Where the appliances they feed have internal circuitry running on 120 volts-light bulbs or controls-10/3 cables with one wire white should be used, but if 120 volts isn’t required, a 10/2 cable would be ideal and cheaper.Ĩ AWG gauge wires can handle up to 45 amps. So even with only two wires, beware if you come across a circuit with a feed that doesn’t have a white neutral present.ġ0 AWG gauge wires are for loads up to 30 amps, usually at 240 volts. red, blue, or another color, each should carry one side of the 240 volts line. If neither of the two wires is white, being black. The 12 AWG wires will withstand that amount of current being of a larger diameter, where the 14 AWG wire being smaller will heat up over 15 amps and cause the wire or a 15 amp outlet to melt or catch fire.Īmps rating by wire size- Note that the AWG number decreases, the wire diameter increases.ġ4 AWG gauge wires can handle a load of no more than 15 amps.ġ2 AWG gauge wires can handle up to 20 amps at 120 volts if one wire is white for the neutral return line. So if you’re wiring a line of 120 volts outlets requiring 20 amps distribution-around the kitchen counter, for instance where many appliances can run at the same time during peak periods-you’ll need 12/2 cables and 20 amps rated outlets-all outlets are not created equal. The AWG wire sizing- The wire size or AWG gauge number has nothing to do with the amount of voltage applied through it but does specify the maximum amps or current that can be submitted to it without heating up, but there is another marking on the cable’s sheathing, however, that specifies the maximum voltage at which the cable is safe to operate-usually 300V or 600V.
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