What is AWG?
American wire gauge (AWG) is a standardized wire gauge system for the diameters of round, solid, nonferrous, electrically conducting wire.
The larger the AWG number or wire guage, the smaller the physical size of the wire. The smallest AWG size is 40 and the largest is 0000 (4/0).
AWG general rules of thumb – for every 6 gauge decrease, the wire diameter doubles and for every 3 gauge decrease, the cross sectional area doubles.
Note – W&M Wire Gauge, US Steel Wire Gauge and Music Wire Gauge are different systems.
Load Carrying Capacities (see table below)
Ampacity is the current carrying capability of a wire. It’s very important when you design your battery pack. You should to consider what size of wire to use.
In other words, how many amps can it transmit? The following chart is a guideline of ampacity or copper wire current carrying capacity following the Handbook of Electronic Tables and Formulas for American Wire Gauge.
As you might guess, the rated ampacities are just a rule of thumb. In careful engineering the voltage drop, insulation temperature limit, thickness, thermal conductivity, and air convection and temperature should all be taken into account.
The Maximum Amps for Power Transmission uses the 700 circular mils per amp rule, which is very very conservative. The Maximum Amps for Chassis Wiring is also a conservative rating, but is meant for wiring in air, and not in a bundle.
For short lengths of wire, such as is used in battery packs you should trade off the resistance and load with size, weight, and flexibility.
American Wire Gauge (AWG) Sizes and Properties Chart / Table
Table 1 lists the AWG sizes for electrical cables / conductors.
In addition to wire size, the table provides values load (current) carrying capacity, resistance and skin effects.
The resistances and skin depth noted are for copper conductors.
AWG | Diameter [inches] | Diameter [mm] | Area [mm ²] | Resistance [Ohms / 1000 ft] | Resistance [Ohms / km] | Max Current [Amperes] | Max Frequency for 100% skin depth |
0000 (4/0) | 0.46 | 11.684 | 107 | 0.049 | 0.16072 | 302 | 125 Hz |
000 (3/0) | 0.4096 | 10.40384 | 85 | 0.0618 | 0.202704 | 239 | 160 Hz |
00 (2/0) | 0.3648 | 9.26592 | 67.4 | 0.0779 | 0.255512 | 190 | 200 Hz |
0 (1/0) | 0.3249 | 8.25246 | 53.5 | 0.0983 | 0.322424 | 150 | 250 Hz |
1 | 0.2893 | 7.34822 | 42.4 | 0.1239 | 0.406392 | 119 | 325 Hz |
2 | 0.2576 | 6.54304 | 33.6 | 0.1563 | 0.512664 | 94 | 410 Hz |
3 | 0.2294 | 5.82676 | 26.7 | 0.197 | 0.64616 | 75 | 500 Hz |
4 | 0.2043 | 5.18922 | 21.2 | 0.2485 | 0.81508 | 60 | 650 Hz |
5 | 0.1819 | 4.62026 | 16.8 | 0.3133 | 1.027624 | 47 | 810 Hz |
6 | 0.162 | 4.1148 | 13.3 | 0.3951 | 1.295928 | 37 | 1100 Hz |
7 | 0.1443 | 3.66522 | 10.5 | 0.4982 | 1.634096 | 30 | 1300 Hz |
8 | 0.1285 | 3.2639 | 8.37 | 0.6282 | 2.060496 | 24 | 1650 Hz |
9 | 0.1144 | 2.90576 | 6.63 | 0.7921 | 2.598088 | 19 | 2050 Hz |
10 | 0.1019 | 2.58826 | 5.26 | 0.9989 | 3.276392 | 15 | 2600 Hz |
11 | 0.0907 | 2.30378 | 4.17 | 1.26 | 4.1328 | 12 | 3200 Hz |
12 | 0.0808 | 2.05232 | 3.31 | 1.588 | 5.20864 | 9.3 | 4150 Hz |
13 | 0.072 | 1.8288 | 2.62 | 2.003 | 6.56984 | 7.4 | 5300 Hz |
14 | 0.0641 | 1.62814 | 2.08 | 2.525 | 8.282 | 5.9 | 6700 Hz |
15 | 0.0571 | 1.45034 | 1.65 | 3.184 | 10.44352 | 4.7 | 8250 Hz |
16 | 0.0508 | 1.29032 | 1.31 | 4.016 | 13.17248 | 3.7 | 11k Hz |
17 | 0.0453 | 1.15062 | 1.04 | 5.064 | 16.60992 | 2.9 | 13k Hz |
18 | 0.0403 | 1.02362 | 0.823 | 6.385 | 20.9428 | 2.3 | 17k Hz |
19 | 0.0359 | 0.91186 | 0.653 | 8.051 | 26.40728 | 1.8 | 21k Hz |
20 | 0.032 | 0.8128 | 0.518 | 10.15 | 33.292 | 1.5 | 27k Hz |
21 | 0.0285 | 0.7239 | 0.41 | 12.8 | 41.984 | 1.2 | 33k Hz |
22 | 0.0254 | 0.64516 | 0.326 | 16.14 | 52.9392 | 0.92 | 42k Hz |
23 | 0.0226 | 0.57404 | 0.258 | 20.36 | 66.7808 | 0.729 | 53k Hz |
24 | 0.0201 | 0.51054 | 0.205 | 25.67 | 84.1976 | 0.577 | 68k Hz |
25 | 0.0179 | 0.45466 | 0.162 | 32.37 | 106.1736 | 0.457 | 85k Hz |
26 | 0.0159 | 0.40386 | 0.129 | 40.81 | 133.8568 | 0.361 | 107k Hz |
27 | 0.0142 | 0.36068 | 0.102 | 51.47 | 168.8216 | 0.288 | 130k Hz |
28 | 0.0126 | 0.32004 | 0.081 | 64.9 | 212.872 | 0.226 | 170k Hz |
29 | 0.0113 | 0.28702 | 0.0642 | 81.83 | 268.4024 | 0.182 | 210k Hz |
30 | 0.01 | 0.254 | 0.0509 | 103.2 | 338.496 | 0.142 | 270k Hz |
31 | 0.0089 | 0.22606 | 0.0404 | 130.1 | 426.728 | 0.113 | 340k Hz |
32 | 0.008 | 0.2032 | 0.032 | 164.1 | 538.258 | 0.091 | 430k Hz |
33 | 0.0071 | 0.18034 | 0.0254 | 206.9 | 678.632 | 0.072 | 540k Hz |
34 | 0.0063 | 0.16002 | 0.0201 | 260.9 | 855.752 | 0.056 | 690k Hz |
35 | 0.0056 | 0.14224 | 0.016 | 329 | 1079.12 | 0.044 | 870k Hz |
36 | 0.005 | 0.127 | 0.0127 | 414.8 | 1360 | 0.035 | 1100k Hz |
37 | 0.0045 | 0.1143 | 0.01 | 523.1 | 1715 | 0.0289 | 1350k Hz |
38 | 0.004 | 0.1016 | 0.00797 | 659.6 | 2163 | 0.0228 | 1750k Hz |
39 | 0.0035 | 0.0889 | 0.00632 | 831.8 | 2728 | 0.0175 | 2250k Hz |
40 | 0.0031 | 0.07874 | 0.00501 | 1049 | 3440 | 0.0137 | 2900k Hz |
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