American Wire Gauge, AWG Cable Size Description for Copper Wire Cable

Page 1 of 5

Reference & Information AWG Cable Description

American Wire Gauge

Search

The table below lists the wire characteristics for different gauge sizes of the American Wire Gauge [AWG]. The American Wire Gauge provides a means of specifying wire diameters. For each different AWG [wire size] the table provides the Diameter [in mils], the resistance per 1000 foot, the current carrying capability [Ampacity], and Pounds per Foot [number of feet required to weigh 1 pound]. The AWG is based upon a constant ratio of cross-section between wires of successive gauge sizes [numbers]. Read the notes below the table to determine how the Ampacity was derived. The larger the AWG wire gauge number, the smaller diameter of the wire. The table is based on an ambient temperature of 25oC. However the next link provides additional temperatures. Some of the standard wire sizes used in a number of Interface Buses [for data lines] are #22AWG, #24AWG, #26AWG, and 30AWG. Refer here for a quick guide to Wire Gauge by Resistance Table. A listing of Electronic bus standards are located on the Buses page. Another table near the bottom of the page provides copper current carrying ability [Ampacity] for Teflon insulated wire. Related; Cable Derating. Conductor size is based one or more of the following considerations: Current carrying capacity [inducing a rise in wire temperature, in high-voltage lines], Short circuit current, or Voltage drop [long low voltage lines].

Aluminium Conductor All kinds Aluminium Conductor 10% off low price,contact now ! www.xinweixin.cn Data & Fibre Cabling Design & install superior voice and data cabling for your Business. www.pacifictd.com.au Electric Wire and Cable Global supplier of electric cable Tray Cable, Instrument Wire, Armor www.usawire-cable.com

AWG Wire Table, AWG Copper Wire Gauge Chart AWG Diam. (mils) Circular mils Ohms/1000ft Current Carrying Fusing Current 0000 460 212000 0.050 000 410 168000 0.063 00 365 133000 0.077 0 324.85 105531 0.096 1 289.3 83694 0.1264 119.6 2 257.6 66358 0.1593 94.8 3 229.4 52624 0.2009 75.2 4 204.3 41738 0.2533 59.6 5 181.9 33088 0.3915 47.3 6 162 26244 0.4028 37.5 668 7 144.3 20822 0.5080 29.7 561 8 128.5 16512 0.6405 23.6 472 9 114.4 13087 0.8077 18.7 396 10 101.9 10384 1.018 14.8 333 11 90.7 8226 1.284 11.8 280 12 80.8 6529 1.619 9.33 235 http://www.interfacebus.com/Copper_Wire_AWG_SIze.html

Feet per Pound 1.56 1.96 2.4826 3.1305 3.947 4.977 6.276 7.914 9.980 12.58 15.87 20.01 25.23 31.82 40.12 50.59 12/20/2011

American Wire Gauge, AWG Cable Size Description for Copper Wire Cable 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 72.0 64.1 57.1 50.8 45.3 40.3 35.9 32.0 28.5 25.3 22.6 20.1 17.9 15.9 14.2 12.6 11.3 10.0 8.9 8.0 7.1 6.3 5.6 5.0 4.45 3.97 3.5 3.14 2.8 2.494 2.221 1.978 1.761 1.568 1.397 1.244 1.107 0.986 5184 4109 3260 2581 2052 1624 1289 1024 812 640 511 404 320 253 202 159 128 100 79 64 50.125 39.75 31.5 25.0 19.83 15.7 12.47 9.89 7.842 6.219 4.932 3.911 3.102 2.460 1.951 1.547 1.227 0.973 2.042 2.575 3.247 4.094 5.163 6.510 8.210 10.35 13.05 16.46 20.76 26.17 33.0 41.62 52.48 66.17 83.44 105.2 132.7 167.3 211.0 266.0 335 423 533 673 848 1070 7.40 5.87 4.65 3.69 2.93 2.32 1.84 1.46 1.16 .918 .728 .577 .458 .363 .288 .228 .181 .144 .114 .090 .072 .057 .045 .036 .028 .022 .018 .014 197 166 140 117 98.4 82.9 69.7 58.4 41.2 29.2 20.5 14.4 10.2 5.12 4.28 3.62 2.5 1.77 1.52 1.28 1.060 0.916 63.80 80.44 101.4 127.9 161.3 203.4 256.5 323.4 407.8 514.12 648.4 817.7 1031 1300 1639 2067 2607 3287 4145 5227 6591 8310 10480 13210 16660 21010 26500 33410 -

Page 2 of 5

Table of Bare Copper Wire

General Notes: The wire size is different between the American Wire Gage [AWG] and the British standard. The table above only lists the AWG standard. AWG [American Wire Gauge] may also be called the Brown and Sharpe (B&S) Wire Gauge, but would be an extremely out-dated reference. See the B&S note below.

http://www.interfacebus.com/Copper_Wire_AWG_SIze.html

12/20/2011

American Wire Gauge, AWG Cable Size Description for Copper Wire Cable

Page 3 of 5

The Birmingham Wire Gauge [BWG] is used for steel armor wire, as opposed to copper wire. [other wire gauge standards] Watch for round-off errors, as many numbers were rounded. Use the table as a guide. [Equivalent Cross-Sections of Wire] The wire weight [pound per foot] provided does not include wire insulation, a jacket or any shielding as that would imply a cable and not a wire. The weight of the wire is critical in some applications; for example, aircraft cabling. More data [AWG Table for 25C - 65C] Circular mils is the diameter squared in mils. [Table of AWG sizes in metric] The editor has never reviewed the American Wire Gauge [AWG] standard. Current Notes: The current shown per wire size listed above is based on 1 amp/ 700 Circular mils, other tables provide different current per wire size, and different current for open air ~ check your local electrical code for the correct current capacity [Ampacity]. The 1 amp/ 700 Circular mils seems to be the most conservative, other sites provide/allow for 1 amp per 200 or 300 Circular mil. For shot wire lengths use 1A/200 Circular mil, for longer wire runs use 300 Circular mil, and for very long wire runs use the table above, 1 amp / 700 Circular mil.

PCWI Test Instruments

Large range, mostly ex-stock test & measuring instruments
www.pcwi.com.au

Hoist & Crane Spare Parts

Looking for rope and wire? Source spare parts The current rating is listed based on permissible voltage drop and not conductor heating. for all brands!
www.mhe-demag.com

The ability of a wire to carry a given amount of current is affected by a number of additional factors, which are not accounted for in the Wire Straightener, Roller Guide, Pulley, Boxed AWG table above. The ambient temperature of the surrounding air, Wire, Coil Pac wire insulation, and number of other wires bundled together [provided www.subec.se below].

Wire & Cable Industry

Ampacity relates to the ability of the conductor to carry current [amps] before the cable over heats. I understand there are hundreds of Ampacity tables for many different conditions. The numbers above are but one example. Ampacity Tables for many conditions: IEEE Standard 835, IEEE Standard Power Cable Ampacity Tables IEEE Standard 848, Procedure for the Determination of the Ampacity Derating of Fire Protected Cables ICEA P-54-440, NEMA Pub. No. WC 51 - Ampacities of Cables in Open-Top Trays. The National Electrical Code [NEC] requires their own cable sizing for premises wiring. Refer to the NEC rules to determine building wiring, as this page relates to electronic equipment wiring. For reference, the ampacity of copper wire at 300C for common wire sizes 14 AWG may carry a maximum of 20 Amps in free air, or 15 Amps as part of a 3 conductor cable. 12 AWG may carry a maximum of 25 Amps in free air, or 20 Amps as part of a 3 conductor cable. 10 AWG may carry a maximum of 40 Amps in free air, or 30 Amps as part of a 3 conductor cable. 8 AWG may carry a maximum of 70 Amps in free air, or 50 Amps as part of a 3 conductor cable. Hook-up Wire Current Capacity [short wire runs between components or parts contained in equipment]. Control Cable Current Capacity [electrical power equipment cable]. The wire fusing [melting] current is based on the material the wire is made of, the diameter of the wire and the melting point of the the material. The wire fusing current of a wire is provided in tables as constant current or as [a larger] current for some given amount of time. I found this formula used on a few different sites [un-verified]; I=Ad(3/2) @ d is in inches, A is a constant: A = 10,244 for Copper. A = 7,585 for Aluminum. I have listed a number of values for fusing current in the table above, for selected AWG sizes. Aluminum wire properties are listed under on the Aluminum Wire gauge Table page also Monel wire gauge chart, and Nichrome wire gauge chart Electrical Wire and Cable Manufacturers for a list of wire companies The graphic below will answer the question how much current can wire handle, safely, but it only applies to single wires, as in wire gauge ampacity.

http://www.interfacebus.com/Copper_Wire_AWG_SIze.html

12/20/2011

American Wire Gauge, AWG Cable Size Description for Copper Wire Cable
Adding more wires inside an insulator will trap more heat and force the cable handle less current, by design. Note the graphic does not address wire length.

Page 4 of 5

Wire Gauge vs Current

Portholes and Balustrades Porthole Vision panels for doors Balustrades for all locations www.interiorassociates.co.uk Cable Design Software Fully Automated Wiring Diagram And Cable Design Software - For Free! www.TurboTools.com Copper large source; various grades; premium quality bbi-bergbau.at RT360 Circular Connectors Industrial Multiway Custom Connect RockSolid & RADSOK technology www.sineco.com

Cable manufacturers will provide different numbers based on the insulation used for the wire. Use the table below to off-set the conservative current carrying numbers in the table above, and the fusing current. The table below lists copper wire with a Teflon [TFE] insulation. Teflon insulation has a higher operation temperature range then other insulators, for example PVC. The table below is based on data derived from MIL-STD-975, using 700C as the operating temperature. To derate based on number of wires in a bundle: IBW = ISW x (29 - #wire) / 28 @ [1 to 15 Bundled wires] IBW = ISW x (0.5) @ [more then 15 Bundled wires] ISW = Single wire [Wire ampacity is higher with a single wire] IBW = Bundled wires [Wire ampacity is lower in a bundled wire because the heat from each wire adds together] To derate by temperature use; derate by 80% at 150oC, 70% at 135oC, or 50% at 105oC (per MIL-STD975)

Bundled Wire

Copper Wire TFE Insulated AWG Wire Gauge Current Carrying AWG Wire Gauge 00 169 amps 0 2 108 4 6 60 8 10 33 12 14 19 16 18 9.2 20 22 4.5 24 26 2.5 28 30 1.3 -

Current Carrying 147 amps 81 44 25 13 6.5 3.3 1.8 -

Refer to the How to Derate Components page for derating wire with other then Teflon insulation I have seen one other Military Specification [MIL-STD-xx] for copper wire current capability. That standard [I did not note the standard number] listed AWG 18 [for example] as 10 amps with TFE insulation. That indicates that this additional military specification uses the same data listed in the table above, but may be listed for 250C, and not 700C as the table uses. So this table above has already been derated for 700C. This page provides a conservative guide for Ampacity for bare copper wire [700 Circular mils/amp] , the melting [point] current for bare copper wire, and the Ampacity for TFE coated copper wire. The American Wire Gage [AWG] for bare copper wire is also listed. Refer to the National Electrical Code [NEC] to determine cable sizing for premises wiring.

http://www.interfacebus.com/Copper_Wire_AWG_SIze.html

12/20/2011

American Wire Gauge, AWG Cable Size Description for Copper Wire Cable

Page 5 of 5

This page represents my notes on the subject, purchase one of the standards or specifications referenced on this page when doing professional work. Also see the Wire Insulation Color Code page; Color coding of wire insulation based on application. Determine cable length vs. voltage drop. Determine cable length vs. Heat increase.
Ads by Google

Wire Ampacity

Home Wire

Copper Wire

AWG Wire

With any topic there are a number of different ways to describe the same thing; AWG, Wire Gauge, Wire Size Chart, AWG Wire Gauge, American Wire Gauge, AWG Cable, Wire Gauge Sizes, and AWG Table all relate to the same thing. Note that the wire gauge table concerns the physical size of the wire and does not address a cable; As a cable would be insulated wires with attached connectors or a number of wires within an insulating jacket. Related technical data on Chassis Cable Design and Considerations B&S Note: The term 'Brown and Sharpe' is out dated in regards to the American Wire Gauge. By the early 1900's the Brown and Sharpe table became known as the American Wire Gauge. I'm not really sure why it is even being referenced any longer. Brown and Sharpe was a company that produced wire. Magnet wire and normal copper wire will have the same wire gauge, as the enameled coating over bare wire does not add much thickness. Wire Rope is not referenced here because wire rope is stranded wire, while the AWG table covers solid wire.

Home

Distributors

Components

Equipment

Software

Standards

Buses

Design

Reference

Modified 9/24/11 Copyright 1998 - 2011 All rights reserved Leroy Davis

http://www.interfacebus.com/Copper_Wire_AWG_SIze.html

12/20/2011