wire gage gide ?

i did a search with no luck. does anyone have a list of recomended wire gage sizes? i bought a small elect-cooler at a yard sale the other day and when i tried it out i noticed that the cord was warm and plug was even warmer. i know that the cord is a heaver gage than the wiring to the acc outlet in the dash and i have a 10 gaga with a fuse panel to the back for other acc's that will be added later. i also have a power plug that i added back there for charging my spot light but i only used 18 guage to wire it and i want to change it so i can run that cooler off it. btw it draws 5A but i would like to have a gage gide to print off to keep in my tool box if any one has one.

no one knows what the the max amp a wire will hold !!!!

1 gauge is 300A
2 gauge is 200A
4 gauge is 100A
8 gauge is 50A I think

Those are for alternating current (house wiring). May be the same for low voltage DC, but I'm not certain.

To continue the list above:

14 gauge = 15 amps
12 gauge = 20 amps
10 gauge = 30 amps

All wire gauges are for runs not to exceed a specified distance. Too small a gauge for a long run results in voltage drop, which causes heat and can cause the device to burn out. For automotive use, 18 gauge is about enough for one small light bulb. I typically use 14 gauge minimum, and to wire a power outlet at the far end of the vehicle from the battery I would use 10 gauge minimum, or 8 or 6 if I could get my hands on it easily.

Wire Gauge Current Flow Max
0 awg 330 amps
1 awg 262 amps
2 awg 208 amps
3 awg 165 amps
4 awg 131 amps
5 awg 104 amps
6 awg 82 amps
7 awg 65 amps
8 awg 52 amps
9 awg 41 amps
10 awg 33 amps
11 awg 26 amps
12 awg 21 amps
13 awg 16 amps
14 awg 13 amps


Wire Gauge Recommended
Maximum Fuse Size
00 awg 400 amps
0 awg 325 amps
1 awg 250 amps
2 awg 200 amps
4 awg 125 amps
6 awg 80 amps
8 awg 50 amps
10 awg 30 amps
12 awg 20 amps
14 awg 15 amps
16 awg 7.5 amps
These are the recommended maximum fuse ratings for the corresponding wire size. Using a smaller fuse than what's recommended here will be perfectly safe.
the first one was related to welding this is more related to auto audio applications but it's all pretty much the same

Eagle said:

Those are for alternating current (house wiring). May be the same for low voltage DC, but I'm not certain.

Click to expand...

Look here: they have a table for the current to voltage to distance as your gauge will have to increase the further you go.
http://www.windsun.com/Hardware/Wire_Table.htm

holy hell those are some extremly conservitave numbers
going by that chart i would need 1 gauge to run my 900 watt audio system

Those are pretty conservative numbers. As stated on the website, they are allowing for a maximum of 5% voltage drop. In general, automotive manufacturers size their wires for a maximum of 10% voltage drop. For things that are voltage critical 5% is a better figure to use, but you can almost always get by okay with 10%.

thanks everyone that is what i was looking for i know that the farther yougo the more resistance in the wire and as of right now i have a 4-awg&140A fuse wire running back to my amp with a 10-awg & 30A breaker comming from a termenel under the middle of the back seat to the aformentioned added fuse panel that is behind the trim panel on the right side