small question, wire gauge
- Thread starter Kirothak
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Trick question, right?
A small gage wire would act like a fuse and possible open up before anything terrible happened. Or, the wire would dissipate enough heat to melt the insulation, and possible melt or catch on fire. A larger gage would hold up and something else would be the weak point. Wiring in an e-cig mod is usually an inch or so. The resistance of 28 gage wire is about 5 milliohms per inch. 2 amps continuous through 28 gage inside a MOD would probably cause a temperature rise of 30 degrees C. In a very warm environment (inside a mod, up close to a hot running regulator) this might cause cheap insulation to soften and melt. Better insulation would hold up. Anything less than 28 gauge and the temperature rise for the current carrying wires would be risky. 20 gauge wire is an over kill. The resistance is about a milliohm per inch. A couple of amps through this and you might see 2 degrees temperature rise.
28 gauge for the lead wire in a pass thru would be the smallest I would try. 3 foot length times 2 (both wires) is about 0.4 ohms, quite noticable. Voltage drop to a 2 amp load would be 0.8 volts. (Not a bad way to drop 5.0 to 4.2 though). Since the wire is usually in a open environment, not enclosed in a MOD, then temperature rise for good quality wire/insulation would probably be OK. 30% vaping duty cycle, 2 amp max load, would work. 20 gauge wire in a pass thru lead wire would never fail, it would survive a motherboard meltdown.
Got a feel for it now?
Rocket
A small gage wire would act like a fuse and possible open up before anything terrible happened. Or, the wire would dissipate enough heat to melt the insulation, and possible melt or catch on fire. A larger gage would hold up and something else would be the weak point. Wiring in an e-cig mod is usually an inch or so. The resistance of 28 gage wire is about 5 milliohms per inch. 2 amps continuous through 28 gage inside a MOD would probably cause a temperature rise of 30 degrees C. In a very warm environment (inside a mod, up close to a hot running regulator) this might cause cheap insulation to soften and melt. Better insulation would hold up. Anything less than 28 gauge and the temperature rise for the current carrying wires would be risky. 20 gauge wire is an over kill. The resistance is about a milliohm per inch. A couple of amps through this and you might see 2 degrees temperature rise.
28 gauge for the lead wire in a pass thru would be the smallest I would try. 3 foot length times 2 (both wires) is about 0.4 ohms, quite noticable. Voltage drop to a 2 amp load would be 0.8 volts. (Not a bad way to drop 5.0 to 4.2 though). Since the wire is usually in a open environment, not enclosed in a MOD, then temperature rise for good quality wire/insulation would probably be OK. 30% vaping duty cycle, 2 amp max load, would work. 20 gauge wire in a pass thru lead wire would never fail, it would survive a motherboard meltdown.
Got a feel for it now?
Rocket
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I've use several different guage wires and haven't noticed much of an increase/decrease in temp.
Craig
Craig
Typically only the small gauge wires (28 to 32 gauge) confined in close proximity to another heat source would experience a temperature rise significant enought to be concerned with. Haven't you noticed the small wires inside a 510 battery or inside the 510 atty getting a little warm when you vape? Or the lead wire running from the regulator to the atty connector in a stacked battery mod? Not enough heat to raise the temperature of the MOD itself, just the wires.
R
R
Uhmm .. I used 18g. in my first mod. Was that wrong? On a mostly fresh batty I get 4.06V.
Under load with a 1.6 ohm dual coil carto I am getting 3.66V. A .4V drop is good, right?
Under load with a 1.6 ohm dual coil carto I am getting 3.66V. A .4V drop is good, right?
I would recommend using the heaviest gauge stranded wire that you can still work with. If they wire is heating in any way due to the current running through it you are using way too small of a gauge. 18gauge should be fine. One thing to keep in mind is that as a wire heats it's internal resistance also increases creating even more heat and more resistance and more heat and more resistance..... This can become very bad if you are chain vaping.
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