3x16awg is plenty enough imo. People seem to overestimate their current draw by a lot.
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This would be standard in most of our cases. Yes itās technically overkill in terms of current capacity, but it spreads the load across the nickel, and is intentionally redundant if there were to be a failed joint on one of the two series wires.
16 is pretty light imo. 14 is about as small as I would go. But also the more wires you do use, the more solder work youāll have to do.
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3x16 would spread the load even better than 2x12 
3x16 AWG is superior to 1x12 AWG in terms of current capacity. Since I have 1x12 AWG going from the battery to the ESC, I see little sense in using more than 1x12 AWG to connect the series.
I could use 12 AWG to connect the series but the solder joints will be more difficult to make than 16 AWG. I guess 14 AWG would be a good compromise but unfortunately I donāt have any on hand.
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Honestly 12 is still pretty dang easy, I like 2x12 setups but I agree and think your 3x 16 is good as well
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My go to is 2x 12 or 2x 14 for series connection. Then 10 or 8 for the main battery leads.
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I run 12x2 on all of my packs simply because I donāt have 14awg and donāt feel like buying more because that stuff is expensive.
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Does this vary by pack size? Is 2x12 enough to for 9p (p42a) that Iām building?
Its not about the battery, its about what you intend on pulling from it.
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It varies by how much current you would like to draw from your pack
You could put only 2x12 but you are restricted by how much current 2x12 can support
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which is about 100A, should max out most commonly used Vescs
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Iāll be using a stormcore 60d. So plan to stay under that limit. Iām not unusually heavy or live in a hilly area.
Would 3x12 series and 10 awg power sizes be okay? Or should I buy 8 awg for the mains?
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I would personally probably go with the 3x12 and 10 for the power, a little overbuilt but works well
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10AWG can handle 100A for a few mins straight so thats fine. 3x 12wg is only good for redundancy, since 2x 12awg is already enough. If you need the pack to be thin then go for 3x 14awg
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How do you use 8 for connections? What connector do you use? I canāt fit 8awg in xt90.
Its not easy, but the xt90 is bottlenecking that. Either xt150 or qs8
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Iāve done it a buncha times, its fine
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I plan to not cross the wires to avoid abrasion. Can I use the JST-XH connector that came for āfreeā with my LLT BMS? Do you recommend creating a new one with silicone wires?
PS: There have been conflicting stories in this thread:
~ The stock wires are s** and they will short eventually so need to upgrade to Silicone wires
~ The wires so so small that they will burn up and evaporate before it becomes a fire hazard.
~ Donāt use wires that are too heavy gauge
The stock wires are fine idk where you heard theyāre bad
Silicon wires can be pinched easily so personally I wouldnāt use those for balance wires. If you install the battery properly and route the balance wires smartly the stock wires are perfectly fine
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The stock LLT wires are considered meh because theyāre short. Otherwise thereās nothing āwrongā with them.
I bought a massive bag of the LLT jst-xh connector with plans of making longer silicon harnesses and selling them
For thin packs I like to use copper braid. It can handle more amps and is flatter than cables. Iāve only seen copper braid in mmĀ², so burgerlandos need to do some conversions.