Max Amp and Watts on 12 gages 4 feet

I have two 52 Volts battery and 2 motors. if I used both motor at maximum capacity I consume about 2200 watts

I was using 10 gages cabling but I had problem with my Anderson connector because the cable were too big to fit in the connector.

I want to switch to 12 gage. I will have about 4-5 feet of cable between the batteries and the splitter that goes to each motor.

I would like to know if it is ok.

You are on the right track. 10g wire on 45 amps andersons will not let the connection float properly in the housing. then you get poor contact, entirely defeating your purpose for using 10g.

As long as your wires don't get all hot, 12 g is reasonable. They will get a bit warm by 3000w, like 72v 40 amps. I would go back to 10g wire for more than 40 amps. Then its a good fit to go with larger bullet connectors from hobby king or wherever. If you have too much voltage drop at the battery, then 10 g for any wattage could help some losing a half a volt in the wire is not much, but if you already blow 6v in battery sag, you need minimal wire loss.


I like to run my higher power (2000w usually) bikes on a battery that sags only a volt, or at most two. So if my wires get mildly warm and I lose a tiny bit of energy, I really don't worry about it. I like andersons, like easy fast crimps, more than I like 10g wire.

I don't go at 2200 watts very often

I now feel confident that the change from 10 to 12 won't impact much my setup.

Thank you so much !

Wire heating doesn't depend on voltage whatsoever, the losses are (current^2 * resistance). The higher voltage battery you run, the more watts any given wire can carry.
I'd personally go with XT60 connectors for currents above 40 amps, they'll do 10 gauge (with a good soldering iron and trimming back some strands) and hardly get warm, even at 60 amps.

thorlancaster328 said:

Wire heating doesn't depend on voltage whatsoever, the losses are (current^2 * resistance). The higher voltage battery you run, the more watts any given wire can carry.
I'd personally go with XT60 connectors for currents above 40 amps, they'll do 10 gauge (with a good soldering iron and trimming back some strands) and hardly get warm, even at 60 amps.

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Yep xt60 connectors and 10awg work perfect you don’t even need to cut strands or you can go with bigger xt90 connectors. I have my £10 80w soldering iron bumper to the max and it works fine. 12awg should be okay but if you already have 10awg then just put a xt60 or 90 connector