Derived from the American Wire Gauge (AWG) standardized measurement system, the term gauge indicates the overall thickness of a given wire. In general, the smaller the gauge number, the larger the size of the wire itself. A wire’s gauge size is a basic yet important consideration that ensures that a cable meets its required current-carrying capacity.
Mercury Wire offers a range of copper wire gauges supporting the construction of wire and cable suitable for use across a multitude of applications. We work with a variety of copper types, including bare, tinned, and oxygen-free copper. The table below is a summary of the most frequently used copper gauges offered by Mercury Wire along with several key characteristics.
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| Gauge | Cable/Wire Diameter | Max Current | Area | Copper Resistance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AWG | Inches | MM | Amperes | MM² | Ω/KFT |
| 1/0 | 0.3249 | 8.252 | 150 | 53.5 | 0.09827 |
| 1 | 0.2893 | 7.348 | 119 | 42.4 | 0.1239 |
| 2 | 0.2576 | 6.544 | 94 | 33.6 | 0.1563 |
| 4 | 0.2043 | 5.189 | 60 | 21.2 | 0.2485 |
| 8 | 0.1285 | 3.264 | 24 | 8.37 | 0.6282 |
| 10 | 0.1019 | 2.588 | 15 | 5.26 | 0.9989 |
| 12 | 0.0808 | 2.053 | 9.3 | 3.31 | 1.588 |
| 16 | 0.0508 | 1.291 | 3.7 | 1.31 | 4.016 |
| 18 | 0.0403 | 1.024 | 2.3 | 0.823 | 6.385 |
| 19 | 0.0359 | 0.912 | 1.8 | 0.653 | 8.051 |
| 20 | 0.0320 | 0.812 | 1.5 | 0.518 | 10.15 |
| 21 | 0.0285 | 0.723 | 1.2 | 0.410 | 12.80 |
| 22 | 0.0253 | 0.644 | 0.92 | 0.326 | 16.14 |
| 23 | 0.0226 | 0.573 | 0.729 | 0.258 | 20.36 |
| 24 | 0.0201 | 0.511 | 0.577 | 0.205 | 25.67 |
| 25 | 0.0179 | 0.455 | 0.457 | 0.162 | 32.37 |
| 26 | 0.0159 | 0.405 | 0.361 | 0.129 | 40.81 |
| 27 | 0.0142 | 0.361 | 0.288 | 0.102 | 51.47 |
| 28 | 0.0126 | 0.321 | 0.226 | 0.0810 | 64.90 |
| 29 | 0.0113 | 0.286 | 0.182 | 0.0642 | 81.84 |
| 30 | 0.0100 | 0.255 | 0.142 | 0.0509 | 103.2 |
| 31 | 0.00893 | 0.227 | 0.113 | 0.0404 | 130.1 |
| 32 | 0.00795 | 0.202 | 0.091 | 0.0320 | 164.1 |