zappedagain
Electrical
- Jul 19, 2005
- 1,074
This pertains to a question I originally asked in thread248-194860.
I recently learned that the AWG wire sizes have a geometric area progression, so to double the wire size, decrease your AWG value by 3. Similar to twice the power is +3dB. For example, two 18 AWG wires (area =1624 circular mils) have the the area as a '15' AWG wire (2x area is -3AWG). To keep it in real AWG sizes, four 30 AWG wires (100.5 circular mils) have the same areas as a 24 AWG wire (404.0 circular mils); (4x area = -6AWG).
So why is this useful? If you want to crimp two 18 AWG wires into a crimp terminal, you'll need a crimp terminal that can support at least 14-16 AWG wire. I prefer to only use this for circular crimps, like a quick-disconnect. I'll twist the wires on the rare occasion that i try this with a c-crimp.
One more tidbit. Wire diameter in mils (0.001 in) is equal to the square root of the wires circular mils measurement. Another handy conversion.
That's pretty impressive for a system that's been in use since 1857 (thanks Wikipedia). You can find the math behind all this on Wikipedia too (American wire gauge).
Z
I recently learned that the AWG wire sizes have a geometric area progression, so to double the wire size, decrease your AWG value by 3. Similar to twice the power is +3dB. For example, two 18 AWG wires (area =1624 circular mils) have the the area as a '15' AWG wire (2x area is -3AWG). To keep it in real AWG sizes, four 30 AWG wires (100.5 circular mils) have the same areas as a 24 AWG wire (404.0 circular mils); (4x area = -6AWG).
So why is this useful? If you want to crimp two 18 AWG wires into a crimp terminal, you'll need a crimp terminal that can support at least 14-16 AWG wire. I prefer to only use this for circular crimps, like a quick-disconnect. I'll twist the wires on the rare occasion that i try this with a c-crimp.
One more tidbit. Wire diameter in mils (0.001 in) is equal to the square root of the wires circular mils measurement. Another handy conversion.
That's pretty impressive for a system that's been in use since 1857 (thanks Wikipedia). You can find the math behind all this on Wikipedia too (American wire gauge).
Z