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Old 10-01-2021, 11:33 AM   #1
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Understanding AWG (American Wire Gauge)

I originally posted this on another thread but I think it's something others will find informative:

The larger wire gauges, like those used to connect batteries, etc., can be confusing. The coding is obvious after you know it, but not so much if you don't:

The format x/0 as in 4/0 or 3/0, etc. refers to the number of zeros in the AWG (American Wire Gauge) size. Therefore 4/0 is equivalent to 0000, 3/0 to 000, 2/0 to 00 and 1/0 to 0 (in the order of larger to smaller).

From there the AWG wire gauges, again larger to smaller, proceed to the more familiar AWGs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5......10, 11, 12, etc.

Note that 4/0 AWG wire aka 0000 is much larger, at 0.4600" in diameter, than 4 AWG wire at 0.2043" in diameter.

If you want to know all the details, you can find them here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_wire_gauge
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Old 10-01-2021, 12:04 PM   #2
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Thanks Bob. I was often confused when I read about 2 ga wire and 2/0 ga wire. I actually thought they were the same just a different way of stating it.

That's valuable info and it's appreciated!
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Old 10-01-2021, 12:28 PM   #3
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Yeah, a lot of us have made that mistake, especially when buying terminals. It's a surprise when they're either too small or too big.
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Old 10-01-2021, 12:39 PM   #4
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Right Bob,
I was also a while back, confused about ampacity vrs diameter, which I finally figured out was not the same for all wire types. Didn’t figure that out til I tried to put 6awg wire into my charge controller, which was spec’d for it. But they didn’t say anything about the type of wire. Finally found out that only solid wire would fit. Maybe at some point you could give a primer on that.
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Old 10-01-2021, 01:09 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marine359 View Post
Right Bob,
I was also a while back, confused about ampacity vrs diameter, which I finally figured out was not the same for all wire types. Didn’t figure that out til I tried to put 6awg wire into my charge controller, which was spec’d for it. But they didn’t say anything about the type of wire. Finally found out that only solid wire would fit. Maybe at some point you could give a primer on that.
As stated in the wikipedia link: "The AWG of a stranded wire is determined by the cross-sectional area of the equivalent solid conductor. Because there are also small gaps between the strands, a stranded wire will always have a slightly larger overall diameter than a solid wire with the same AWG."

Some connectors are more finicky about wire diameter than others. Additionally, some screwdown connectors will depress stranded wire too much to make a good connection. There are fittings called wire ferrules, that you can attach to stranded wire that will give you a pin to insert into screwdown connectors. The pin is actually a metal tube with your stripped wire inside. Here's an overview:

https://blog.delcity.net/what-is-a-wire-ferrule/
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Old 10-01-2021, 01:17 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marine359 View Post
Right Bob,
I was also a while back, confused about ampacity vrs diameter, which I finally figured out was not the same for all wire types. Didn’t figure that out til I tried to put 6awg wire into my charge controller, which was spec’d for it. But they didn’t say anything about the type of wire. Finally found out that only solid wire would fit. Maybe at some point you could give a primer on that.
Even some stranded conductors of the same AWG do not always measure the same, larger size conductors are often manufactured as "compact conductors" which result in a smaller diameter with the same ampacity rating.
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Old 10-01-2021, 01:32 PM   #7
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Thanks guys,
Don’t want to get away from subject of OP thread question, so I apologize.
I did try crimping a ferrule onto 6awg stranded, and it still wasn’t small enough to fit into my Victron mppt controller. I eventually gave up and bought braided 6awg from Lowe’s which would fit into the screw down terminals of the controller. However, I felt I needed to run the wire through a loom because the 6awg from Lowe’s does not have very thick insulation. Wish I had known before I paid a decent sum of bucks for the special hex ferrule crimping tool.
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