power cable

[matrix]

hi all, i have had my stereo wired up for a while now and its been great. I just had some more stuff put in and it has increased the amount of amps that the system draws. I have a 100amp circuit breaker inline with my 4guage power cable, before the new set up i had to push realy hard to trip the breaker. Now with the new gear (which was installed by "pros" this time) i can trip the breaker a lot easier. My first thought was to just get a bigger breaker or fuse (not too worried which kind) say about 150amps worth, which should take care of the problem.
But, after reading a post which spoke about "amp ratings" on power cables. So i checked it out and the 4g cable installed is only rated to 110amps.
I looked around and there are heeps of different kinds of 4g cables with different fuse ratings....
i dont want to have to rewire the whole car but if i have to then i have to, i dont want some kind of melt down to happen.

So, what i need to know is how much can this cable actualy take and would it be dangerous to use it with a 150amp fuse since it wont register until it hits that point.

any and all advice would be apreciated.

[dephilile]

The cable may be able to handle 150 amps (I dunno) but get a bit warm. The thing you would have to watch is that when a conductor heats up, its resistance increases. The wire would probably need to get fairly hot before the insulation would melt, but you may end up seeing a noticeable voltage drop. I’m not sure on the exact figures and that so if someone could enlighten me that would be cool.

[matrix]

thanks Dephilile, electricity makes me nevous- i think i might rewire it, just to be sure...

[mouce]

Throw a length of 2ga from battery to boot, and run a distribution block with the 2ga coming in, and 4ga to each of the amps. 2ga should be plenty.

[matrix]

why would i need 2g cable? and who says the 2g stuff wouldnt be only 120amps? i have found 4g cable that has a 220amp rating which would mean i can leave all the fitthings the same just change the wire over.
its not the size of the cable but what it can handle that counts.....

[mouce]

Actually the size of the cable has a hell of a lot more to do with it than the 'rating' that the manufacturer stamps on it.

I'd be worried about the length of the cable you're using, I can get an 8ga cable to drag 400A if it's only an inch long! But if you're looking at about 5 or 6 meters of cable you're going to need to get something a LOT thicker.

[garfa]

why would i need 2g cable? and who says the 2g stuff wouldnt be only 120amps? i have found 4g cable that has a 220amp rating which would mean i can leave all the fitthings the same just change the wire over.
its not the size of the cable but what it can handle that counts.....

most 2ga handles a rated 160amps. just change the cable and think of all the extra possibilities of having a larger power cable........?