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Wire Gauge equivalents?

post #1 of 9
11/26/09 at 2:08pm
Thread Starter 
Anyone know of a good formula or online calculator for AWG equivalents? Like what would two 26awg wires be equivalent to in a single wire? It is my understanding that ground wires should be as close to the signal wires in most technical measurements, but I want to use different sizes at least from an aesthetic standpoint. I just don't wan to do anything to hurt the SQ in the name of art. Thanks!
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post #2 of 9
11/26/09 at 2:11pm
Did you even try to search?

Wikipedia: "AWG" works for me.
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post #3 of 9
11/26/09 at 2:21pm
Look Here
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post #4 of 9
11/26/09 at 2:28pm
Thread Starter 
Yes, I did search. The wikipedia page has a lot of info, but what I don't know, and don't want to assume is whether or not straight comparisons can be made. For example, can I just add the impedances together of two 26awg wires to find an equivalent? And most conversion charts are metric to awg, which don't help me. Also, I can't ask the web follow up questions or find out if it makes enough of a qualitative difference to even worry about it. I didn't spend much time scouring the web since there are a lot of people who know exactly what I need to know, and a percentage of them not only wouldn't mind helping me, but would enjoy it. Who am I to take away opportunities for knowledgeable people to get joy and satisfaction from helping out those less learned?

Perhaps I did not ask the right questions to get answers instead of rebukes. My bad.
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post #5 of 9
11/26/09 at 2:47pm
If you double the cross-section area of a conductor, by for instance using two wires instead of one, conductance will also double. Conductance is the reciprocal of impedance, hence the impedance will be halved by doubling the cross-section area.

See here
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post #6 of 9
11/26/09 at 2:48pm
Wires in parallel are like any other device (resistor) in parallel.

This might be useful for numbers
American Wire Gauge table and AWG Electrical Current Load Limits with skin depth frequencies

There are alot of factors though (and I don't know how all these take effect):
- stranded versus solid
- skin effect versus diameter versus frequency
- cross sectional area.
- signal level

So it is not an easy answer if you look at all the factors.

And I know of implementation of purchased cables that use coax for RCA interconnects where ground and signal are not the same size that sound pretty good.

So use some cheap wire, build a cable with like size and then different sizes and judge for yourself.
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post #7 of 9
11/26/09 at 2:48pm
As a rule of thumb, if you combine two wires of the same gauge, the equivalent gauge will be three sizes larger. So two 26 gauge wires will combine to give you an equivalent of 23 gauge. If you double again and add two more, 20 gauge, and so on.

You can also just use the AGW chart in the Wikipedia entry and find the area for the gauge in question, multiply it by the number of strands you're planning to use, and match it up to the area of the closest AWG equivalent.

For example, 26 gauge has an area of 254 circular mils. Ten strands of that comes to 2,540 circular mills, which is quite close to 16 gauge which has an area of 2,583 circular mils.

se
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post #8 of 9
11/26/09 at 3:24pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks guys, especially Koyaan, that info was what I was trying to ask for.
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post #9 of 9
11/26/09 at 3:38pm
You're welcome.

Oh, and happy Thanksgiving!

se
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