DIY Wire Gauge

[eastcoastled]

First off, thank you to all the great minds in this section! I'm curious to what most are using for wire gauge? I don't see much mentioned in the build threads. The pdf i found on my ideal cob holders say they accept 18-22 gauge wire. I don't have the balls to use 18 gauge wire, let alone 22! In my experience, 18 gauge and smaller would be for low voltage applications like door bells and thermostats. I bought a small spool of 14 gauge solid wire at HD, stripped a little off the end, and it locked right into my cob holder. I think thats the way I'm going to go, just curious what others are using?

 

[PurpleBuz]

First off, thank you to all the great minds in this section! I'm curious to what most are using for wire gauge? I don't see much mentioned in the build threads. The pdf i found on my ideal cob holders say they accept 18-22 gauge wire. I don't have the balls to use 18 gauge wire, let alone 22! In my experience, 18 gauge and smaller would be for low voltage applications like door bells and thermostats. I bought a small spool of 14 gauge solid wire at HD, stripped a little off the end, and it locked right into my cob holder. I think thats the way I'm going to go, just curious what others are using?

soooo lets see the manufacturer instructions say to use 18-22 gauge, and you said they were wrong ?

18 gauge for a series of cobs on an hlg 185 or hlg 240 has more than enough capacity.
I use 22 gauge to connect my cobs in series.

 

[SupraSPL]

A wire that is carrying current will heat up and add voltage drop depending on:
-thickness of the conductor
-length of the wire
-current flowing through the wire

You can calculate what the voltage drop will be for your setup here. You can get away with near zero voltage drop using 18 gauge in our setups that have COBs in series, even with remote drivers. 18 gauge is readily available and not much more expensive than 22 so I usually go with 18.

That said, for those considering running COBs in parallel with high current drivers like the HLG-600H-36A, remote drivers 10 ft away would require result in an 5% voltage drop if you used 18 gauge, using 10 gauge you could be under 1%. Personally I would go bigger or keep drivers on board, 4 gauge would reduce voltage drop to .2%

We use our lights for long hours and many of us run them 365 days a year so addressing voltage drop on the AC side might be worth the effort also. For example if your system is pulling 15A on a 120V circuit 30 feet from the breaker, voltage drop would be 1.6% (29W of waste heat). If you were on a 12 gauge circuit it would be 1%. If you ran the same system on a 240V 14 gauge circuit, it would be .4% and using 12 gauge .25% (4.5W of waste heat).

 

[eastcoastled]

soooo lets see the manufacturer instructions say to use 18-22 gauge, and you said they were wrong ?

18 gauge for a series of cobs on an hlg 185 or hlg 240 has more than enough capacity.
I use 22 gauge to connect my cobs in series.

Every roll of 18 gauge wire i looked at said "low voltage applications only". I don't believe a grow light would meet this requirement. I was mainly wondering if anyone else felt it was a good idea to spend the extra $2 to protect their investment.

 

[Positivity]

this 18awg goes up to 300v..

http://www.amazon.com/18AWG-Solid-300V-Hook-Wire/dp/B004XESRZO/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1449933781&sr=8-13&keywords=18awg+300v

 

[Greengenes707]

Every roll of 18 gauge wire i looked at said "low voltage applications only". I don't believe a grow light would meet this requirement. I was mainly wondering if anyone else felt it was a good idea to spend the extra $2 to protect their investment.

When referencing voltage on wire, it is the insulation on the wire they are referring to. Not the wire it's self. Like 20awg doorbell wire...only 20v it says. I use 300v or even 600v 20awg from NFT electronics. 18awg would be my choice if the holders can fit it. And stranded too if you can for Ideal holder. BJB need solid.

 

[qwerkus]

Actually in most diy setups i ve come to see, poor connectors were probably the main source of power losses, not the wires. I basically solder everything, but never use wires with section larger than 0.75 or 1mm2. Full copper 1.5mm2 is just a pain to work with.

 

[eastcoastled]

A wire that is carrying current will heat up and add voltage drop depending on:
-thickness of the conductor
-length of the wire
-current flowing through the wire

You can calculate what the voltage drop will be for your setup here. You can get away with near zero voltage drop using 18 gauge in our setups that have COBs in series, even with remote drivers. 18 gauge is readily available and not much more expensive than 22 so I usually go with 18.

That said, for those considering running COBs in parallel with high current drivers like the HLG-600H-36A, remote drivers 10 ft away would require result in an 5% voltage drop if you used 18 gauge, using 10 gauge you could be under 1%. Personally I would go bigger or keep drivers on board, 4 gauge would reduce voltage drop to .2%

We use our lights for long hours and many of us run them 365 days a year so addressing voltage drop on the AC side might be worth the effort also. For example if your system is pulling 15A on a 120V circuit 30 feet from the breaker, voltage drop would be 1.6% (29W of waste heat). If you were on a 12 gauge circuit it would be 1%. If you ran the same system on a 240V 14 gauge circuit, it would be .4% and using 12 gauge .25% (4.5W of waste heat).

Thank you for the wise words. I work with low voltage wire regularly, which is why I was very uncomfortable using it in this application. If anything at least we know the ideal holders will take 14 gauge.

 

[eastcoastled]

When referencing voltage on wire, it is the insulation on the wire they are referring to. Not the wire it's self. Like 20awg doorbell wire...only 20v it says. I use 300v or even 600v 20awg from NFT electronics. 18awg would be my choice if the holders can fit it. And stranded too if you can for Ideal holder. BJB need solid.

Thanks for the response, that explains it. I'm definitely not an electrician, but i deal with low voltage almost daily, and just know the wire to be very delicate. I know all wire is not equal, and the insulation factor was the missing piece to the puzzle. Makes much more sense now.

 

[iceman3000]

When referencing voltage on wire, it is the insulation on the wire they are referring to. Not the wire it's self. Like 20awg doorbell wire...only 20v it says. I use 300v or even 600v 20awg from NFT electronics. 18awg would be my choice if the holders can fit it. And stranded too if you can for Ideal holder. BJB need solid.

with that said what gauge would you use when wiring driver and will be daisy chaining them some 15 feet away out side room same or would you drop down to a 14? and would you still use 18 as the led chip wire goes as well because of the distance

 

[iceman3000]

whats do you think of this
18AWG, 4 Conductor Stranded - 500ft. - White
SKU: 12112-184ST/5WH
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Stranded, Unshielded, 18AWG, 4 Conductor, 500ft., Pull Box, White

SKU: 12112-184ST/5WH
you can use a set for the cob and the other for the fan or would 18 be way to much for the 80mm fan as i plan to run all 6 of them on a plc-30-12

 

[Greengenes707]

with that said what gauge would you use when wiring driver and will be daisy chaining them some 15 feet away out side room same or would you drop down to a 14? and would you still use 18 as the led chip wire goes as well because of the distance

What is being daisy chained and long?...the AC or DC?

 

[iceman3000]

What is being daisy chained and long?...the AC or DC?

the drivers? or just put all 6 drivers on wagos? then to a 110 plug its like 11 amps total 70% of the breaker, and the DC i believe thats what run's from the driver to the cobs right? as i will be mounting the drivers out side the room the longest run to the farest bar will be 15 feet will be using fans just for back up on sink so was thinking by using the 4 Conductor would keep it clean 2 for the cobs (1) bar and 2 for the fan? have no ideal if i'm right or wrong as for the fan putting all 6 of them on a plc-30-12

thanks for your help..

 

[iceman3000]

What is being daisy chained and long?...the AC or DC?

i have to put the wax down what i asked you makes no sense

 

[Rahz]

You're chaining the AC and need to use 14 gauge for that. You could do it with Wago222-413, but not Wago222-412, dig? You could use a heavier gauge wire for the long DC run but 18 gauge between the cobs will be fine.

 

[iceman3000]

was going to use this for all 6 drivers

Wago 773-168 18 to 12 AWG 8 Port Push-In Wire Connector

 

[frankslan]

What gauge should I go with I have a 38 volt 10 amp driver. I may driver it remotely I was thinking maybe 14 for that. Does it have to be solid or is stranded fine? Then The main dc power from the driver is split to the cobs with 4*4 foot long 18 stranded?

 

[qballizhere]

Here you go you can use 18 gauge solid core for up to 9.5a http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wire-gauges-d_419.html

 

[qballizhere]

What gauge should I go with I have a 38 volt 10 amp driver. I may driver it remotely I was thinking maybe 14 for that. Does it have to be solid or is stranded fine? Then The main dc power from the driver is split to the cobs with 4*4 foot long 18 stranded?

If you use solid core you can use 16 ga for up to 20a 14 stranded for 15a It's basically your choice what you want to use.

 

[frankslan]

If you use solid core you can use 16 ga for up to 20a 14 stranded for 15a It's basically your choice what you want to use.

Awesome thanks, I think Ill go with stranded since Ill be moving it up and down alot. For the connections to the cobs it doesn't matter since they are only 3 amps each?