read my mind or something i was just thinking someone should test different power wire's with an adjustable power supply while increasing the amperage until the first one catches on fire. but it looks like it doesnt even need that big of a power source to prove which wire is the clear winner.

Tiger · Post by **Tiger** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 11:51 am

Is it me?? Or 4 minutes into the video.. I cannot see a thing?

dwnrodeo · Post by **dwnrodeo** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 1:07 pm

There's nothing wrong with CCA wire. I use 1/0ga. CCA for a main power wire (MAX current draw of all amps is 170amps) because 4ga. copper is too small and 1/0ga. copper is overkill. 1/0ga. CCA fits the power requirements and costs less than copper. Yes, OFC will transfer more current given the same wire cross sectional area and cable length, but if you oversize your cable using CCA then there are no worries. Works great for situations where you are between gauge sizes needed for current draw for OFC and don't want to spend a lot of money when you need long lengths of cable.

Post by **ttocs** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 2:23 pm

how long does ofc last compaired to CCA? I have some monster 4 awg ofc I am replacing with 0 awg and it is not nearl as shiney as it use to be. Wouldn't that possibly cause a rise in resistance?

Post by **Bfowler** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 2:53 pm

dwnrodeo wrote:There's nothing wrong with CCA wire. I use 1/0ga. CCA for a main power wire (MAX current draw of all amps is 170amps) because 4ga. copper is too small and 1/0ga. copper is overkill. 1/0ga. CCA fits the power requirements and costs less than copper. Yes, OFC will transfer more current given the same wire cross sectional area and cable length, but if you oversize your cable using CCA then there are no worries. Works great for situations where you are between gauge sizes needed for current draw for OFC and don't want to spend a lot of money when you need long lengths of cable.

this.

i use CCA as a in between size too. at areas like 70-90 amps where 8awg isnt enough, but its worth saving money not using 4awg ofc

or 120-200 amps...for 1/0 cca. too big for 4awg, less expensive then 1/0

Thumper88 · Post by **Thumper88** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 4:49 pm

Tiger wrote:Is it me?? Or 4 minutes into the video.. I cannot see a thing?

The audio continues, but the video freezes up.

Tiger · Post by **Tiger** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 5:05 pm

I thought so... I wanted to see this CCA smoke

BillM · Post by **BillM** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 5:37 pm

Got the Streetwires today. I probably could have used either as I am just using it for my Big 3 upgrade but the price difference was not that big between the two for only 20 feet. Probably could have saved 15 bucks going CCA instead. Just a note the Streetwires is very nice wire for sure but its pretty stiff stuff. If you have to run tight corners and need something like a wet noodle this is not the stuff to get but it serves my purpose well.