{"id":1530,"date":"2015-04-15T11:34:15","date_gmt":"2015-04-15T18:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/?p=1530"},"modified":"2015-08-11T16:43:01","modified_gmt":"2015-08-11T23:43:01","slug":"wire-gauge-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wire-gauge-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Wire Gauge Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" aligncenter\" src=\"\/content\/featured-wire-fc.png\" alt=\"Roll of 22 AWG wire\" width=\"267\" height=\"185\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Selecting the appropriate gauge of\u00a0<a title=\"Solide &amp; stranded 18 &amp; 22 AWG wire\" href=\"\/solid-&amp;-stranded-18-&amp;-22awg-wire\" target=\"_blank\">wire<\/a> for your next electrical project will\u00a0ensure that the circuit functions properly and safely. Wires come in a variety of thicknesses, most often measured as a gauge number. American wire gauge (AWG)\u00a0is a standardized wire gauge system\u00a0for wire diameter, and the cross-sectional area of each gauge is important for determining its capacity to carry current.<\/p>\n<p>Use the following formula to calculate the diameter of wire between No.\u00a0 0 and 36 AWG \u00a0(where n = gauge number):<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"\/content\/equation-wgg.gif\" alt=\"d_n = 0.005 inch x 93 ^ ( 36 - n \/ 39 ) = 0.127 mm x 92 ^ ( 36 - n \/ 39 )\" width=\"395\" height=\"25\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Please\u00a0note that as the gauge number increases, the diameter of the wire decreases. Because of this inverse relationship, selecting the right wire\u00a0gauge can be quite confusing. When we use No. <a title=\"Solid 18 AWG wire\" href=\"\/solid-18awg-wire\" target=\"_blank\">18 AWG wire<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0the equation above we see that the diameter of the wire is .0403&#8243; (1.024mm), and when\u00a0we solve this equation for No. <a title=\"Solid 22 AWG wire\" href=\"\/solid-22awg-wire\" target=\"_blank\">22 AWG wire<\/a>\u00a0we\u00a0find that the diameter is 0.0253&#8243; (0.644mm). Notice that the No. 22 AWG wire is thinner than the No. 18 AWG wire.<\/p>\n<p>As electricity flows through wires they tend to heat up depending on how much power (usually measured in watts or kilowatts)\u00a0flows through them\u00a0as well as\u00a0the length of the run.\u00a0The longer the run, the greater the voltage drop through the wire. To compensate for\u00a0this voltage drop, sometimes you may\u00a0need to\u00a0select a thicker\u00a0wire.\u00a0No. <a title=\"Stranded 18 AWG wire\" href=\"\/stranded-18awg-wire\" target=\"_blank\">18 AWG wire<\/a> is generally accepted to\u00a0carry a maximum of 10A, whereas No. <a title=\"Stranded 22 AWG wire\" href=\"\/stranded-22awg-wire\" target=\"_blank\">22 AWG wire<\/a> is accepted to carry a maximum of 5A.<\/p>\n<p>Again,\u00a0when determining which\u00a0diameter of wire is appropriate\u00a0you must consider the length of the run and how easily the wire will be able to dissipate heat. If your <a title=\"18 &amp; 22 AWG wire\" href=\"\/solid-&amp;-stranded-18-&amp;-22awg-wire\" target=\"_blank\">wire<\/a> cannot quickly dissipate heat the insulation may\u00a0melt, so when in doubt always err on the safe side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Selecting the appropriate gauge of\u00a0wire for your next electrical project will\u00a0ensure that the circuit functions properly and safely. Wires come<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4034,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Wire Gauge Guide | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wire-gauge-guide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wire Gauge Guide | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Selecting the appropriate gauge of\u00a0wire for your next electrical project will\u00a0ensure that the circuit functions properly and safely. 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