Using speaker wire as radio power wire???

[whipsnapper]

So don't grill me on this, but this seems to make sense to me.

If you have to run the pos. and neg. lead from a radio all the way to the battery to get clean power, and keeping in mind that the heaviest gauge wire with the finest strands inside is the most desirable...then why not use a decent 14ga. finely stranded speaker wire as power wire?

The insulation on most decent speaker wire is thicker than the wire coming on these radios or any automotive electrical component, so that shouldn't be an issue either.

I was wondering if there were any serious issues with doing this. It seems like a perfect solution for wiring radios to the battery. Heck, the polarity is already marked as well. The 16ga power wire on my radio contains about 15-20 strands of copper. Cheap 14 ga speaker wire might have 50 strands, but the nice stuff has about 150+ strands. The strands are about as thick on the nice speaker wire as on nice car audio amp wire I've used (8ga.)

[Night Crawler]

I don't see anything wrong with it. I've done it

[Lonnzo]

The insulation on most decent speaker wire is thicker than the wire coming on these radios or any automotive electrical component, so that shouldn't be an issue either.

Yes but it's not oil/gas or heat resistant and will wear thin quicker in an automotive setting because it's a softer polymer. To be safe invest in some
automotive hookup wire, or at least something oil & gas resistant. After all, it's going to be used under extreme conditions and subject to movement
as well which could wear the insulate thin very quickly... and when you say 'any automotive electrical component,' that's inaccurate unless you're just talking
about small accessories...?

[gun runner]

sounds good to me but I'm no expert . Id just make sure to use A good quality wire .

[Pocono Redneck]

I used the big fat heavy speaker wire for hooking up one of my 2 pill amps (2x1446) and my meter sees as many watts in the mobile like that as it does here in the house on my 30 amp power supply. You will definitely want to be sure it's sleeved or routed safely as the insulation is quite soft.

[Night Crawler]

The insulation on most decent speaker wire is thicker than the wire coming on these radios or any automotive electrical component, so that shouldn't be an issue either.

Yes but it's not oil/gas or heat resistant and will wear thin quicker in an automotive setting because it's a softer polymer.

Run it through a rubber gas hose.

[Visegrip]

The insulation on most decent speaker wire is thicker than the wire coming on these radios or any automotive electrical component, so that shouldn't be an issue either.

Yes but it's not oil/gas or heat resistant and will wear thin quicker in an automotive setting because it's a softer polymer.

Run it through a rubber gas hose.

Ya beat me to it.
Any kinda cheap hose that resists heat will work

[Goldhawk]

I've done this before. There is a white line on one cord that I always used for positive and the other side for negative.