wiring from gecko's to motors

[project5k]

i've searched around on here and i'm either not using the right search terms, or i'm just not reading things so that they seem right to me, so heres my situation..

ok, i have playd with my geckos on the bench and they run my motors beautifully, but now i want to perm. wire my system, and i'm wondering what wire i should use between the geckos and the motors..

obviously i need to use something with large enough conductors to carry my motor's current.. thier simple 4 wire biploars, 3A, and for now i'm using a 30V supply..

stranded wire is a must cause it will be flexing,

i understand that smaller and or longer wire will have more resistance, how much of a factor is this in this type application?

i'm thinking twisted to help some with EMI

i'm also thinking shielded for the same.

i'm thinking something like a belkin wire, 4 conductors with a ground and foil.. i would attach the ground to the case ground of my powersupply, the dc of the supply itself would be isolated from ground.

i'm seeing lots of stuff about 18ga wire, and this just seems so small to me. but i am only dealing with something in the area of 3A so maby its fine...

anyone got some suggestions on this? what did you use? how did it work out? any pitfalls or areas to watch out for?

[CJL5585]

Have you considered 20 gauge stranded and un-shielded?

That is what some of the factory stepper cables are constructed from.

The secret is not to run the stepper motor cables side by side with the power supply cables, or the input step and direction cables. If you want to shield any cables, shield the step and direction cables from the breakout board to each drive.

I have built many drive systems for steppers as per above without any problems.