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Ahch-To: Instructional Section related to constructing your own Lightsaber => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: ShtokyD on August 15, 2018, 08:43:28 AM

Title: Wire Gauge and amperage Guide
Post by: ShtokyD on August 15, 2018, 08:43:28 AM
Wire Gauge and amperage Guide

A lot of people are confused about which wires to use for Tri-Cree builds and which for Neopixel builds, and since Neopixel strip blades can draw much more power than Tri-Cree high power LED, it requires a thicker copper conductor wire to handle this amount of current from the power source (battery) to the Neopixel strips. So here is a guide I did based on my own and competent people experience and research for most efficient saber wiring to help installers choose proper wires for their builds.

All current charts on the internet usualy show wire current ratings at 250+ volts, but not at 3-4 volts that we use. And at 3-4 volts wire causes much bigger resistence at high currents than at 250+ volts. Thats why for saber wiring wires must be a bit thicker. And yes, wires can push much more current than rated at 30 deg C (safe temp), but will heat up big time because of the resistence - this means in our saber circuits it just will resist the current and not provide enough for the high power LED or Neopixel strips, brightness will suffer. Here is a calculator on the bottom of the page: American Wire Gauge Chart and AWG Electrical Current Load Limits table with skin (https://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm) - this calculator will show the voltage drop (%) at different voltages and current load. The bigger % of voltage drop we get - the worse it is (less bright our blade will be). So for 30 AWG wire 0.5 feet long at 2 amps load and 3 volts voltage drop on the wire will be 7% (this means 7% less voltage LED will get, and also less current, because LED draws less current at lower voltage), but at 120 volts and same factors voltage drop on the wire will be only 0.2%, so it allows you to push more current load through the wire.

So my wire gauge/current chart shows a recommended wire gauge sizes for max power efficiency to get the brightest blade possible in a saber circuit.

Some people say that a 30 AWG wire can handle much more current than it's rated for, yes, you can push 6 amps through a 30 AWG wire, BUT it's an OVERLOAD and will heat up a lot because of wire resistence (it's physics). And in saber it just won't provide enough current needed for the LED for max brightness and will create a bigger voltage drop on the battery. So this statement DOESN'T work for us. The REAL max current rating for a 30 AWG wire (does not depend on the manufacturer, because copper conductor is copper everywhere, different manufacturers just use different insulation material which we don't have to look at, it just must be thin enough to fit in our saber builds) is just 0.9 amps (900mA) - it's the maximum current at which wire won't resist and won't cause voltage drop. If your LED or device will try to draw more current through this wire, wire will resist. People must understand and remember this.

Wire gauge and current calculator on the bottom of this page: American Wire Gauge Chart and AWG Electrical Current Load Limits table with skin (http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm)
- this calculator will show the voltage drop (%) at different voltages and current load. The bigger % of voltage drop we get - the worse it is for us (less bright our blade will be). So for example: for 30 AWG wire 0.5 feet long at 2 amps load and 3 volts voltage drop on the wire will be 7% (this means 7% less voltage LED will get, and also less current, because LED draws less current at lower voltage), but at 120 volts and same factors voltage drop on the wire will be only 0.2%, so it allows you to push more current load through the wire.

If you want to research this topic more in depth please use google search and youtube looking for "wire gauge current", "wire gauge amps" etc.

Wire Gauge Guide (https://drive.google.com/open?id=1OrgP0xvcu9KMTCGuJVpvcVwHQ3wcebqC)            Neopixel strips power consumption Test Chart (https://drive.google.com/open?id=14hEdo6B4KlWvInoY9coGUrZaYWGN5HLF)

(https://i.imgur.com/gotSyui.png) (https://i.imgur.com/XnxQBv5.png?2)
Title: Re: Wire Gauge and amperage Guide
Post by: EXAR KUN on August 15, 2018, 02:35:06 PM
Great info for everyone thanks for posting this
Title: Re: Wire Gauge and amperage Guide
Post by: Greebles on August 15, 2018, 03:37:24 PM
Excellent resource and reference.

Thanks so much for sharing!

-Denzil