| Author |
Message |
    
Jerry Crawford (Jcrawford)
| | Posted on Friday, October 25, 2002 - 11:24 pm: | 
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is there any practical way to measure a piece of wire and determine it's gage. I read things that say to use a 15 amp wire here or a 30 amp wire there. Auto wire doesn't have gage written on it or it's size and insulation is different thicknesses. How do you know if one piece of wire will handle, say, 15 amps and another is only good for 10? is there a chart or table somewhere? |
Jerry Crawford (Jcrawford)
| | Posted on Saturday, October 26, 2002 - 08:33 am: |
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bump |
Bill M. (Circekat)
| | Posted on Saturday, October 26, 2002 - 09:54 pm: |
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Easy wire gage: Go to a Radio Shack or Sears or an industrial electrical store and ask for a NEC wire table. They are small cardboard slide rules that tell a number of things including motor ratings and are usually free. Your local NAPA or Advance Auto Parts or Pep Boys may have them as well, and may be a better place to start since you are more likely to see them more often.
The wire cross-sectional diameter is used to determine the gage, with larger numbers indicating smaller diameters. The table will tell which gage is approved for how many amps maximum. Voltage doesn't matter as the relationship between the wires internal resistance and the amperage it is carrying determines how much heat will be generated to start damaging the wire insulation. Generally, a smaller gage number (larger wire diameter) equals a larger amp carrying capability.
Sorry for the long explaination.
Bill M. |
Jerry Crawford (Jcrawford)
| | Posted on Sunday, October 27, 2002 - 04:28 pm: |
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Hey Bill, thanks for the info about the card - I'll get over to a NAPA/Radio Shack tomorrow. I sort of knew I could get away with heavier wire all around but that's sort of over-kill and I was trying to put together an efficient loom of stuff that wouldn't get laughed out of the shop.
Jerry |
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