Originally Posted By Mojo
The old cable was dropping almost 3.5 Volts.

hmmm ... sounds off to me ...

8' of copper 16 AWG ... 16' there and back gives us 0.064 ohms
for a 3.5Vrms drop you had to be running just over 54 Amps ...(or if 3.5V is peak then 38Amps rms)

Your cable must have been smokin' @ not 50W but 186 Watts (95W if only 38A)
at least you now know where to lay the new wire ... just follow the burn marks on the floor.

(More likely 3.5V is a bit off ... )