These jump leads look to be a real 2AWG (~35mm2), unlike most of the crappy ones from elsewhere that are much thinner and more expensive.
It costs much more to buy just the wire/cable alone (over $12-14/m for a single colour), so I bought 2 of these to cut up and use for wiring up solar batteries.
Depending on where they live, some people could get free delivery. Pickup (from 2 QLD locations) is free.
SSH! Or Dad will come back and give us a whipping.
It costs much more to buy just the wire/cable alone (over $12-14/m for a single colour), so I bought 2 of these to cut up
My first thought too!
Interestingly the specs are not especially clear to me about the actual cable size.
The picture (and video) shows the measurement of 10mm diameter of the copper itself. This matches the 78.54 mm2 cross section claim.
It also says 2AWG. Which is 32mm2 cross section, and ~6.4mm diameter.
Elsewhere it also says 35mm2 cable, which means 6.7mm diameter.
Based on the main spec and cable, 78.54 mm2 cross section appears correct. If so, then these are a great deal.
The 78mm2 will be for both red and black totalled
The video shows measuring a single cable (copper only) as 10.07mm. 10mm diameter gives 78.54 mm2.
If they match the ones in the video, then they are definitely not 2 AWG. And chunkier than they look in the pics.
We shall see what turns up though.
The $15 voucher available with email signup for first-time Kickass customers is available for orders over $100.
One thing I discovered at checkout was that this voucher does not apply to sale items, such as these jumper cables.
1000A out of a 10mm cable! This will not be its continuous rating and surely can only be the transient fault rating for < 1.0sec. Very misleading
That is ~10mm wire diameter, which is what 35mm2 is.
The peak current rating for jump leads is always either bs or misleading.
The main thing is that these are 4.5m of 35mm2, not 20 or less that nearly all in this price range are.
Not really misleading - they're jumper cables - they'll handle 1000A in that situation just fine and are not marketed for continuous use.
Jumper cable ratings are not a continuous amperage rating. This is a common misunderstanding.
Jumper cable ratings are an old rating system, which is design to pair them with the inrush current rating of series wound starter motors. (The operating current for series wound motors is much lower after they start spinning)
1000A jumper cables means they are suitable for use with a starter motor that has a 1000A inrush current. That means that the resistance of the cables low enough compared to the starter motor resistance that there is a suitable ratio of voltage drop in the cables, vs the starter motor. In part this is to ensure the motor has enough power to start spinning, and to ensure that the cables don't dissipate so much power they overheat.
The latter factor is especially important for potential high resistance areas, such as cable to clamp joins, whereas the cable itself has relatively low resistance, and high thermal mass, so is much less likely to fail.
Of course, whether or not the cables actually meet the advertised spec is a whole different question.
Jumper cable ratings are an old rating system
1000A jumper cables means they are suitable for use with a starter motor that has a 1000A inrush current.
Can you provide a reference to this mythical 'rating system'? As that's not what the manufacturer is claiming
1000A True Current Rating
12 and 24V rated high capacity 35mm² copper stranded cable, capable of delivering up to 1000A.
As that's not what the manufacturer is claiming
The manufacturer is all over the place here, so I am certainly not suggesting they are rating these cables correctly, or incorrectly.
1000A True Current Rating
"True Current Rating" is not terminology I can tie to a specific meaning. Generally speaking, if it was rated for 1000A continuous, it would say that explicitly.
As a comparison, based on resistance, the max current the 35mm2 cable would allow is about 3000A (very briefly) and the 78.54mm2 would do over double that!
My take would be that "True Current Rating" is just the manufacturer saying, "we are not lying about the rating". It doesn't clarify what rating system is being used.
Re: the rating system I mentioned (matching starter inrush current), I will have to dig up a source as nothing jumps out at me with a quick Google. I learnt this years back when studying electronics, but I don't have those textbooks anymore.
It's basically saying, if you pair these jumper cables with a suitable power source, and a 1000A inrush current rated starter motor, enough power will make it to the motor that it can overcome the static friction of the engine and start it spinning.
The actual current that flows during inrush will be much less than the inrush rating. But we are still talking up to a few kilowatts of power turned to heat in the cables (depending on resistance). If there are any high resistance points, such as poorly made connections, they will dissipate much of that and melt.
Once the engine starts turning, the 1000A inrush rated starter motor uses closer to 300A or so. This is still over the cables continuous rating (and they would overheat), but fine for short bursts.
If the cables do have 78.54mm2 cross section, then they are well matched to a 1000A inrush current rated starter motor. You would expect 500A - 700A at most to flow real world. You could pull 12V,1000A through them if you had a suitable power source, but they would be dissipating about 2kW, and would very quickly overheat!
$14 for shipping the jumper cables to Adelaide.
I was going to buy a few other small things but shipping for my $200 order came to $42.
Bought a similar set 14 years ago. I still haven't used it.
The problem I found when I last had a flat car battery was nobody was willing to jump me from their car because of all the modern electronics, even though they have a section in the manual of how to do it safely and correctly.
People still use these?
Yep! I'd say I help at least one person a quarter at a servo with mine.
Especially common in colder months when people have neglected their batteries.
The ends of the strands look a little silvery. Can the OP or retailer, anyone, confirm if the cable is pure copper or CCA?
Tinned copper would be silver on the outside, not the inside.
It does say in one description "35mm2 copper stranded cable"
I don't know for sure as I haven't received them yet.
I think i'd go to KickAss and strangle someone with the leads if they were CCA.
Got free postage offer in an email. shop2021
Typo? I got the code "SHIP2021" for $20 off shipping
Yeah typo.
Picked one up, thanks op!
Also there's $20 off shipping with the code "SHIP2021", got free express shipping (was $18 to Melbourne area).
I just received mine. Definitely measures ~10mm diameter of copper wire and very well made.
Absolutely a bargain.
Yeah that makes them an extremely good deal just for the cable alone.
10mm diameter copper is the 74.54mm2, which puts them between 00 and 000 gauge. And about the same cost for the entire jumper cables, as a single meter of equivalent cable.
I don't suppose you were able to check the cable strands closely and see that it is pure copper, rather than copper coated aluminium?
I cut one end off and looked through a magnifier. CCA for sure :(
Looks like I'll be contacting Kickass for deceptive advertising.
At least these are still ok for my application and probably still ok jump leads compared to others at this price.
Yeah ok, that is unfortunate and makes these much less of a bargain. CCA has about half the current carrying capacity, and is less flexible.
Notably they are careful to avoid saying "copper" except for one spot, where they say copper stranded cable - albeit 35mm2. That said, if using copper clad aluminium, they need to say so.
I wonder if they will try and argue that 74.54mm2 CCA is equivalent to 35mm2 copper, which it roughly is, for current carrying.
Mine have not arrived yet - it will be interesting to see how they respond.
@Prong: Ahhh, I thought I remembered it specifically saying copper cable.
It's in the questions.
Q: What is your jumper cable made of?
Pure copper cable 100% or copper clad aluminium?
A: Hi Rob, the KickAss jumper cables are made from pure copper cable.
These work great although personally the clamps are not super comfortable on my nipples. They only offer one size so make sure you try before you buy.