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Earlier writeup on creating an extension cable with simple tools and pieces.
Being familiar and confortable with wiring, I decided to build my own cable for two reasons:
1) Primarily, I get a thrill out of doing it myself (if possible) versus purchasing from outside.
2) Second, I'm cheap. Seeing prices of $60+ for a 6' cable struck me as way to steep. More on this later.
Only components you need to build a 6' cable are:
- 36' of 16-ga wire. Bought it through Home Depot, make sure to get stranded
- 2 sealed connectors - I bought mine from Mouser Electronics, P/N 829-12066317. Cost was somewhere around $3 apiece
- 12 female terminals, again from Mouse, P/N 829-12103881
- 6' of 3/8" wire conduit from Autozone. 5ft section is $3. I had some extra from an earlier project, but you'll need 6' to do the job (unless you build a 5ft cable)
Nothing much to building the cable itself. Run the first strand of wire off the spool to give yourself an accurate measure of how much wire you'll need. 6ft took me to the front bumper, running first to the driver's side battery and down.
To use the connectors, follow this sequence:
1) run wires through the rubber seal on back
2) run wires through the black connector
3) attach terminals
4) pull wire back through connector, seating the terminals
Being familiar and confortable with wiring, I decided to build my own cable for two reasons:
1) Primarily, I get a thrill out of doing it myself (if possible) versus purchasing from outside.
2) Second, I'm cheap. Seeing prices of $60+ for a 6' cable struck me as way to steep. More on this later.
Only components you need to build a 6' cable are:
- 36' of 16-ga wire. Bought it through Home Depot, make sure to get stranded
- 2 sealed connectors - I bought mine from Mouser Electronics, P/N 829-12066317. Cost was somewhere around $3 apiece
- 12 female terminals, again from Mouse, P/N 829-12103881
- 6' of 3/8" wire conduit from Autozone. 5ft section is $3. I had some extra from an earlier project, but you'll need 6' to do the job (unless you build a 5ft cable)
Nothing much to building the cable itself. Run the first strand of wire off the spool to give yourself an accurate measure of how much wire you'll need. 6ft took me to the front bumper, running first to the driver's side battery and down.
To use the connectors, follow this sequence:
1) run wires through the rubber seal on back
2) run wires through the black connector
3) attach terminals
4) pull wire back through connector, seating the terminals