Engineering ToolBox - Resources, Tools and Basic Information for Engineering and Design of Technical Applications!

AWG - American Wire Gauge Current Ratings

Amp ratings vs. US AWG wire gauges.

The AWG - American Wire Gauge - is used as a standard method denoting wire diameter, measuring the diameter of the conductor (the bare wire) with the insulation removed. AWG is sometimes also known as Brown and Sharpe (B&S) Wire Gauge.

The AWG table below is for a single, solid, round conductor. Because of the small gaps between the strands in a stranded wire, a stranded wire with the same current-carrying capacity and electrical resistance as a solid wire, always have a slightly larger overall diameter.

The higher the number - the thinner the wire. Typical household wiring is AWG number 12 or 14. Telephone wire is typical AWG 22, 24, or 26.

The table below indicates the current ratings of PVC-insulated single and multicore wiring cables. Be aware that the current load depends on installation method - the enclosure - and how well the resistance heat is removed from the cable. Operating temperature of the conductor, ambient temperature and type of conductor insulation is important. Always check the manufactures data before detailed engineering.

For full table with Single Core and Multi Core Current Ratings - rotate the screen!

AWG - American Wire Gauge Current Ratings
AWGDiameter
(mm) 		Diameter
(in) 		Square
(mm2) 		Resistance
Copper
(ohm/1000m)
Resistance
Aluminum
(ohm/1000m)
Typical Max. Current Load Ratings - Copper (amps) 1)
Single CoreMulticore
up to 3 cores4 - 6 cores7 - 24 cores25 - 42 cores43 and above
40 0.08 . 0.0050 3448 5300
39 0.09 . 0.0064 2693 4141
38 0.10 0.0040 0.0078 2210 3397
37 0.11 0.0045 0.0095 1810 2789
36 0.13 0.0050 0.013 1326 2038
35 0.14 0.0056 0.015 1120 1767
34 0.16 0.0063 0.020 862 1325
33 0.18 0.0071 0.026 663 1019
32 0.20 0.0080 0.031 556 855
30 0.25 0.010 0.049 352 541
28 0.33 0.013 0.080 216 331
27 0.36 0.014 0.096 180 276
26 0.41 0.016 0.13 133 204
25 0.45 0.018 0.16 108 166
24 0.51 0.020 0.20 88 133 3.5 2 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0
22 0.64 0.025 0.33 52 80 5.0 3 2.4 2.1 1.8 1.5
20 0.81 0.032 0.50 34 53 6.0 5 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5
18 1.0 0.040 0.82 21 32 9.5 7 5.6 4.9 4.2 3.5
16 1.3 0.051 1.3 13 20 15 10 8.0 7.0 6.0 5.0
14 1.6 0.064 2.1 8.2 13 24 15 12 10 9.0 7.5
13 1.8 0.072 2.6 6.6 10
12 2.1 0.081 3.3 5.2 8.0 34 20 16 14 12 10
10 2.6 0.10 5.3 3.3 5.0 52 30 24 21 18 15
8 3.3 0.13 8.3 2.1 3.2 75 40 32 28 24 20
6 4.1 0.17 13.3 1.3 2.0 95 55 44 38 33 27
4 5.2 0.20 21.2 0.81 1.3 120 70 56 49 42 35
3 26.7 0.65 0.99 154 80 64 56 48 40
2 6.5 0.26 33.6 0.51 0.79 170 95 76 66 57 57
1 7.4 0.29 42.4 0.41 0.63 180 110 88 77 66 55
0 (1/0) 8.3 0.33 53.5 0.32 0.50 200
00 (2/0) 9.3 0.37 67.4 0.26 0.39 225
000 (3/0) 10.4 0.41 85.0 0.20 0.32 275
0000 (4/0) 11.7 0.46 107 0.16 0.25 325
250 127 345
300 152 390
400 178 415

1) Current ratings for up to 1000 V , PVC-insulated single and multicore wiring cables, ambient temperature up to 30 oC

American Wire Gauge - AWG, Imperial and Metric Units

Download and print AWG chart

Values for resistance are based on electrical resistivity for copper 1.724 x 10-8 Ω m (0.0174 μΩ m) and electrical resistivity for aluminum 2.65 x 10-8 Ω m (0.0265 μΩ m).

The higher the gauge number, the smaller the diameter, and the thinner the wire.

Because of less electrical resistance a thicker wire carries more current with less voltage drop than a thinner wire. For longer distances it may be necessary to increase wire diameter - reducing the gauge - to limit voltage drop.

Correction-factors at ambient temperature above 30 oC

  • ambient temperature 31 - 40 oC : correction factor = 0.82
  • ambient temperature 4 1 - 45 oC : correction factor = 0.71
  • ambient temperature 45 - 50 oC : correction factor = 0.58

electrical resistance copper aluminum awg wire

Related Topics

  • Electrical

    Electrical engineering with units, amps and electrical wiring. Wire gauges, electrical formulas, motors and more.

Related Documents

Search

Search is the most efficient way to navigate the Engineering ToolBox.

Engineering ToolBox - SketchUp Extension - Online 3D modeling!

3D Engineering ToolBox Extension to SketchUp - add parametric components to your SketchUp model

Add standard and customized parametric components - like flange beams, lumbers, piping, stairs and more - to your Sketchup model with the Engineering ToolBox - SketchUp Extension - enabled for use with older versions of the amazing SketchUp Make and the newer "up to date" SketchUp Pro . Add the Engineering ToolBox extension to your SketchUp Make/Pro from the Extension Warehouse !

Translate this Page

Translate this page to Your Own Language .

About the Engineering ToolBox!

Privacy Policy

We don't collect information from our users. More about

We use a third-party to provide monetization technologies for our site. You can review their privacy and cookie policy here.

You can change your privacy settings by clicking the following button: .

Citation

This page can be cited as

  • The Engineering ToolBox (2003). AWG - American Wire Gauge Current Ratings . [online] Available at: https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wire-gauges-d_419.html [Accessed Day Month Year].

Modify the access date according your visit.

3D Engineering ToolBox - draw and model technical applications! 2D Engineering ToolBox - create and share online diagram drawing templates! Engineering ToolBox Apps - mobile online and offline engineering applications!

Unit Converter

















































9.26.9

.