What Gauge wire??

[1BigDog]

Anyone know what Gauge wire is used on the driving lights?

[Redneck]

14 gauge will run them but 12 will be a better choice.

[1BigDog]

Im trying to find out the gauge thats on there now. Its the yamaha set-up. I have heard any range from 18g to 12g.

[Mariner Fan]

14 gauge will run them but 12 will be a better choice.

 

I used 14 gauge for mine. Why is 12 gauge better?

[Eck]

 

I used 14 gauge for mine. Why is 12 gauge better?

 

12G is a heavier wire then a 14G is..and can carry more amps without overheating.

[LWesson]

I used 14 gauge for mine. Why is 12 gauge better?

 

12G is a heavier wire then a 14G is..and can carry more amps without overheating.

 

I completely agree. On my wife's vstar the factory wiring is 18G and after the lights are one for a little bit, the wire is warm to the touch.

 

On my venture, I ran 12 guage stranded for the Stebel horn, Passing Lamps and "fog' lights.

 

Also ran a power bar to the trunk so I can replace any of the accessory fuses without having to disassemble her. Blew the fuse on the Stebel a week ago. 30 sec repair with the power bar being in the trunk.

 

Cheers,

 

Leonard

[Mariner Fan]

 

I used 14 gauge for mine. Why is 12 gauge better?

 

12G is a heavier wire then a 14G is..and can carry more amps without overheating.

 

 

Well, I'm a bit confused then. I used 14g wire that is rated to 17 amps and 204 watts. I ran this through a relay as described here and is protected with fuses.

 

Is there really a need to go to heavier wire? I don't know what stock Yamaha passing lamps draw, but I replaced all the wiring supplied with the lamps and it was much lighter than 14g.

[Freebird]

You are fine. I don't remember now what gauge Yamaha used on the lights but it was nowhere NEAR 12 gauge. If I remember correctly, it was no larger than 16 if it was even that big.

[Redneck]

I used 14 gauge for mine. Why is 12 gauge better?

The 12 gauge is better because it will have lower resistance thus the wire won't get hot and more power will get to the lights making them brighter. the 14 gauge will do the job and you probably will never have a problem with it. When it comes to electricity a little more wire than you have to have is no problem but a little less than you need can be a disaster.

[Mariner Fan]

Thanks Redneck, that makes sense.

 

I went with a much heavier wire than stock so I'm sure it will be fine. I'm not a wiz on electricity and wondered if going to 12g might be overkill. Can you actually use too heavy of a wire for the amount of power going through it? Isn't some resistance a good thing?

[Albino Rhino]

Anyone know what Gauge wire is used on the driving lights?

...Mama Yamaha uses 16-gauge wire. My passing lamps (37.5 watts each) are wired with 16-gauge wire via a relay. I seem to recall that Yamaha uses 35 watt lamps, 70 watts total. At a nominal 12 volts, total current draw is 5.83 amps; 16-gauge is plenty. As I said, I use 16-guage wire and these lamps have been in use on the Rhino for 7-1/2 years (99k miles). There is nothing wrong with going with larger wire, i.e., 14-gauge, just don't go smaller.

[Redneck]

Thanks Redneck, that makes sense.

 

I went with a much heavier wire than stock so I'm sure it will be fine. I'm not a wiz on electricity and wondered if going to 12g might be overkill. Can you actually use too heavy of a wire for the amount of power going through it? Isn't some resistance a good thing?

Resistance is not a good thing resistance actually causes a larger power draw. In the case of the lights with a wire that gets warm it takes power to make that wire hot so you are using the power to run the lights plus the power to heat the wire. The extra draw in that case is very small and makes little or no difference unless you are very close to max on you charging system. On the other hand a motor(such as a starter) with high resistance in the power wire can easily pull twice the amperage it would normally pull. There is really no such thing as overkill when it comes to wire size. The only draw backs to using heavier wire is weight and cost.

[GeorgeS]

16 Gauge Stranded wire is More then large enough.

 

Absolutly NO reason to go over 14 gauge.

 

I don't like, 18, but if rewireing 55 Watt lights, I would use 16. Plenty Big.

[1BigDog]

...Mama Yamaha uses 16-gauge wire. My passing lamps (37.5 watts each) are wired with 16-gauge wire via a relay. I seem to recall that Yamaha uses 35 watt lamps, 70 watts total. At a nominal 12 volts, total current draw is 5.83 amps; 16-gauge is plenty. As I said, I use 16-guage wire and these lamps have been in use on the Rhino for 7-1/2 years (99k miles). There is nothing wrong with going with larger wire, i.e., 14-gauge, just don't go smaller.

 

Just what I was looking for. I remember when we first met, Mike. You mentioned where the wires might rub and wear down in the passing light bracket. Now im rewiring that bracket and sealing it too. Thanks Mike.

[Squeeze]

Excuse me, but what is another Definition for 12 ga or 14 ga Wire ?

 

If 12ga is a smaller Wire than 16ga, what is ga. standing for ?

[royalstarjac]

Excuse me, but what is another Definition for 12 ga or 14 ga Wire ?

 

If 12ga is a smaller Wire than 16ga, what is ga. standing for ?

 

12 gauge wire is larger than 16 gauge. The lower the gauge the larger the wire diameter. The same goes for sheet metal or anything else measured by gauge sizes.-Jack

[Squeeze]

Hey Thanks for the Explanation. I got it wrong in first Place.

 

I did found this Chart afterwards ...

 

http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

 

It's a bit difficult for me, as we here are not talking in Diameter, when it comes to Wires, we use the Area of the Copper Wire to define the Size.

 

Such driving Light Wires would be specificated as minimum 1.5 square Millimeter here.

[royalstarjac]

http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

[V7Goose]

There are lots of wire size reference charts you can dig up on the internet, but this is one of the absolute easiest ones to use for the average guy. Even though it is made for boats, it applies equally well to any vehicle. The thing that makes it really great to use is that it incorporates both the load rating AND length of the wire run in the calculation. I wish it included wire sizes smaller than 16 AWG (American Wire Gauge, or simply "gauge").

http://resources.myeporia.com/company_57/9113.pdf

 

Anyway, here is an example of how to use it:

The formula for Power (watts) is P=volts*amps, so you can easily find the amps a circuit must hold by dividing watts/volts=amps. If you were going to put two 50W driving lights on the bike (NOT recommended for the RSV), you will need to provide enough juice for a total of 100 watts or 9 amps (100/12=8.3 - I use 12v instead of 14 to be more conservative in my calculation). This is the MINIMUM circuit size, and needs to be calculated at the size of the fuse you would use, or 10 amps. Personally, I would bump that to 15 amps to allow for maybe adding additional load to the circuit in the future. ALWAYS size the circuit for the Fuse size, not the load! The fuse must be equal too or SMALLER than the maximum load capacity of the wire or you are NOT safe from a fire.

 

So now that you have the amps (15), you multiply that by the length of wire you will use - let's say maybe 6 feet from battery to front of bike. 6*15=90. Now you just go to the chart and look down the 12V column to find the first line that is equal to or bigger than 90. You can choose to use either the conservative 3% voltage drop or the common 10%, but like the chart says, best to stay with 3% for critical or life-safety circuits (and to get the most light from your driving lights). This shows that a 16 AWG circuit would be just fine for the driving lights.

 

Using the same chart shows why I choose 10 AWG wire for adding an ammeter to the RSV: Total bike load - 30 amps (size of main power fuse), maximum wire length from battery to ammeter and back=10 feet; therefore, 10*30=300 feetamps. At 3% voltage drop, the chart shows that 10 AWG can handle 348 Famps.

 

Hope that helps,

Goose

[Albino Rhino]

Just what I was looking for. I remember when we first met, Mike. You mentioned where the wires might rub and wear down in the passing light bracket. Now im rewiring that bracket and sealing it too. Thanks Mike.

Happy to be of service, Jeff!

What's the riding weather like down there?

[1BigDog]

Happy to be of service, Jeff!

What's the riding weather like down there?

 

A mixture of hot and cold......Frosty in the early am...pushing 70 during the day...achoo!! :rotf:

[Pilot]

This might help.

 

ie. If you have a load of 70 watts (original Yamaha passing lights) then the closets amp draw will be 6. If you use #14 gage wire (stranded) then you can run a total of 14 feet.

 

12 Volts DC

 

Amps.......... Wattage ...........#14 ..........#12 ..............#10 .............#8 .........#6

...1 .................12 ..................84’ ..........131’ .............206’ ..........337’ .......532’

...2 .................24 ..................42’ ...........66’ ..............103’ ..........168’ .......266’

...4 .................48 ..................18’ ...........33’ ................52’ ............84’ .......133’

...6 .................72 .................14’ ............22’ ................33’ ............56’ .........89’

...8 .................96 .................10’ ...........16’ .................27’ ............42’ .........66’

.10 ...............120 ..................8’ .............13’ ................22’ ............33’ .........53’

.15 ...............180 ..................6’ ..............8’ .................13’ ............22’ .........35’

.20 ...............240 .................6’ .............10’ .................16’ ............27’ .........42’

.25 ...............300 .................8’ .............13’ .................22’ ............33’ .........54’

.30 ...............360 .................6’ .............11’ .................18’ ............28’ .........45’

.40 ...............480 .................8’ .............13’ .................21’ ............33’ .........54’

[V7Goose]

This might help.

 

ie. If you have a load of 70 watts (original Yamaha passing lights) then the closets amp draw will be 6. If you use #14 gage wire (stranded) then you can run a total of 14 feet.

 

12 Volts DC

 

Amps.......... Wattage ...........#14 ..........#12 ..............#10 .............#8 .........#6

...1 .................12 ..................84’ ..........131’ .............206’ ..........337’ .......532’

...2 .................24 ..................42’ ...........66’ ..............103’ ..........168’ .......266’

...4 .................48 ..................18’ ...........33’ ................52’ ............84’ .......133’

...6 .................72 .................14’ ............22’ ................33’ ............56’ .........89’

...8 .................96 .................10’ ...........16’ .................27’ ............42’ .........66’

.10 ...............120 ..................8’ .............13’ ................22’ ............33’ .........53’

.15 ...............180 ..................6’ ..............8’ .................13’ ............22’ .........35’

.20 ...............240 .................6’ .............10’ .................16’ ............27’ .........42’

.25 ...............300 .................8’ .............13’ .................22’ ............33’ .........54’

.30 ...............360 .................6’ .............11’ .................18’ ............28’ .........45’

.40 ...............480 .................8’ .............13’ .................21’ ............33’ .........54’

This chart would be nice, but there are flaws in it! I have not taken the time to calculate out all the values to correct it, but you can see it is wrong in that it shows several places where the same size wire can support higher amps for LONGER lengths - this is impossible. For example, if a 12AWG wire can only safely handle 15 amps for 8 feet, there is NO WAY it can handle 20 amps for 10 feet! Use caution, and calculate the correct wire size for your circuit using a known good source. And make sure you include the ENTIRE length of wire, including the length to ground.

Goose