Nov. 30, 2025
When you specify a 16mm2 welding cable, you’re choosing a size that balances flexibility with meaningful current capacity. For service vehicles, small fabrication shops, and maintenance teams that need mobile power and dependable welding leads, 16 mm² is a common sweet spot: it’s large enough to carry heavy welding currents for short to moderate runs, yet light and flexible enough to be handled and reeled without fuss. The difference between a cable that survives years of daily use and one that’s replaced every few months comes down to conductor build, jacket chemistry and good termination practice — not the cross-section alone.
A 16mm2 welding cable commonly appears on service trucks and in toolrooms because it serves multiple roles well. It handles battery interconnects for vehicle systems, generator hookups for temporary power, and portable welding leads for many arc and MIG machines. The size helps keep voltage drop in check on runs of a few metres to several tens of metres, while still being compact enough for single-person handling and storage. That versatility is why many buyers choose 16 mm² as the default conductor for everyday heavy-duty tasks.
Saying “16mm²” tells you only the copper cross-section. It doesn’t tell you how the copper is stranded, whether the jacket resists oil and ozone, or how the cable behaves when repeatedly coiled onto a reel. Two products labeled 16mm2 welding cable can behave very differently if one uses a fine-strand, rope-style conductor with an EPDM jacket while the other uses coarse strands and a basic PVC sheath. Always ask for strand count, DC resistance at 20 °C, jacket material and minimum bend radius before you order.
The conductor is the heart of any 16mm2 welding cable. Fine-strand constructions use many small filaments braided or compacted to form the required area. These filaments make the cable flexible and resistant to fatigue when reels are used frequently. The advantages are practical:
far higher cycles to failure under repeated reel/unreel,
cleaner crimping behaviour with fewer stray wires, and
lower risk of localized fractures near terminations.
If your cables are handled daily, insist on a published strand count or a flex class on the datasheet — it’s the best predictor of how long a 16 mm² lead will last in the field.
The jacket is the cable’s armor against oil, abrasion, sunlight and temperature swings. For heavy workshop and field use choose elastomeric jackets such as EPDM or neoprene; they remain flexible in cold weather, resist acids and oils, and handle abrasion far better than plain PVC. A 16mm2 welding cable with an EPDM jacket will typically outlast cheaper alternatives in oily engine rooms, open yards and outside storage. For corrosive or marine environments consider tinned conductors plus a chemically resistant jacket to protect terminations.
Before you commit to a 16 mm² lead, require these datasheet items:
precise conductor construction (strand count and filament size),
DC resistance at 20 °C (Ω/km, Ω/100 m or Ω/m) for voltage-drop calculations,
rated voltage and operating temperature, and
minimum bend radius and outer diameter for reel planning.
With these numbers you can calculate voltage drop for your expected currents and confirm the cable satisfies thermal and mechanical requirements.
Even at 16 mm², longer runs and high welding currents can cause significant voltage drop. Use the supplier’s DC resistance figure to calculate the end voltage at your expected peak and average currents. For welding duty — which often combines short peaks with lower average current — consult duty-cycle ampacity charts where available. If your computed end-voltage falls below equipment tolerance, step up the conductor or shorten the run; doing so usually costs far less than the productivity lost to unstable arcs or stressed electronics.
Most cable problems show up at terminations, not mid-span. A professional 16mm2 welding cable assembly needs the right lugs, tooling and protection:
use compression lugs designed for the conductor geometry and stud size, ensuring the lug barrel fully captures all strands;
crimp with the die the lug manufacturer specifies and verify mechanically (pull test where practical);
apply heat-shrink and strain-relief boots so bending stresses aren’t concentrated at the contact; and
commission critical joints with a thermal scan under load to detect marginal connections early.
A well-made termination preserves low resistance and prevents hot spots that damage equipment or create hazards.
How your crews treat reels determines lifetime. For every 16mm2 welding cable in the fleet:
use reels with drum diameters that maintain the manufacturer’s minimum bend radius,
protect pass-through points with grommets or edge guards,
clean jackets before rewinding to remove grit that abrades the sheath, and
rotate reel usage to spread wear across the inventory.
Small changes to handling practice multiply mean time between failures and reduce total replacement cost.
You’ll often find a 16mm2 welding cable used for:
portable welding leads for maintenance and on-site fabrication,
battery interconnects and inverter feeds in vehicles and standby systems,
generator hookup leads for temporary power distribution, and
flexible feeder cables for compressors and small motors.
For each application pick jacket chemistry and strand geometry to match expected mechanical stress and environmental exposure.
There are legitimate cases where spending a bit more on a 16mm2 welding cable makes sense:
tinned conductors protect against corrosion in marine or salt-spray environments,
ultra-flex constructions (very high strand counts) for rental fleets or robotic cells subject to thousands of flex cycles, and
specialty jackets (flame retardant, low smoke, chemical resistant) where site rules or hazards demand them.
These options increase upfront cost per metre but typically lower lifecycle expenses by reducing failures and downtime.
To get apples-to-apples quotes for a 16mm2 welding cable, require the following in your RFQ:
conductor construction: exact strand count and filament diameter;
DC resistance @ 20 °C (Ω/m) and any ampacity/duty-cycle charts;
jacket material and rated operating temperature;
minimum bend radius, outer diameter and packaging (cut length vs reel); and
required test certificates (mill test, insulation resistance, hipot) and sample acceptance policy.
This checklist prevents surprise substitutions and ensures the cable you buy performs as intended.
Per-metre price for a 16mm2 welding cable depends on strand geometry, jacket type and purchase quantity. Short cut lengths and pre-terminated kits carry a convenience premium; full reels buy down unit cost. However, the cheapest per-metre cable often costs more over time if coarse strands and weak jackets drive frequent replacement. Factor in termination labour, downtime and replacement frequency when calculating installed cost.
Train crews to perform a fast pre-use check:
scan the jacket for cuts, gouges or bulges;
verify lug barrels are fully seated and strain relief is installed; and
look for discoloration or melting near terminations that indicate past overheating.
A simple inspection prevents most cable failures and keeps teams productive.
A short maintenance routine yields outsized benefits:
keep reel and batch logs for traceability,
clean and visually inspect cables after heavy use,
thermally inspect critical terminations during commissioning, and
retire any cable with exposed strands or deep jacket cuts.
Consistent checks convert a higher initial cost into long, reliable service.
When you buy a 16mm2 welding cable, treat the decision as systems engineering: choose conductor geometry for flex life, pick jacket chemistry that matches the environment, demand DC resistance and temperature ratings on the datasheet, and insist on correct termination and inspection. Do that and your 16 mm² leads will be dependable, safe and cost-effective tools rather than recurring headaches.
