wiring a flexwatt

got a fast question , im going to soder the wire onto the flexwatt i know how to do it but i was just wondering does it matter how thick / how big the gauge of wire is or not really because its such a low watt?

It does matter as you dont want too thin of wire or you can cause over heating in the wires it self. 12-14 guage is plenty

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Originally Posted by AngelinaB

got a fast question , im going to soder the wire onto the flexwatt i know how to do it but i was just wondering does it matter how thick / how big the gauge of wire is or not really because its such a low watt?

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i used 16 guage on all my racks,it's rated for 1300 watts.none of the racks exceed 300 watts.

this is whats printed on the cord, csa type sbt-218awgx2c, im guessing its only 18 gauge so its too small correct? its all i could find at the store without a ground.

18ga. is rated at 10amps, and using a "google found calculator" at 120v 10amps = 1200watts. That beng said, I used 16ga cheap extension cords on all of mine.

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Originally Posted by AngelinaB

this is whats printed on the cord, csa type sbt-218awgx2c, im guessing its only 18 gauge so its too small correct? its all i could find at the store without a ground.

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I picked up a 6 foot cord (16 gauge) at Home Depot for .88 cents!

When dealing with electricity, bigger is better. I would not recommend anything less than 16 gauge, but I would personally use 14 gauge. As someone said earlier, if you put more current through a wire than it is engineered to handle, it will over heat and possibly cause a fire. Also, if you're going to use one of the online calculators, i think most will say never to go more than 80% of the calculated valules. This is a built in safety factor.

I clean the tape of it's protective coating, then use the flexwatt clips and then solder everything together at that point. You can solder what is called a cold solder joint and this can also cause a fire hazard.

Good Luck!
Jim Smith