Wire size

Old560 · Dec 17, 2015

Running wire to the back light on my tractor what size wire do you think i should use 14 or 16 guage? Just one light

kabat · Dec 17, 2015

Use the larger wire, it will be easier to add another light later on.

RJ Keith · Dec 17, 2015

Lights are usually 35 watts, so at 12 volts they pull 3 amps. So a #16 wire will be fine, but I use a #14 on my tractors. Just my preference.

gene bender · Dec 17, 2015

14 carries 15 amps

Old560 · Dec 17, 2015

Is there a chart that shows what size wire will carry what amps?

Deutz Lover · Dec 17, 2015

Yes Virginia there is a Santa---uh oops got side tracked.

www.sunforceproducts.com Has the gauge and distance for 12 volts. If you want more type in "12 volt wire current capacity" on www.

jeffcat · Dec 17, 2015

If you want to shake up the charts a little , go take a trip to the junk yard. I needed to make a harness for a small electrical project with a whole bunch of different colors to help in identification. So I cut a whole big chunk of harness out of a vehicle. From the front of the drivers door to the rear of the rear door. Runs along the sill. Most of the wires were 20 ga with some 18 ga. and maybe a couple of 16ga. The only ones that were heavy were for the seat motors , rear heater unit, and trailer package. Maybe 14 ga. and one or two 12ga. Very little wire like you or I would use. Down at Radio Shack on spools they have 20 and 22 ga wire, and this is what was in that harness. Harness works great for a radio test harness and everything is coded. Only is around 3 watts audio and doesn't pull much power so all is OK. I guess they like to run power on a shoe string! This is with DC and you can run things on even thinner stuff with AC.

Wire size

Old560

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kabat

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RJ Keith

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gene bender

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Old560

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Deutz Lover

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jeffcat

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