or, what size wire do I need to use when wiring my machine?

Load Carrying Capacities or ampacities
In part from Reference Data for Engineers: Radio, Electronics, Computer and Communications 7th Ed

Max ambient 60C

CU Max CU Max
AWG Dia Inch Cir Mil Dia cm Area lb ohms Ohms free-air enclosed
Inch^2 /kft /kft /km Amps Amps

32 0.008 63.2 0.020 4.964E-05 0.19 199.587 654.613 0.53 0.32
30 0.010 100.5 0.025 7.894E-05 0.30 125.521 411.690 0.86 0.52
28 0.013 159.8 0.032 1.255E-04 0.48 78.941 258.915 1.4 0.83

26 0.016 254.1 0.040 1.996E-04 0.77 49.647 162.833 2.2 1.3
24 0.020 404.0 0.051 3.173E-04 1.22 31.223 102.407 3.5 2.1
22 0.025 642.4 0.064 5.046E-04 1.94 19.636 64.404 7.0 5.0

20 0.032 1,021.5 0.081 8.023E-04 3.09 12.349 40.504 11.0 7.5
18 0.040 1,624.3 0.102 1.276E-03 4.92 7.767 25.473 16 10
16 0.051 2,582.7 0.129 2.028E-03 7.82 4.884 16.020 22 13

14 0.064 4,106.7 0.163 3.225E-03 12.43 3.072 10.075 32 17
12 0.081 6,529.9 0.205 5.129E-03 19.77 1.932 6.336 41 23
10 0.102 10,383.0 0.259 8.155E-03 31.43 1.215 3.985 55 33

8 0.128 16,509.7 0.326 1.297E-02 49.98 0.764 2.506 73 46
6 0.162 26,251.4 0.412 2.062E-02 79.46 0.481 1.576 101 60
4 0.204 41,741.3 0.519 3.278E-02 126.35 0.302 0.991 135 80

2 0.258 66,371.3 0.654 5.213E-02 200.91 0.190 0.623 181 100
1 0.289 83,692.7 0.735 6.573E-02 253.34 0.151 0.494 211 125
0 0.325 105,534.5 0.825 8.289E-02 319.46 0.120 0.392 245 150

00 0.365 133,076.5 0.927 1.045E-01 402.83 0.095 0.311 283 175
000 0.410 167,806.4 1.040 1.318E-01 507.96 0.075 0.247 328 200
0000 0.460 211,600.0 1.168 1.662E-01 640.53 0.060 0.196 380 225





Robotic regards,

Tom
= = = = =
"Words of war put all men in pieces; a war of words puts peace in all men."
- - Ross Mackenzie

Ampacity is another way of saying current capacity, this can vary for for a given conductor apart from the gauge, it can also depend on where it is used and the nature of the insulation etc.
This is an exerpt from the Wiring of Industrial machines NFPA.
You will need to calculate or obtain the expected current draw of your circuit and use the chart.
Often, a larger gauge is used for where a higher durability requirement is needed, as in Flex chain carriers etc.
Al.

If some1 did not completely understand how to use this.

Would you advise to overkill and use way heavy/thick wiring or should one really research his HW to determine whats right for him.

I don't mind researching but also i wouldn't mind finishing my research.

if i'm right this has to do with how much current a wire can transport before burning up.The more current to be transported the more mass you'll need to get it across without burning the medium(copper).thats why overkill seemed the best option to me.

THX in advance

ironDigit

this link might help

http://www.csgnetwork.com/voltagedropcalc.html


It is a nice calculator. If you play with it you can see the effects of different conductors on voltage drop. Voltage drop is bad. Voltage drop is caused by the resistance in the wire. See the tables above.

The power is lost as wattage (volts drop*amps). If you have lots of voltage drop from resistance and distance you are turning the wire into a heater - this is bad. The table and pdf above show you the values to plug into formulas or use can use this calculator.

Use the right size wire and you don't have a heater that might create a fire. You also don't pay for electricity that you aren't using. Don't go too big on the wire or you will pay a ton of money for the wire.

maybe this helps