How do I find out the gauges of a wire???

[Jenesis]

So when I got my boat, it came with a trolling motor. For some reason the power cord was spliced and attached to jumper cables to use on the battery. I don’t know why as most would have the o-ring type connector.

So a couple of seasons ago, the connection between the power cord and jumper cables started smoking. I noticed the jumper cable gauge was smaller then the power cord wire, so I went and bought thicker gauge, used those stew on connectors and sealed it back up with electrical tape. It worked well for a couple season. I will admit I don’t use it a lot or for long durations. Nothing longer than 45mins to an hour. Then there is a break while heading to a new area.

Well last night the connection started smoking again. So I assume because I am not expert, that the wire is heating up with long time use and the connector and tape were not enough to hold the heat. So I looked around and saw these heat shrink connectors that I never knew about that you are suppose to use instead of electrical tape.

But now I am wondering if the same thing will happen anyways. The wires seems the same size but I don’t know if that means they are the same gauge and using the model number, I can’t find anything that tells me the actual gauge of the power cord. It is not like this is standard info on a manual.

So how do I figure out the gauge. I really only want this to work one more season and I will upgrade to a new one for next year. I was going to do it this year but 5K in vets bills the last month have knocked things back a bit. Not that I couldn’t but I like to space things out and save the money first before buying so I don’t dip into cash I already have.

So how do I find the gauge of the wire? Or do I just say fuck it and buy the new trolling motor?

The jumper cables are 6 gauge. That I know. It is the power cord wires. The trolling motor wire may be slightly thicker, I can’t say for sure. Which is why I feel I need to find out for sure.

Or maybe I just connected it bad and the electrical tape didn’t hold. Maybe it got wet???? I don’t know.

 

[Robert Mugabe]

So when I got my boat, it came with a trolling motor. For some reason the power cord was spliced and attached to jumper cables to use on the battery. I don’t know why as most would have the o-ring type connector.

So a couple of seasons ago, the connection between the power cord and jumper cables started smoking. I noticed the jumper cable gauge was smaller then the power cord wire, so I went and bought thicker gauge, used those stew on connectors and sealed it back up with electrical tape. It worked well for a couple season. I will admit I don’t use it a lot or for long durations. Nothing longer than 45mins to an hour. Then there is a break while heading to a new area.

Well last night the connection started smoking again. So I assume because I am not expert, that the wire is heating up with long time use and the connector and tape were not enough to hold the heat. So I looked around and saw these heat shrink connectors that I never knew about that you are suppose to use instead of electrical tape.

But now I am wondering if the same thing will happen anyways. The wires seems the same size but I don’t know if that means they are the same gauge and using the model number, I can’t find anything that tells me the actual gauge of the power cord. It is not like this is standard info on a manual.

So how do I figure out the gauge. I really only want this to work one more season and I will upgrade to a new one for next year. I was going to do it this year but 5K in vets bills the last month have knocked things back a bit. Not that I couldn’t but I like to space things out and save the money first before buying so I don’t dip into cash I already have.

So how do I find the gauge of the wire? Or do I just say fuck it and buy the new trolling motor?

The jumper cables are 6 gauge. That I know. It is the power cord wires. The trolling motor wire may be slightly thicker, I can’t say for sure. Which is why I feel I need to find out for sure.

Or maybe I just connected it bad and the electrical tape didn’t hold. Maybe it got wet???? I don’t know.

use more tape. or use a clamp on meter to measure the amps being drawn. Or get a pro to check motor and or attach proper wires.

 

[Butler1000]

The question is simple.....

Do you want to be stuck out in the middle of a lake with a burning motor?

You already know the answer. Just buy the damn new motor. You can afford it. Safety, convenience and reliability are far more important.

 

[Jenesis]

The question is simple.....

Do you want to be stuck out in the middle of a lake with a burning motor?

You already know the answer. Just buy the damn new motor. You can afford it. Safety, convenience and reliability are far more important.

I get you. If it was my only motor, I would have been at the store already. This is just the trolling motor. Which I don’t “need” but like.

But yeah - I don’t know why I get like this sometimes. Maybe the handyman thread got me. I feel like if I was guy, I would know how to do this. Is that just illogical woman thinking? Because we all think men know how to fix things like this. LOL.

 

[angrymime666]

I get you. If it was my only motor, I would have been at the store already. This is just the trolling motor. Which I don’t “need” but like.

But yeah - I don’t know why I get like this sometimes. Maybe the handyman thread got me. I feel like if I was guy, I would know how to do this. Is that just illogical woman thinking? Because we all think men know how to fix things like this. LOL.

Bring a piece of the original wire into a electrical store, automotive parts store. They should be able to find a suitable replacement.

 

[Butler1000]

I get you. If it was my only motor, I would have been at the store already. This is just the trolling motor. Which I don’t “need” but like.

But yeah - I don’t know why I get like this sometimes. Maybe the handyman thread got me. I feel like if I was guy, I would know how to do this. Is that just illogical woman thinking? Because we all think men know how to fix things like this. LOL.

In another thread I said when it comes to DIY if it can burn down or flood I go with the expert. Ya got both here. Maybe a small engine repair guy can fix it too. And it's not just your gender. Guys get stubborn about this shit too.

 

[jimieboe]

It should say it on the wire, if not you could bring some into an electrical supply, they will be able to tell you.

I would just repair it why spend the money, its an easy fix (Im an electrician) just need proper material and tools.

Lmk I can help you out if needed over dm's and pics if u like, also what city yiu in can give you some suppliers close by.

Thx

So when I got my boat, it came with a trolling motor. For some reason the power cord was spliced and attached to jumper cables to use on the battery. I don’t know why as most would have the o-ring type connector.

So a couple of seasons ago, the connection between the power cord and jumper cables started smoking. I noticed the jumper cable gauge was smaller then the power cord wire, so I went and bought thicker gauge, used those stew on connectors and sealed it back up with electrical tape. It worked well for a couple season. I will admit I don’t use it a lot or for long durations. Nothing longer than 45mins to an hour. Then there is a break while heading to a new area.

Well last night the connection started smoking again. So I assume because I am not expert, that the wire is heating up with long time use and the connector and tape were not enough to hold the heat. So I looked around and saw these heat shrink connectors that I never knew about that you are suppose to use instead of electrical tape.

But now I am wondering if the same thing will happen anyways. The wires seems the same size but I don’t know if that means they are the same gauge and using the model number, I can’t find anything that tells me the actual gauge of the power cord. It is not like this is standard info on a manual.

So how do I figure out the gauge. I really only want this to work one more season and I will upgrade to a new one for next year. I was going to do it this year but 5K in vets bills the last month have knocked things back a bit. Not that I couldn’t but I like to space things out and save the money first before buying so I don’t dip into cash I already have.

So how do I find the gauge of the wire? Or do I just say fuck it and buy the new trolling motor?

The jumper cables are 6 gauge. That I know. It is the power cord wires. The trolling motor wire may be slightly thicker, I can’t say for sure. Which is why I feel I need to find out for sure.

Or maybe I just connected it bad and the electrical tape didn’t hold. Maybe it got wet???? I don’t know.

 

[jimieboe]

It should say it on the wire, if not you could bring some into an electrical supply, they will be able to tell you.

I would just repair it why spend the money, its an easy fix (Im an electrician) just need proper material and tools.

Lmk I can help you out if needed over dm's and pics if u like, also what city yiu in can give you some suppliers close by.

Thx

So when I got my boat, it came with a trolling motor. For some reason the power cord was spliced and attached to jumper cables to use on the battery. I don’t know why as most would have the o-ring type connector.

So a couple of seasons ago, the connection between the power cord and jumper cables started smoking. I noticed the jumper cable gauge was smaller then the power cord wire, so I went and bought thicker gauge, used those stew on connectors and sealed it back up with electrical tape. It worked well for a couple season. I will admit I don’t use it a lot or for long durations. Nothing longer than 45mins to an hour. Then there is a break while heading to a new area.

Well last night the connection started smoking again. So I assume because I am not expert, that the wire is heating up with long time use and the connector and tape were not enough to hold the heat. So I looked around and saw these heat shrink connectors that I never knew about that you are suppose to use instead of electrical tape.

But now I am wondering if the same thing will happen anyways. The wires seems the same size but I don’t know if that means they are the same gauge and using the model number, I can’t find anything that tells me the actual gauge of the power cord. It is not like this is standard info on a manual.

So how do I figure out the gauge. I really only want this to work one more season and I will upgrade to a new one for next year. I was going to do it this year but 5K in vets bills the last month have knocked things back a bit. Not that I couldn’t but I like to space things out and save the money first before buying so I don’t dip into cash I already have.

So how do I find the gauge of the wire? Or do I just say fuck it and buy the new trolling motor?

The jumper cables are 6 gauge. That I know. It is the power cord wires. The trolling motor wire may be slightly thicker, I can’t say for sure. Which is why I feel I need to find out for sure.

Or maybe I just connected it bad and the electrical tape didn’t hold. Maybe it got wet???? I don’t know.

 

[Jenesis]

Bring a piece of the original wire into a electrical store, automotive parts store. They should be able to find a suitable replacement.

I never even fucking thought of this. I think because it is attached to the motor, but cutting a bit off would be fine.

It should say it on the wire, if not you could bring some into an electrical supply, they will be able to tell you.

I would just repair it why spend the money, its an easy fix (Im an electrician) just need proper material and tools.

Lmk I can help you out if needed over dm's and pics if u like, also what city yiu in can give you some suppliers close by.

Thx

Thank you. I will reach out for sure. I had no idea the gauge was written on the wire itself.

 

[Ponderling]

The smoking at the connector could be more about the current capacity of the joint point more than either wire

Though if an under sized wire, if wrapped more at the junction would concentrate heat from a hot wire.

Or the insulation on the wires is good for more heat than the joint tape itself.

And concentrate heat there under the heavy of the trolling motor.


Crimp joints can be ok.
But they need a really strong crimper to work as designed.
Usually more than the casual pliers or jaw locks can apply.

The other possibility is that the original joint sleeve was too small.
So some strands might be cut back. And that will reduce current carrying capacity.
But you made the connection so that is less likely.


The other issue could be stiffer than usual bearings etc in the trolling motor
So more current for a fixed speed setting.
So see if anything is supposed to be lubed
Or if a seal has failed and water got into bearing.
Which might be bad news for the bearing and cause a bunch more friction, so more current and side effect is the wire joint.

Sorry no definitive answer, but troubleshooting needs to consider a lot of factors.

All in the golden pursuit of fishing.

 

[Jenesis]

So I got it figured out.

1. the previous one put jumper cables on because that was easier then connecting the O-ring crimped connectors because those are a pain to take on and off each time. The trolling motor doesn’t actually have a switch. Just an idle and therefore can not remain connected to the battery

2. I was using 6 gauge at the battery for a 10 gauge power cord. Yeah! LOL. It is no wonder it started smoking. I’m surprised it didn’t do it earlier.

So I ended up putting connectors on because it was a cheap $3 fix for now. I was planning on getting switches for the back for my bilge pump, fish finder and front and back lights as I’m getting new ones that are wired, not battery. Now I will get a 3 channel switch in the back and a 2 channel switch for the front. That will take care of the red/green lights and the trolling motor and the back can have the rest. I need to run them on two batteries so I need separate switches. I mean I’m sure I don’t but I ain’t that handy with wires. LOL.

Thanks for the help. Now pray to the fishing Gods I catch something this weekend because the pickerel opener was crap.

 

[SchlongConery]

@Jenesis 10 gauge is smaller than 6 gauge wire.

Can you clarify?

And the reason the connection was smoking is because it has higher resistance because it was a bad connection in one way or another. Corrosion is one thing. Plus you could have cheap copper covered aluminium booster cables.

If you post a pic of the wires or make and model of the motor and the tootal length of the cables I can tell you what gauge cable and what connectors to use.

 

[Jenesis]

@Jenesis 10 gauge is smaller than 6 gauge wire.

Can you clarify?

And the reason the connection was smoking is because it has higher resistance because it was a bad connection in one way or another. Corrosion is one thing. Plus you could have cheap copper covered aluminium booster cables.

If you post a pic of the wires or make and model of the motor and the tootal length of the cables I can tell you what gauge cable and what connectors to use.

Yeah. I don’t know why I thought the power cord was larger but it was actually the jump cables that were bigger.

I got it all fixed up for now.

The fun job is going to be the switches. LOL.

 

[Ponderling]

North American wire sizes are truly screwy.
The rest of the world does mm square conductor size. Bigger number larger conductor.

But here, as we get bigger, American Wire Gauges: 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, (sometimes 3 is a produced size), 2, 1, 0, 00 (Called 2 aught, and often written as 2/0, etc), 000, 0000.
Then we start to make sense. Next bigger wire than 4/0 is 250kcmil, and from there bigger number means bigger wire.

I used to do residential and commercial/industrial area power design.
Biggest wires were about 500kcmil on secondary 600V size. After that, parallel the wires; they get too stiff to handle if made bigger.

Primary wires were often insulated to operate at 28kV.

Now new data center's are so power hungry they would starve other consumers if attached to 28kV distribution circuits.

It is common to power them by direct connection to the 115kV or 230kV transmission circuits.

 

[6ix]

But yeah - I don’t know why I get like this sometimes. Maybe the handyman thread got me. I feel like if I was guy, I would know how to do this. Is that just illogical woman thinking? Because we all think men know how to fix things like this. LOL.

I'm a guy, I didn't understand anything you said. Lol. Something about a motor that has a troll, something about electrical cable.

My dad was an chartered professional electrical engineer too.

 

[mrk_2]

North American wire sizes are truly screwy.
The rest of the world does mm square conductor size. Bigger number larger conductor.

But here, as we get bigger, American Wire Gauges: 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, (sometimes 3 is a produced size), 2, 1, 0, 00 (Called 2 aught, and often written as 2/0, etc), 000, 0000.
Then we start to make sense. Next bigger wire than 4/0 is 250kcmil, and from there bigger number means bigger wire.

I used to do residential and commercial/industrial area power design.
Biggest wires were about 500kcmil on secondary 600V size. After that, parallel the wires; they get too stiff to handle if made bigger.

Primary wires were often insulated to operate at 28kV.

Now new data center's are so power hungry they would starve other consumers if attached to 28kV distribution circuits.

It is common to power them by direct connection to the 115kV or 230kV transmission circuits.

To further complicate this, body steel on a car (maybe older ones who knows about newer ones) is 22 gauge. 20 gauge and 18 gauge are thicker as well. At least in Canada, all we have to worry about is inches or metric ...... thankfully we don't have Wentworth here. LOL

 

[SchlongConery]

Yeah. I don’t know why I thought the power cord was larger but it was actually the jump cables that were bigger.

I got it all fixed up for now.

The fun job is going to be the switches. LOL.

It's a good idea to have a Master Battery Disconnect. That way you can be sure some phantom (the actual technical term atm) load doesn't drain your battery when. you leave the ba

North American wire sizes are truly screwy.
The rest of the world does mm square conductor size. Bigger number larger conductor.

But here, as we get bigger, American Wire Gauges: 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, (sometimes 3 is a produced size), 2, 1, 0, 00 (Called 2 aught, and often written as 2/0, etc), 000, 0000.
Then we start to make sense. Next bigger wire than 4/0 is 250kcmil, and from there bigger number means bigger wire.

I used to do residential and commercial/industrial area power design.
Biggest wires were about 500kcmil on secondary 600V size. After that, parallel the wires; they get too stiff to handle if made bigger.

Primary wires were often insulated to operate at 28kV.

Now new data center's are so power hungry they would starve other consumers if attached to 28kV distribution circuits.

It is common to power them by direct connection to the 115kV or 230kV transmission circuits.

European wiring and domestic electrical systems are so much better thought out and efficient.

Whenever I design something now I set the measurement units to metric. If I'm going to built it. I work and build in metric. If I'm getting something machines or otherwise fabricated I will duplicate the file, then convert it to imperial annd provide both files to the shop.

 

[The Mechanic]

There’s a big automotive manufacturer starts with H that had a problem in 2003 in one of their cars. The heater switch basically melted use due to the fact under gauge wire and bad design. Yes I had one of those cars, when the switch started not work I opened up the dash panel and found approximately 6 to 8 inches of wire insulation melted and also have the switch melted. I went to the dealer contacted the service manager told him what happened and yes everything was replaced under a good will gesture. Goodwill my butt, what would happen if you’re driving down the road and you dash catches on fire Would they get a new vehicle for you new vehicle not. It just proves engineers being cheap and that’s how things are nowadays built sheet when in doubt the one size up.

 

[Jenesis]

There’s a big automotive manufacturer starts with H that had a problem in 2003 in one of their cars. The heater switch basically melted use due to the fact under gauge wire and bad design. Yes I had one of those cars, when the switch started not work I opened up the dash panel and found approximately 6 to 8 inches of wire insulation melted and also have the switch melted. I went to the dealer contacted the service manager told him what happened and yes everything was replaced under a good will gesture. Goodwill my butt, what would happen if you’re driving down the road and you dash catches on fire Would they get a new vehicle for you new vehicle not. It just proves engineers being cheap and that’s how things are nowadays built sheet when in doubt the one size up.

I think I know who you are talking about. There eventually ended up being a recall. I had a dash board fire. Which was fucked because I was on my way to the hospital when it happened. I was just down the street from my house, so my BF at the time, ran back to the house for the fire extinguisher and I called 911.

Then left him there and called a cab to the hospital.

I had another car fire on the 401. Had to cross 4 lanes of traffic ( the merge lane as well) with my hood on fire. That was fucked. Now I drive with an extinguisher in the car. LOL.

 

[ValuedSupporter]

Bring a piece of the original wire into a electrical store, automotive parts store. They should be able to find a suitable replacement.

^ this. Sometimes experience matters. Also, when I'm doing electrical work, I put the wire in the wire stripper holes and that tells me 12 ga or 14ga or whatever.