WHAT IS AMERICAN WIRE GAUGE?

 

The American Wire Gauge (AWG), a wire-sizing standard also known as the Brown and Sharpe wire gauge, is used in North America to measure and regulate the thickness of conductive wires made from nonferrous metals. AWG is not to be confused with the Washburn and Moen (W&M), US Steel, or Music Wire gauging methods, which are used only for steel-based wire.

WHEN DID THE AMERICAN WIRE GAUGE SYSTEM COME INTO USE?

 

AWG was developed in 1856 by J.R. Brown and Sharpe, a small firm in Providence, Rhode Island that specialized in the crafting and repair of watches, clocks, and mathematical instruments. That same year, Lucian Sharpe presented the new system to the Waterbury Brass Association. Convinced that Brown and Sharpe's gauging system would greatly improve uniformity throughout the wire manufacturing industry, Waterbury Brass Association made a movement to adopt the standard. By February of 1857, eight major American manufacturers had signed resolutions to adhere to the Brown and Sharpe gauge standard; the following month, a nationwide circular was distributed, introducing the new wire gauge standard to the American public.

WHAT DO GAUGE NUMBERS MEAN?

 

 

The American Wire Gauge system is based on a total of 44 standardized wire sizes: 0-40, as well as the additional 00, 000, and 0000 gauges (the thickest of all). It may seem a little counterintuitive, but the higher a gauge number is, the thinner the wire will be. This is because each gauge is named after the number of sizing dies the wire needs to be drawn through to reach the correct diameter (for example, a 24 gauge wire is drawn through 24 different sizing dies).

 

 

 

AMERICAN WIRE GAUGE (AWG) CHART

 

AWG	DIAMETER	AREA	WEIGHT (KG/M)	TURNS OF WIRE (PER/IN)
0000 (4/0)	0.46" (11.7mm)	212 kcmil (107mm2)	0.953	2.17
000 (3/0)	0.41" (10.4mm)	168 kcmil (85 mm2)	0.756	2.44
00 (2/0)	0.365" (9.27mm)	133 kcmil (67.4 mm2)	0.599	2.74
0	0.325" (8.25 mm)	106 kcmil (53.5 mm2)	0.475	3.08
1	0.289" (7.35 mm)	83.7 kcmil (42.4 mm2)	0.377	3.46
2	0.258" (6.54 mm)	66.4 kcmil (33.6 mm2)	0.299	3.88
3	0.229" (5.83 mm)	52.6 kcmil (26.7 mm2)	0.237	4.36
4	0.204" (5.19 mm)	41.7 kcmil (21.2 mm2)	0.188	4.89
5	0.182" (4.62 mm)	33.1 kcmil (16.8 mm2)	0.149	5.5
6	0.162" (4.12 mm)	26.3 kcmil (13.3 mm2)	0.118	6.17
7	0.144" (3.66 mm)	20.8 kcmil (10.5 mm2)	0.0938	6.93
8	0.128" (3.26 mm)	16.5 kcmil (8.37 mm2)	0.0744	7.78
9	0.114" (2.91 mm)	13.1 kcmil (6.63 mm2)	0.059	8.74
10	0.102" (2.59 mm)	10.4 kcmil (5.26 mm2)	0.0468	9.81
11	0.0907" (2.30 mm)	8.23 kcmil (4.17 mm2)	0.0371	11
12	0.0808" (2.05 mm)	6.53 kcmil (3.31 mm2)	0.0294	12.4
13	0.0720" (1.83 mm)	5.18 kcmil (2.62 mm2)	0.0234	13.9
14	0.0641" (1.63 mm)	4.11 kcmil (2.08 mm2)	0.0185	15.6
15	0.0571" (1.45 mm)	3.26 kcmil (1.65 mm2)	0.0147	17.5
16	0.0508" (1.29 mm)	2.58 kcmil (1.31 mm2)	0.0116	19.7
17	0.0453" (1.15 mm)	2.05 kcmil (1.04 mm2)	0.00922	22.1
18	0.0403" (1.02 mm)	1.62 kcmil (0.823 mm2)	0.00732	24.8
19	0.0359" (0.912 mm)	1.29 kcmil 0.653 mm2)	0.0058	27.9
20	0.032" (0.812 mm)	1.02 kcmil 0.518 mm2)	0.0046	31.3
21	0.0285" (0.723 mm)	0.810 kcmil (0.410 mm2)	0.00365	35.1
22	0.0253" (0.644 mm)	0.642 kcmil (0.326 mm2)	0.00289	39.5
23	0.0226" (0.573 mm)	0.509 kcmil (0.258 mm2)	0.00229	44.3
24	0.0201" (0.511 mm)	0.404 kcmil (0.205 mm2)	0.00182	49.7
25	0.0179" (0.455 mm)	0.320 kcmil (0.162 mm2)	0.00144	55.9
26	0.0159" (0.405 mm)	0.254 kcmil (0.129 mm2)	0.00114	62.7
27	0.0142" (0.361 mm)	0.202 kcmil (0.102 mm2)	0.000908	70.4
28	0.0126" (0.321 mm)	0.16 kcmil (0.081 mm2)	0.00072	79.1
29	0.0113" (0.286 mm)	0.127 kcmil (0.0642 mm2)	0.000571	88.8
30	0.01" (0.255 mm)	0.101 kcmil (0.0509 mm2)	0.000453	99.7
31	0.00893" (0.227 mm)	0.0797 kcmil (0.0404 mm2)	0.000359	112
32	0.00795" (0.202 mm)	0.0632 kcmil (0.032 mm2)	0.000285	126
33	0.00708" (0.18 mm)	0.0501 kcmil (0.0254 mm2)	0.000226	141
34	0.00630" (0.16 mm)	0.0398 kcmil (0.0201 mm2)	0.000179	159
35	0.00561" (0.143 mm)	0.0315 kcmil (0.0160 mm2)	0.000142	178
36	0.005" (0.127mm)	0.025 kcmil (0.0127 mm2)	0.000113	200
37	0.00445" (0.113 mm)	0.0198 kcmil (0.01 mm2)	0.0000893	225
38	0.00397" (0.101 mm)	0.0157 kcmil (0.00797 mm2)	0.0000708	252
39	0.00353" (0.0897 mm)	0.0125 kcmil (0.00632 mm2)	0.0000562	283
40	0.00314" (0.0799 mm)	0.00989 kcmil (0.00501 mm2)	0.0000445	318

 

WHICH WIRE GAUGES AM I MOST LIKELY TO ENCOUNTER?

 

• Even though 44 different wire diameters are recognized within the AWG standard, they're not all widely used; and most people are likely to encounter only a small range of them. Below are a few common cable types we use every day, as well as the AWG sizes that correspond to them:

• » Speaker Cable: 14 and 16 AWG
• » Coaxial Cable (for cable TV and a few Ethernet applications): 18 and 20 AWG
• » Cat 5, Cat 5e, and Cat 6 cables (for LANs and Ethernet): 24 AWG

Shop at CableOrganizer® for all types of wires and cables for all your cable management projects, from network to A/V to USB and more.