wattage and divide it by 12 volts to get the amps. First of all, we have to figure out how many amps will run in a 12V circuit if we run the device at 100% wattage. Calculate the amps (based on wattage).We calculate a theoretical 12V wire size in two steps:
#WIRE SIZE CALCULATOR HOW TO#
How To Calculate Needed 12V Wire Size (Theoretically)?
Accounting For Voltage Drop (12V Wire Sizes Used In Practice). 12V Cable Size Calculator (At 0 Feet Distance). How To Calculate Needed 12V Wire Size (Theoretically)?. Let’s first look at the 12V cable size calculator before we proceed to the all-encompassing 12V wire size chart: You can use both of these tools to adequately size a 12V wire. If you don’t pick a wire that is thick enough (has sufficient ampacity), the whole circuit might catch fire. This wire chart tells you what 12V wire size to choose if the device you want to run with the 12V voltage is some distance away (from 15 feet to 90 feet). wire amps (accounted for the 80% NEC rule as well). You just input the total wattage of the device you want to run on a 12V wire, and you will get the min. This calculator estimates the minimum ampacity a wire should have. To not get the size of the 12V cable wrong, you can use two key resources further on: If we choose a wire with too low an ampacity, the circuit can go up in flames (as well as the battery). We have to be quite careful when sizing 12V wires. wattage and wire length or voltage drop). In practice, we use wires from 16 AWG to as thick as 3/0 AWG for 12V circuits (size depends on the max. We might have to use 14 AWG wire (20A), 12 AWG wire (25A), or even 10 AWG wire (35A). This increases the amps we need which, in turn, increases the 12V wire size (we need more ampacity). In this case, we will need a 16 AWG wire size because it has a 17A ampacity.įurther on, if the battery is located some distance from the device (say 20 feet, 50 feet, or even 80 feet away), we need to account for voltage drop (big impact). Accounting for the 80% NEC rule (we will explain this later on), you need a wire with at least 15.62A ampacity. That means we have to use a 12V wire size that can handle at least 12.5 amps (200W/12V = 12.5A). Now, how do you figure out what size wire you need for a 12V circuit?Įxample: Let’s say we want to connect a 200W device to a 12V battery. That means we need relatively big 12V cable sizes. 
To produce larger amounts of electric power (wattage), we usually need quite a lot of amps. 12V circuit is a low-voltage electric circuit.
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