what gauge?

Anything electric, AC or DC

what gauge?

Postby oklahomajewel » Fri May 26, 2006 8:32 am

My helper will probably know this , but I'm wondering what most of y'all use... I'll have 12v and a couple elec plugins, planning on shore power plug too.

I've seen the table on '12v side of life' but what gauge do y'all generally use? 10ga ? 12ga? Battery will be on the tongue, but the fuses/junction box back at the galley.

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Postby Sonetpro » Fri May 26, 2006 8:59 am

Julie, I used 10 ga from the battery to the fuse box and 12 ga to the circuits.
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Postby halfdome, Danny » Fri May 26, 2006 8:59 am

I noticed most use 12 gage stranded wire. That is what I used for each dedicated circuit and it will run a 15" lcd/dvd tv on a power inverter just fine. Danny
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Postby Nitetimes » Fri May 26, 2006 9:00 am

You can use 10ga to get to the fuse box, from there 14ga is plenty for the distance you are going and any load you'll be pulling in a TD.
You could use 8 for the feed and 12 for your lines but they are harder to work with, more $$ and un-necessary.
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Postby madjack » Fri May 26, 2006 9:33 am

I agree with Rich, 10ga to the fuse block from the bat and 14ga for the various circuits..................................... 8)
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Postby Elumia » Fri May 26, 2006 10:27 am

Whatever size wire you choose, protect it with a correctly sized circuit breaker or fuse. Remember, circuit protection is to protect wires from overheating and causing fires from too much current running through them. In your house, typically a 14Ga wire has a 15A breaker and a 12Ga has a 20A breaker. Breakers protect your wires not the devices connected to them.

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Postby asianflava » Fri May 26, 2006 2:26 pm

What? I used 8ga from the battery to the fuse block. I know it's overkill, I just like the way it looks, 10 would be fine and is available in a lot of places.

I used a mix of 12 and 14 depending on what it was. If it is a dedicated low power item, i.e. the LED cabin lights, I'd use the smaller 14ga. If I wasn't shure, I'd use the 12ga.
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Postby Elumia » Fri May 26, 2006 4:56 pm

you are probably fine. Just ensure you don't overload your wiring.

Think of 50watts of lighting: since amps x volts = Watts, 50W at 12v = 4.6A of current. The same 50W at 110V = .45A

There are tables of the ampacities that various gauges of wires will carry.

I think it is easier to error with wire size on the low voltage than the 110.
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Postby Sonetpro » Fri May 26, 2006 5:35 pm

}><)))'> ~--------------·´¯) SteveT
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Postby oklahomajewel » Fri May 26, 2006 5:42 pm

Thank you all, you terrific teardroppers, you !!!! :lady:

I'll pass on the info to the friend(s) doing the wiring for me.

Julie
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Postby cracker39 » Sat May 27, 2006 7:39 am

Like most, I used 10 ga stranded from both battery and main breaker to the converter. From there, I used 12ga to both AC (solid) and DC (stranded), although I think 12 ga is overkill for lights and fan. 14 ga would have been sufficient. For 12VDC outlets, I'd still use 12 ga to be sure I can use 12VDC appliances with no problems.
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Postby southpennrailroad » Mon Nov 17, 2008 3:45 pm

Went to Somerset Pa a month ago and in a dumpster (YES A DUMPSTER) and found a large amount of 10 gage wire for my future tear. Also to add new plugs in the present 6X10 enclosed trailer. Blue and red stranded wire. Just bragging! ;)
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Postby BPFox » Sat Nov 22, 2008 8:26 am

When it comes to wire, bigger is better. Bigger, however, is also more costly and many times not needed. Look at your tow vehicle. Most of the circuits are either 16 ga. or 14 ga. Only the high draw circuits use bigger wires. Most trailers use 16 ga to run all of the running lights. You also have all of those lights on one circuit with one fuse. Now if you have some 14 or 12 laying around, by all means use it. For most of the lighting circuits people talk about in their trailers, 16 ga will do you just fine if you need to buy it. Go heavier for 12 volt outlets since you don't know what will be used there. I would say 12 ga. min there. The bottom line is you need to add up the draw for each circuit. Throw in a reasonable safety factor and wire accordingly. Use the right fuse or circuit breaker, use good connectors and sleep well at night. Peace.
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Postby Blackjack » Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:01 pm

After reading most of the post on this site concerning what gage wire should one use, I was amazed that most say (from the fuse panel to devices) 14 gage. I have been in the low voltage wiring business for many years, and I do not understand, because, 18 gage is more than sufficient for even 24 volts, and that is a constant 24 volts, not momentary. If this was a higher voltage, perhaps 14, but it seems to me that purchasing 14 gage wire compared to 18/2 stranded wire is wasting money. But then again, that is my opinion. Heck, if you want to use 6 gage wire, be my guest. What I am really saying is, this is very low current, and the need for a thicker gage wire isn't necessary.
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What gauge?

Postby eamarquardt » Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:11 pm

There's more to correctly wiring DC than AC (meaning size is more critical) because the power loss in low voltage DC is greater (proportionally) than in 120 V ac.

The important factors are current and length of run. The best site I've found to help is:

http://www.solar4power.com/solar-power-volt_drop.html

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

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