# 24AWG max safe current



## KevinL (Oct 3, 2010)

Yo guys.... how much current can 24AWG tolerate at 12V? 

I'm salvaging solid copper 24AWG from high grade Cat5 cable (I'm in the technology line after all), thinking of using it in a 1.5A build. 

If necessary, I'll double up the lines (24AWG x 2 soldered in parallel).


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## tx101 (Oct 3, 2010)

Look _here_ 

The question now is, which number do we look at ?

"Maximum amps for chassis wiring"

or

"Maximum amps for power transmission"


I would assume it is the number for "chassic wiring"


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## KevinL (Oct 3, 2010)

Cool, thanks!

I imagine it would be chassis wiring because power transmission should probably involve long spans. We're looking at spans in inches, at most!

I do recall having safely used 24AWG this way for up to 1A builds where we'd drive Lux3s at 1A all the time, but was wondering about the upper limit. So looks like I have a reasonable safety margin.


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## archer6817j (Oct 4, 2010)

Interestingly I just bought some 22awg silver plated wire from McMaster that is rated at 13 amps. 24awg plain copper though, will be 3.5 amps like the table says. In general I like to go a bit "over" since you'll start to loose some efficiency to heat if you get close to the current limit.


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## Justin Case (Oct 4, 2010)

What is the jacket material for the CAT5 cable? If it is PVC, that has a tendency to shrink back under the heat of a soldering iron. Teflon jackets are much better in terms of heat and abrasion resistance.


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## KevinL (Oct 4, 2010)

PVC, but work quickly and you will be ok. With a hot 40W iron, tinning the tips takes just a second, joints with star-mounted Crees take maybe a couple. 

I just finished my quad-cree DD 3C Mag upgrade (used to be 3xTWAK DD). Can't wait to fire it up but just waiting for the adhesives to set!


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