Battery power wire and connector question.
 

Has anyone thought to use 10 guage or 11 guage (less common) wire on their batteries? Car amplifier power wire is flexible (although not as much as noodle wire) and would have less losses so length wouldn't be as much of a concern.

Also, is there a better and small connector that will handle higher currents than Deans? I know you can use single bullet connectors, but I was looking for something that will handle ~100A currents without as much losses and be "keyed" like Deans.

EDIT:

Actually, after digging around a little, I found this: http://www.andersonpower.com/products/pp/pp.html If power transfer is more important than size, then this might be a much better connection. They can even be tied together to provide safety keying! But they are so BIG!

i think that the deans are your best bet.

there not as big as you think brian. I have swapped over to the power pole. I have found that i cut inches out of my wire and are easier to hook up. I can take a pic beside a dean to show you the size. I do like the ease of hooking them up.

Well, according to the site drawings, a connected set is a little over 3" for the higher amperage ones. It would be great if you had an picture!

The 30 and 45 amp ones won't fail until about 200 amps or so. That is what Iam running now. They are pretty nice. I like them.

I've heard that Deans are rated for 50A. Is this correct? There's nothing at their site, other than they have less resistance than a 12GA wire. At what point do Deans fail?

They rate them for that but go much higher. both are good and nice connectors. I have tried the power pole and like them better. Batfish is the one that got me to try them. I think it is a preference between the two. the only difference between the 30 and 45 amp power pole is the size wire it can take.

I've read that Deans connectors are good for 60amps continuous (for airplane guys). Our motors aren't going to pull that much on average, which is why they work so well! The only way that Deans connectors would fail is if so much current was being pushed through them at a decently high voltage that they got hot enough to melt the plastic housing. I'd bet that the wires would come unsoldered before that would happen, though.