Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (October 2002, week 1)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Fri, 4 Oct 2002 22:54:25 -0700
Reply-To:     Rich Blake <blake@OAKHARBOR.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Rich Blake <blake@OAKHARBOR.NET>
Subject:      Re: Sanity Check - Wire gauge for wiring SA headlights
Comments: cc: sbsyncro@HOTMAIL.COM
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Inspecting the wire gage table as defined throught the Bureau of Standards Handbook 100, one will find that as the wire sizes become smaller (larger gage numbers), every third gage number results in one-half the cross-sectional area and, therefore, double the resistance. e.g.

8ga 2.061 Ohms/Km 10ga 3.277 Ohms/Km 14ga 8.280 Ohms/Km

Why anyone would want to use 14ga wire on H4 lights (or 9004 lamps) is not logical, especially if you just paid XXX dollars for said kit to improve your lighting. So what if a spool of 10ga costs 2 dollars more than the 14ga. Run 10ga wire throughout and you will be happy for a long time. 8ga wire from battery to relay may not be a bad idea especially if you plan on running 80W/100W bulbs. We're talking about up to 8 amps of continuous current draw, you want bigger wires and solid grounds.

Rich Blake


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.