question about relays and high gauge wires

Heedunk · 04-28-2001, 08:04 PM

Ok, I want to connect the autoff atx relay to an 8-gauge power wire. The problem is that the autoff atx relay accepts femal connectors to connect the wire to the terminal of the relay, but I can only find female connectors for low gauge wires (i.e. 14-16 gauge wire). Do they (manufacturers) make female connectors for high gauge wires? For all who are using a normal 30a relay or the autoff atx relay, how did you go about connecting large gauge wires to the terminals on the relay?

Maveric · 04-28-2001, 10:32 PM

I know those are hard to find! You may be able to use these.

Heedunk · 04-29-2001, 12:06 PM

did you find those at your local radioshack or did you have to actually order them from the website?

thanks! for finding those for me. those are probably what i need. Are you using them? do they work well with lets say 8-gauge wire?

Tony S · 04-29-2001, 07:38 PM

I forget what those RS connectors are rated for but when I used them I thought the safest heavy guage I would go with them was 12.

I've never seen female crimp type connectors for 8 guage, and believe me, I've hunted for them! BUT, find a boat/marine parts store. They usually carry larger guage electrical parts since boats have motors, too. The only type of connector I found was the barrel-type butt splice connectors. BTW, unless you've got a crimper wrench for those large size wires, you may try using a vice. It's a ***** without that crimper, man.

Heedunk · 04-29-2001, 11:31 PM

ugghhh, anyone have any other places I can get female disconnectors for 8-gauge power wire. I dont understand why relays have these type of connectors when most people use them for high current components that require large gauge wire!

Aaron Cake · 05-01-2001, 10:58 AM

Uh, you do realise that if they don't make 8 guage female connectors for your relay, the relay was not designed to handle the power that 8 guage wire can.

Heedunk · 05-01-2001, 07:22 PM

i guess the relays arent meant for high gauge wire, but how did you guys setup your computers so it turns off and on with the car.

Aaron Cake · 05-02-2001, 02:45 PM

You don't need 8 guage wire. Just use a relay off of the accessory line. 12 or 14 guage should be more than sufficient for the 4 or so amps your computer draws.

Heedunk · 05-03-2001, 06:22 PM

Aaron Cake: I dont want to use a relay off of the accessory wire since I will have a tv tuner, camera, and the lcd hooked up to the bosch type relay. The factory relay off of the accessory wire may not be able to handle all that power. The bosch relay has 3 leads. One of the lead is for a wire that connects to the battery. Another lead goes to the accessory so the relay knows when to turn on and off. I believe the wire for the accessory does not need to be a high gauge wire at all so a normal female connector for that should work.. The last lead goes to the inverter to turn on the computer. I believe that I should be using a high gauge wire like 8-gauge for this lead and for the battery lead. Right??? So I would need to get female connectors for these high gauge wires.

Aaron Cake · 05-04-2001, 09:41 AM

What I mean is to run a cable from the battery to supply power to the relay (fuse that wire close to the battery!!), then activate the relay off the accessory line.

You can use thin wire for the relay coil ("activate"), but you will need thicker wire for the battery/power wires. 8AWG is still extreme overkill. 12 14 guage should be more than sufficient.

Heedunk · 05-06-2001, 03:46 PM

so you're saying that I can run a 12-14 gauge wire from the battery to the relay?

Heedunk · 05-08-2001, 09:00 PM

btw, im using a 300 watt inverter and this relay is going to be used for the inverter/computer, a tv tuner, and a small xCam2.

Aaron Cake · 05-10-2001, 11:13 AM

Yes. You don't need monsterously thick wire.