AWG Wire Guide

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     Table of AWG wire sizes

  

Table of AWG wire sizes The table below shows various data including both the resistance of the various wire gauges and the allowable current (ampacity) based on plastic insulation. The diameter information in the table applies to solid wires. Stranded wires are calculated by calculating the equivalentcross sectional copper area. Fusing Current (melting wire) is estimated based on 25°C ambient temperature. The table below assumes DC, or AC frequencies equal to or less than 60 Hz, and does not take skin effect into account. Turns of wire is an upper limit for wire with no insulation.

AWG Diameter Turns of wire Area Copper
resistance[6]		 NEC copper wire
ampacity with
60/75/90 °C
insulation (A)[7]		 Approximate
standard metric
equivalents		 Fusing Current
(copper)[8][9]
(inch) (mm) (per in) (per cm) (kcmil) (mm2) (Ω/km)
(mΩ/m)		 (Ω/kFT)
(mΩ/ft)		 Preece
(~10s)		 Onderdonk
(1s)		 Onderdonk
(32ms)
0000 (4/0) 0.4600 11.684 2.17 0.856 212 107 0.1608 0.04901 195 / 230 / 260     31 kA 173 kA
000 (3/0) 0.4096 10.404 2.44 0.961 168 85.0 0.2028 0.06180 165 / 200 / 225     24.5 kA 137 kA
00 (2/0) 0.3648 9.266 2.74 1.08 133 67.4 0.2557 0.07793 145 / 175 / 195     19.5 kA 109 kA
0 (1/0) 0.3249 8.252 3.08 1.21 106 53.5 0.3224 0.09827 125 / 150 / 170   1.9 kA 15.5 kA 87 kA
1 0.2893 7.348 3.46 1.36 83.7 42.4 0.4066 0.1239 110 / 130 / 150   1.6 kA 12 kA 68 kA
2 0.2576 6.544 3.88 1.53 66.4 33.6 0.5127 0.1563 95 / 115 / 130   1.3 kA 9.7 kA 54 kA
3 0.2294 5.827 4.36 1.72 52.6 26.7 0.6465 0.1970 85 / 100 / 110 196/0.4 1.1 kA 7.7 kA 43 kA
4 0.2043 5.189 4.89 1.93 41.7 21.2 0.8152 0.2485 70 / 85 / 95   946 A 6.1 kA 34 kA
5 0.1819 4.621 5.50 2.16 33.1 16.8 1.028 0.3133   126/0.4 795 A 4.8 kA 27 kA
6 0.1620 4.115 6.17 2.43 26.3 13.3 1.296 0.3951 55 / 65 / 75   668 A 3.8 kA 21 kA
7 0.1443 3.665 6.93 2.73 20.8 10.5 1.634 0.4982   80/0.4 561 A 3 kA 17 kA
8 0.1285 3.264 7.78 3.06 16.5 8.37 2.061 0.6282 40 / 50 / 55   472 A 2.4 kA 13.5 kA
9 0.1144 2.906 8.74 3.44 13.1 6.63 2.599 0.7921   84/0.3 396 A 1.9 kA 10.7 kA
10 0.1019 2.588 9.81 3.86 10.4 5.26 3.277 0.9989 30 / 35 / 40 (but use a 30 A OCPD) 333 A 1.5 kA 8.5 kA
11 0.0907 2.305 11.0 4.34 8.23 4.17 4.132 1.260   56/0.3 280 A 1.2 kA 6.7 kA
12 0.0808 2.053 12.4 4.87 6.53 3.31 5.211 1.588 25 / 25 / 30 (but use a 20 A OCPD)   235A 955 A 5.3 kA
13 0.0720 1.828 13.9 5.47 5.18 2.62 6.571 2.003   50/0.25 198 A 758 A 4.2 kA
14 0.0641 1.628 15.6 6.14 4.11 2.08 8.286 2.525 20 / 20 / 25 (but use a 15 A OCPD)   166 A 601 A 3.3 kA
15 0.0571 1.450 17.5 6.90 3.26 1.65 10.45 3.184   30/0.25 140 A 477 A 2.7 kA
16 0.0508 1.291 19.7 7.75 2.58 1.31 13.17 4.016 — / — / 18 117 A 377 A 2.1 kA
17 0.0453 1.150 22.1 8.70 2.05 1.04 16.61 5.064   32/0.2 99 A 300 A 1.7 kA
18 0.0403 1.024 24.8 9.77 1.62 0.823 20.95 6.385 — / — / 14 24/0.2 83 A 237A 1.3 kA
19 0.0359 0.912 27.9 11.0 1.29 0.653 26.42 8.051   70 A 189 A 1 kA
20 0.0320 0.812 31.3 12.3 1.02 0.518 33.31 10.15   16/0.2 58.5 A 149 A 834 A
21 0.0285 0.723 35.1 13.8 0.810 0.410 42.00 12.80   13/0.2 49 A 119 A 662 A
22 0.0253 0.644 39.5 15.5 0.642 0.326 52.96 16.14   7/0.25 41 A 94 A 525 A
23 0.0226 0.573 44.3 17.4 0.509 0.258 66.79 20.36     35 A 74 A 416 A
24 0.0201 0.511 49.7 19.6 0.404 0.205 84.22 25.67   1/0.5, 7/0.2, 30/0.1 29 A 59 A 330 A
25 0.0179 0.455 55.9 22.0 0.320 0.162 106.2 32.37     24 A 47 A 262 A
26 0.0159 0.405 62.7 24.7 0.254 0.129 133.9 40.81   1/0.4, 7/0.15 20 A 37 A 208 A
27 0.0142 0.361 70.4 27.7 0.202 0.102 168.9 51.47      
28 0.0126 0.321 79.1 31.1 0.160 0.0810 212.9 64.90   7/0.12
29 0.0113 0.286 88.8 35.0 0.127 0.0642 268.5 81.84    
30 0.0100 0.255 99.7 39.3 0.101 0.0509 338.6 103.2   1/0.25, 7/0.1
31 0.00893 0.227 112 44.1 0.0797 0.0404 426.9 130.1    
32 0.00795 0.202 126 49.5 0.0632 0.0320 538.3 164.1   1/0.2, 7/0.08
33 0.00708 0.180 141 55.6 0.0501 0.0254 678.8 206.9    
34 0.00630 0.160 159 62.4 0.0398 0.0201 856.0 260.9    
35 0.00561 0.143 178 70.1 0.0315 0.0160 1079 329.0    
36 0.00500 0.127 200 78.7 0.0250 0.0127 1361 414.8    
37 0.00445 0.113 225 88.4 0.0198 0.0100 1716 523.1    
38 0.00397 0.101 252 99.3 0.0157 0.00797 2164 659.6    
39 0.00353 0.0897 283 111 0.0125 0.00632 2729 831.8    
40 0.00314 0.0799 318 125 0.00989 0.00501 3441 1049    

One of three columns

In the North American electrical industry, conductors larger than 4/0 AWG are generally identified by the area in thousands of circular mils(kcmil), where 1 kcmil = 0.5067 mm². The next wire size larger than 4/0 has a cross section of 250 kcmil. A circular mil is the area of a wire one mil in diameter. One million circular mils is the area of a circle with 1000 mil = 1 inch diameter. An older abbreviation for one thousand circular mils is MCM.

[edit]Stranded wire AWG sizes

Stranded wires are specified with three numbers, the overall AWG size, the number of strands, and the AWG size of a strand. The number of strands and the AWG of a strand are separated by a slash. For example, a 22 AWG 7/30 stranded wire is a 22 AWG wire made from seven strands of 30 AWG wire.

[edit]Nomenclature and abbreviations in electrical distribution

Main article: Electric power distribution

Alternate ways are commonly used in the electrical industry to specify wire sizes as AWG.

  • 4 AWG (proper)
  • #4 (the number sign is used as an abbreviation for "number")
  • No. 4 (No. is used as an abbreviation for "number")
  • No. 4 AWG
  • 4 ga. (abbreviation for "gauge")
  • 000 AWG (proper for large sizes)
  • 3/0 (common for large sizes) Pronounced 3 aught
  • 3/0 AWG
  • #000
  • #3/0

The industry also bundles common wire for use in electrical distribution in homes and businesses, identifying a bundle's wire size followed by the number of wires in the bundle. The most common type of distribution cable, NM-B, is generally implied:

  • #14/2 (also written "14-2") is a nonmetallic sheathed bundle of two solid 14 AWG wires. The insulation surrounding the two conductors is white and black. This sheath for 14 AWG cable is usually white when used for NM-B wiring intended for electrical distribution in a dry location. Newly manufactured cables without a separate ground wire (such as #14/2) are obsolete.
  • #12/2 with ground (also written "12-2 w/gnd") is a nonmetallic sheathed bundle of three solid 12 AWG wires having a bare ground in the middle of two insulated conductors in a flat-shaped NM-B yellow-colored sheath. The color is a North American industry standard for cables made since 2003, and aids identification.
  • #10/3 with ground (also written "10-3 w/gnd") is a nonmetallic sheathed bundle of four solid 10 AWG wires having a bare ground and three insulated conductors twisted into a round-shaped NM-B orange-colored sheath. The insulated conductors are black, white, and red. Some cable of this type may be flat to save copper.
  • Other cable types (besides the ubiquitous NM-B) are available, although not as widely. The common BX type AC cable is sheathed in a thin, ribbed, spiral galvanized metallic casing to protect the conductors from damage while permitting them to bend. Thus, a "#12/3 metallic" cable has three 12 AWG wires (red, black, and white) but no bare conductor wire.