Max amperage capacity for wire?

Question

I am looking for a table that displays max amperage (peak) for magnet wire. Or maybe you know? I want to know for 10g through 22g. I can find the rms values, but not a peak value (say for 500 milliseconds and less)

In case you are wondering, I am getting ready to build a Thompson's Coil for experimenting with aluminium repulsion.

Answer 1

The r.m.s. value will be based on a sine wave, the peak value of which is 1.4 times the r.m.s.

But you mention a short duration peak, which suggests that you mean a non-repetetive pulse of current.

I suggest you look at manufacturers sites and see if they publish figures. Or ask an electrician if he knows of tables which give that information.

Answer 2

You will find that it varies considerably depending on the environment in which the wire is used. The same sized wire being part of a tightly-wound multi-layer air-cooled coil will fail at a much lower current level than a loosley wound coil of the same wire submerged in an oil bath. Heat dissipation and duty-cycle factors will be your keys to determining the power handling of the wire.

Just what type of circuit are you trying to make?

WK

Answer 3

Probably triple the rating, If 10 ga is rated at 30 amps the it will probably take a 90 amp surge for 500 ms or less without getting hot.

Answer 4

There should be a print on the wire telling you ga. and max.

Answer 5

just hook it up, crank the voltage until it ligfhts up, and assume a little less than that...

Answer 6

dano