Deciphering Electric Wire Gauges

#electricwire #wiregauge #electriccable

The gauge system for U.S. wire and cable seems to make no sense at all! The larger the number the smaller the wire? What gives?

Wire and cable in the U.S. are sized using the AWG (American Wire Gauge) system. This system is not universal, there are at least two others in the world. In the U.S., the AWG number indicates the size of wire (single conductor) or cable (multiple conductors in a single sheath). But why the inverse relationship between gauge number and diameter (and associated current carrying capacity)?

When wire manufacturing first began, the number of times the wire was drawn and stretched was the gauge number. The more times the wire was stretched, the smaller the diameter. Now, that makes sense - once you know the story.

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