Wire Gauge

From Leo's Notes
Last edited on 30 December 2021, at 01:19.

Wire gauges are typically denoted using the American Wire Gauge (AWG), also known as Brown and Sharpe Wire Guage.

Telephone/network wires are typically AWG 24 or 26. Household wiring is thicker and is typically AWG 12 or 14.

AWG's formula D(AWG)=0.005·92((36-AWG)/39) means that:

  • Every 6 gauge decrease doubles the wire diameter
  • Every 3 gauge decrease doubles the wire cross sectional area

For 00, 000, 0000 gauge wires, calculate them with negative values -1, -2, -3.

Gauge Table

The table below is for copper conductors.

There are two current capacities listed below. The chassis wiring capacity is for wiring within an appliance that is in the air. Power transmission capacity is based on the formula in the Handbook for Electronic Tables and Formulas which uses the 700 circular mils per 1 amp and is a conservative rating meant for wiring in a bundle. For short length wires, you may exceed the listed current ratings so long as appropriate power dissipation is kept in mind, as calculated with P=I2R.

The maximum frequency for 100% skin depth denotes the maximum AC frequency the wire can carry with no skin effects. Any higher then the listed value and you should consider the skin effect when calculating the wire's resistance.

AWG # Diameter (mm) Area (mm2) Resistance (Ω/1km)

T=20C

Chassis Wiring

Max Amps

Power Transmission

Max Amps

Max Frequency

100% skin depth

0000 (4/0) 107 11.684 0.16072 380 302 125 Hz
000 (3/0) 85 10.40384 0.202704 328 239 160 Hz
00 (2/0) 67.4 9.26592 0.255512 283 190 200 Hz
0 (1/0) 53.5 8.25246 0.322424 245 150 250 Hz
1 42.4 7.34822 0.406392 211 119 325 Hz
2 33.6 6.54304 0.512664 181 94 410 Hz
3 26.7 5.82676 0.64616 158 75 500 Hz
4 21.2 5.18922 0.81508 135 60 650 Hz
5 16.8 4.62026 1.027624 118 47 810 Hz
6 13.3 4.1148 1.295928 101 37 1100 Hz
7 10.5 3.66522 1.634096 89 30 1300 Hz
8 8.37 3.2639 2.060496 73 24 1650 Hz
9 6.63 2.90576 2.598088 64 19 2050 Hz
10 5.26 2.58826 3.276392 55 15 2600 Hz
11 4.17 2.30378 4.1328 47 12 3200 Hz
12 3.31 2.05232 5.20864 41 9.3 4150 Hz
13 2.62 1.8288 6.56984 35 7.4 5300 Hz
14 2.08 1.62814 8.282 32 5.9 6700 Hz
15 1.65 1.45034 10.44352 28 4.7 8250 Hz
16 1.31 1.29032 13.17248 22 3.7 11 k
17 1.04 1.15062 16.60992 19 2.9 13 k
18 0.823 1.02362 20.9428 16 2.3 17 kHz
19 0.653 0.91186 26.40728 14 1.8 21 kHz
20 0.518 0.8128 33.292 11 1.5 27 kHz
21 0.41 0.7239 41.984 9 1.2 33 kHz
22 0.326 0.64516 52.9392 7 0.92 42 kHz
23 0.258 0.57404 66.7808 4.7 0.729 53 kHz
24 0.205 0.51054 84.1976 3.5 0.577 68 kHz
25 0.162 0.45466 106.1736 2.7 0.457 85 kHz
26 0.129 0.40386 133.8568 2.2 0.361 107 kHz
27 0.102 0.36068 168.8216 1.7 0.288 130 kHz
28 0.081 0.32004 212.872 1.4 0.226 170 kHz
29 0.0642 0.28702 268.4024 1.2 0.182 210 kHz
30 0.0509 0.254 338.496 0.86 0.142 270 kHz
31 0.0404 0.22606 426.728 0.7 0.113 340 kHz
32 0.032 0.2032 538.248 0.53 0.091 430 kHz
33 0.0254 0.18034 678.632 0.43 0.072 540 kHz
34 0.0201 0.16002 855.752 0.33 0.056 690 kHz
35 0.016 0.14224 1079.12 0.27 0.044 870 kHz
36 0.0127 0.127 1360 0.21 0.035 1100 kHz
37 0.01 0.1143 1715 0.17 0.0289 1350 kHz
38 0.00797 0.1016 2163 0.13 0.0228 1750 kHz
39 0.00632 0.0889 2728 0.11 0.0175 2250 kHz
40 0.00501 0.07874 3442 0.09 0.0137 2900 kHz
41 0.07112 4341
42 0.0635 5443
43 0.05588 7031
44 0.0508 8507
45 0.0447 10984
46 0.03988 13802
47 0.03556 17359

Max current ratings

The current ratings below are the chassis ratings listed above, but extended for stranded/multicore wiring.

AWG Typical Max. Current Load Ratings - Copper (amps)
Single Core Multicore
up to 3 cores 4 - 6 cores 7 - 24 cores 25 - 42 cores 43 and above
24 3.5 2 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0
22 5.0 3 2.4 2.1 1.8 1.5
20 6.0 5 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5
18 9.5 7 5.6 4.9 4.2 3.5
16 15 10 8.0 7.0 6.0 5.0
14 24 15 12 10 9.0 7.5
12 34 20 16 14 12 10
10 52 30 24 21 18 15
8 75 40 32 28 24 20
6 95 55 44 38 33 27
4 120 70 56 49 42 35
3 154 80 64 56 48 40
2 170 95 76 66 57 57
1 180 110 88 77 66 55

See Also