Old 09-26-12 | 01:51 PM
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southpawboston
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From: Somerville, MA and Catskill Mtns
Is 28 AWG wire too thin to support 6VAC/3W dynamo power output?

Electrical engineers, feel free to chime in here!

I'd like to use a short section of two conductor shielded wire (conductor pair + shield) for internally routing through my front rack tubes. I need three conductors total for headlight, taillight and ground (I am not using the fork as ground, even though the dynamo grounds to the fork). There are lots of wire options available, but I'm restricted to using 3mm thick cabling for the internal run, anything fatter won't work. The only two conductor + shield cable I've found that's only 3mm thick uses 28AWG conductors for the pair. It's basically line-level stereo cable. Are these too narrow gauge for this application? Will they heat up? Will there be significant voltage drop? If it matters, the internal run will be no more than 1 foot long. (Voltage drop is proportional to length, right?) All other wiring throughout the system will be 22AWG. the standard for dynamo lighting.

I've bench tested my dynamo lights using about three feet of the 28AWG conductors and they light up fine, but I'm only concerned about potential resistance issues and wires heating up with extended use.

Thanks!

Last edited by southpawboston; 09-26-12 at 01:55 PM.
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