What is Ampacity...

[ToyMaker]

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

[Al_The_Man]

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.

[ironDigit]

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

[rancherbill]

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