[Boatanchors] A question about "parallel" wires (I.E. Wire AWG equivalents)

[Phil]

Hi All,

Just repaired the first of two Astron 50 Amp power supplies and returned 
it to the owner (he was VERY pleased with my work). He'll be bringing 
the 2nd (metered) metered one by for it's repair/overhaul.  When it's 
completed the first (unmetered) one will become mine and will be put in 
where the present Astron RS-20M resides.

I plan on doing some slight rewiring of the DC station battery 
distribution when I install it.  The present wiring to the outdoor 
storage shed (if I recall correctly) uses ~4ga wire in about an 8-10 
foot run between the batteries and the under-bench fuse block.  It 
'looks' like the cable from the Astron RS-20M may be the same, I can't 
measure it until I pull the Astron.

In other words I believe that the present wiring will handle the RS-50 
just fine, but it's likely that I'll have to do some rewiring for the 
new PS as I intend to put a heavy duty 'disconnect' switch in place, and 
possibly some additional wiring.

I'm a believer in 'overkill' in DC wiring, but have you checked out the 
price of copper wire lately??

I DO have about 130 feet (give or take) of stranded 14ga copper wire 
"zip cord" (yes I measured the gauge) that is in an unused "trailer 
wiring package" I bought at a Harbor Fright parking lot sale some time 
back (it was MUCH cheaper than buying the wire on individual rolls).

So this brings up the question.  How do you compute the equivalent wire 
gauge of stranded wires in a parallel run (and soldered together at each 
end).  That is, IF I use 4 14ga STRANDED wires in the same run, what 
have I effectively used?  We're talking DC here, not RF with it's skin 
effect.


-- 

73 From "The Beaconeer's Lair"
Phil, KO6BB
http://www.qsl.net/ko6bb/  (Web Page)

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