> From:    Michael Elliott <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
> Date:    Sat, 16 Jun 2007 19:57:31 -0700
>
> Lamp cord is usually pretty skinny stuff, like 22 gauge.

If it's sold as "lamp cord" with a UL or CSA sticker, usually type
Service Parallel Thermoplastic 1 or 2 (SPT-1 or SPT-2), it will be at
least 18 gauge.  Still, that really isn't enough for anything over a
couple of feet at a couple of amps on 12 V.

> Standard North American-style household grade ac receptacles and plugs
> are supposed to have less than .03 ohm contact resistance -- when new.
> That adds .06 ohm more resistance to the mix, with an additional 1.3
> watts of loss.

I knew there was probably some spec, but I didn't know what it was.
That's good info.

> The PP75 Anderson Powerpole connectors have only .0002 ohm of
> resistance.

For those not familiar with these, they get used a lot on low-voltage,
high-current DC stuff.  They sell two basic lines of connectors: one has
two pins per housing and the other has one pin per housing.  The two-pin
kind are often seen on the "detachable" jumper cables that tow trucks
have, electric forklift batteries, etc.  The one-pin kind are all over
home-made electric cars, solar systems, etc.  The neat thing about the
one-pin kind is that they are hermaphrodite - you don't have to buy
"plugs and receptacle" housings or "pin and socket" metal pieces -
they're all the same.  The plastic housings also have tabs and grooves
in them, so you can interlock more than one housing to make your own
multi-pin connector.  The housings come in different colors for
color-coding purposes, but any single-pin housing will plug into any
other single-pin housing of the same size, regardless of color.  You are
theoretically supposed to use a special crimp tool to put the metal
pieces on the wire, but in the smaller sizes, using a crimp tool designed
for the normal red/blue/yellow crimp connectors (plus maybe judicious use
of a hammer and a vise) works just fine.  In the bigger sizes, you really
need the crimp tool.

Anderson has several other lines of connectors, but only the Powerpole
and some of the Multipole ones are actually obtainable by mortals in
small quantity.  More info at
http://www.andersonpower.com/products/singlepole-connectors.html
and
http://www.andersonpower.com/products/multipole-connectors.html
.

Matt Roberds