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Old 27-09-2020, 07:31 AM
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The_bluester (Paul)
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Kilmore, Australia
Posts: 3,342
Wow, that calculator is seriously conservative (As is the PDF) The calculator suggests 16# wire for 2A at 5M for 5% drop, that suggests 1.2 ohms in 10M of wire, 0.12 ohms per meter! (10M not 5M as assuming I understand that calculator correctly that is ROUTE length, so includes both conductors of a circuit out and back)

I know I am using good wire in my race car but for the Tefzel coated, tin plated copper stuff I am using there even 24# wire is around a half of that resistance at 0.071 ohms per meter, 16# is 0.014 ohms per meter. The heaviest draw circuits in my race car have 2 X 16# wire (Fuel pumps which can draw 15A continuously) and people reckon I have wasted weight and money going too big.

That said, there is no real penalty for going a bit big in your application Leon. Just you don't need to go too silly with it. A bit of GOOD quality 16# will probably do you well. Depending on the length you need to run (Like was written above this assumes ELV that you can legally fiddle with yourself) you could probably get a length of two core DC from Repco. I have used some of that stuff in my scope gear rather than the Tefzel stuff I use in my race car which is a lot more expensive.

Last edited by The_bluester; 27-09-2020 at 08:25 AM.
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