Rep Power: 0

when upgrading wires under the hood (alt, bat, ground, "big 3") which would be better- a 4 gauge with hundreds of little strands of copper wire from brands like Monster Cable etc, or a 4 gauge with only like 10 thick copper strands like found in home wireing and whatnot ? Is it better to have many small strands or a few thick strands ? or would both work good for underhood wireing. thanks!

 
Rep Power: 0

the more strands the merrier....actually..just easier to work with.. Just grab some Q Power or similar cheap 4 guage wire for this...it's more then flexible enough and it's OFC copper so it's pretty resistant to corrosion

 
Rep Power: 0

yeah thats true...easier to bend and stuff....but is there a problem or decrease in performance by useing a thick low strand count wire? [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG]Like would current still flow as well as if I were useing a high strand count of the same size ? [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG]thanks mohawkboom

 
Rep Power: 0

Well copper is copper..wire is wire...4 guage wire is 4 guage wire...It won't make a difference with the strand count

 
Rep Power: 0

To me it would seem that the thicker the wires the better the power flow. With smaller wires wouldn't that increase resistance? It's like trying to flow water through a straw instead of a hose. Just my .02cents

 
Rep Power: 346

i've heard a couple things. With alot of tiny little wires, there is more metal there. Also, I have heard that electricty only travels on the surface of metals.

 
Rep Power: 329

that is correct, current flows on the outside of a wire. smaller wires would have more surface area and thus be able to flow the same current with less resistance (look at those hyper ground wires they sell, they are high strand count for this reason).

don't expect to notice a big difference, but with the large amount of current through the big 3, increasing the gauge and using a high strand count would help power loss.