HV cable advice.

[purplespark]

hello,
I have a leaf motor and 24KWh battery. Does anyone have any recommendations for the most
cost effective battery cable,and where to get it from ? i was thinking of 50sq.mm. Also ,does it have to be orange if it's in orange conduit?

[Teknomadix]

Welding leads are suitable, and you can obtain in bulk by the .25 meter from welding supply shops. Orange conduit is also a good option since the orange rubberized coating usually costs much more than the standard black (or sometime green) that the cables usually come coated in from the welding suppliers.

[arber333]

hello,
I have a leaf motor and 24KWh battery. Does anyone have any recommendations for the most
cost effective battery cable,and where to get it from ? i was thinking of 50sq.mm. Also ,does it have to be orange if it's in orange conduit?

I use welding cable 50mm2. It is rubber insulated and sufficiently flexible to be routed without unneccessary tension.
Before i lay the cables i slide them in a plastic water hose. WD40 or similar lubricant helps greatly here. Plastic hose is the real double insulator here and can prevent various shoottrough and other isolation anomalies after years of EV use.
Finally i put over cables orange plastic tubing that is used in household wiring to route cables through the walls. It is not the best material to withstand enviromental conditions outside housing, but it is the correct colour and nobody from our DMV commented on it.

I find this method safe, cost effective and in compliance.

[damian.lo]

Hi,

Also I was searching something for my car and Arber have right - welding cables are sufficent - are in rubber and are flexible. Last time on industrial show I was speaking with Igus seller and he showed me special one core orange cable. I have now one sample 1AWG - about 50sqmm in double shield (one external orange and internal probably PP or similar).
Cable type CF270.UL.500.01.D

Regards,
Damian

[arber333]

Hi,

Also I was searching something for my car and Arber have right - welding cables are sufficent - are in rubber and are flexible. Last time on industrial show I was speaking with Igus seller and he showed me special one core orange cable. I have now one sample 1AWG - about 50sqmm in double shield (one external orange and internal probably PP or similar).
Cable type CF270.UL.500.01.D

Regards,
Damian

Yes you can also shield the welding cable with additional sock over them. BUT you still have to put them into some isolation from the chassis.
I usualy just interlace the power cables +/- in effect make a twisted pair with one twist per meter or so.
I put nickel sock mesh on the phase cables though. There you have most voltage/amp swings.

Do not forget to graound motor to chassis and inverter to chassis also! If they are not grounded i saw some 200Vac potential toward GND.

[langoo]

I've used these cables with good result for my 300-400A leaf motor.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 2539446653

These where half-price compared to what I could find in Sweden.

I pulled all my HV cables through a extra thick isolation pipe made of aluminum and rubber which I made orange with some orange isolation tape. See attached for how it looked before I hide them away under the carpets.

[Teknomadix]

See attached for how it looked before I hide them away under the carpets.

Duktig! Bra jobb, mycket bra!

[langoo]

See attached for how it looked before I hide them away under the carpets.

Duktig! Bra jobb, mycket bra!

Tack

Some more wiring-porn for those of you that like that.

[Teknomadix]

removed

[purplespark]

Thanks for all your advice, I know what to do now !
regards,

[arber333]

Thanks for all your advice, I know what to do now !
regards,

Well i ve done it now against my own advice.
Since i used 35mm2 cables before it was easy to get a water hose and intubate . But now i have 50mm2 cables and i find it impossible to get a good water hose. Everything i tried has a larger wall thickness and i see now it defeats the purpose.
I even tried to get a white spiraled tube that is much more resistant than orange. But the next dimension of orange tube that would fit over it is too large to comfortably draw through the car underside.... DOH!

I may just decide to put cable only into one orange tube and thats it....