#AUTOMOTIVE WIRE GAUGE CHART SERIES#

IEC 60228, the metric wire-size standard used in most parts of the world.Advantages of this system include the ability to readily calculate the physical dimensions or weight of wire, ability to take account of non-circular wire, and ease of calculation of electrical properties. In some applications wire sizes are specified as the cross sectional area of the wire, usually in mm 2. All gauges are hardened and ground to dimensions. A few gauges are made with holes into which the wire has to be thrust. In some cases both edges are graduated differently in order to allow comparison between two systems of measurement. The graduations are those of standard wire, or in thousandths of an inch. Many gauges are made with a wedge-like slot into which the wire is thrust one edge being graduated, the point at which the movement of the wire is arrested gives its size. Rolling mill gauges are also oblong in form. The circular forms of wire gauge measurement devices are the most popular, and are generally 3 + 3⁄ 4 inches (95 mm) in diameter, with thirty-six notches many have the decimal equivalents of the sizes stamped on the back. Each notch is stamped with a number, and the wire or sheet, which just fits a given notch, is stated to be of, say, No. In commerce, the sizes of wire are estimated by devices, also called gauges, which consist of plates of circular or oblong form having notches of different widths around their edges to receive wire and sheet metals of different thicknesses. Each wire size has to respect a maximum resistivity value. The IEC 60228, used in most parts of the world, defines standard wire sizes based on their cross-sectional areas as expressed in mm 2. The current British Standard for metallic materials including wire is BS 6722:1986, which is a solely metric standard, superseding 3737:1964, which used the SWG system. None of the above systems of measurement is part of the metric system. Between each step the diameter, or thickness, diminishes by 10.557%, and the area and weight diminish by ~ 20%. 50, is 0.001 inches (1 mil or 25.4 μm) in diameter (1 circular mil or 0.7854 millionths of a square inch). 7/0, the largest size, is 0.50 inches (500 mils or 12.7 mm) in diameter (250 000 circular mils in cross-sectional area), and the smallest, No. Following one of its recommendations, it differs from pre-existing gauges scarcely more than they differ among themselves, and is based on a rational system, the basis being the circular mil. The Imperial Standard Wire Gauge, which was sanctioned by the British Board of Trade in 1884, was formulated by J. This is now the American wire gauge (AWG), and is prevalent in North America and used to some extent in over 65 countries, with a market share of about 30% of all power and control wires and cables. Each diameter was multiplied by 0.890526 to give the next lower size.

They established a regular progression of thirty-nine steps between the English sizes, No. The first attempt to adopt a geometrical system was made by Messrs Brown & Sharpe in 1855. But the Birmingham and the Lancashire gauges, the latter being based on an averaging of the dimensions collated from a large number of the former in the possession of Peter Stubs of Warrington (1756-1806), have long held the leading position, and are still retained and used probably to a greater extent than the more recent geometrical gauges.Ĭomparison of SWG ( red), AWG ( blue) and IEC 60228 ( black) wire gauge sizes from 0.03 to 200 mm² to scale on a 1 mm grid – in the SVG file, hover over a size to highlight it 10, for example, would have passed ten times through the draw plate. 1 being the original rod, and succeeding numbers corresponding with each draw, so that No.

#AUTOMOTIVE WIRE GAUGE CHART SERIES#

It is believed that they originally were based on the series of drawn wires, No. The numbers of wire were in common use earlier than 1735 when the measurements were officially defined. The first includes all the older gauge measurements, notably the Birmingham gauge (B.W.G. Wire gauges may be broadly divided into two groups, the empirical and the geometric. This determines the amount of electric current the wire can safely carry, as well as its electrical resistance and weight. Wire gauge is a measurement of wire diameter.

JSTOR ( January 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Ī device for measuring American wire gauge.

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This article needs additional citations for verification.

Automotive wire gauge chart