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  • I need an extension cable for my Optimate vehicle battery charger as it, and my previous optimate got lost by a mate.

    I found a 4.6m one for £18, but the most cursory of Googles says 18 gauge wire is £1p/m, and actually it would be handy to have it much longer.

    *"But the connectors will probably cost more than the extention", *I hear you say. Well it turns out that I have a load of spare ones from my old one.

    The cable helpfully has this printed on it.

    VW-1
    105°C
    300V
    NANSI
    C(UL)
    SPT-2W
    2X0.824mm² (18AWG)
    FT2

    2X0.824mm² (18AWG) I can work out. The rest is jibberish to me.

    questions

    1. Is it just a case of me snipping the ends off my spare and soldering / plugging them at either end of my new cable?
    2. The Optimate extension cable is advertised as having "Thick copper 16 SWG cable" - is there a reason its not the same thickness as the dongle bits? And I assume using 18AWG is the right choice if I'm snipping off connectors attached to 18AWG?
    3. Anything else I should consider
    4. [Bonus] is there a smart/neat way of coiling up 10m of cable?

    Cheers.

  • The rest is jibberish to me.

    There's an insulation voltage rating (300V) and a maximum temperature (105°C conductor temp, although you don't want to run anywhere near that on a device you're going to handle). ANSI is a trade body certification, UL is underwriters' laboratory certification to satisfy your insurer. If you make a longer extension, you want thicker wire to keep the voltage drop constant, in theory doubling the length requires doubling the cross section but you'll want to do maths based on the actual charging current and permissible voltage drop to make sure you have the right wire.

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