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Wire sized 1 AWG is referred to as "one gauge" or "No. 1" wire; similarly, thinner sizes are pronounced "x gauge" or "No. x" wire, where x is the positive-integer AWG number. Consecutive AWG wire sizes thicker than No. 1 wire are designated by the number of zeros: No. 0, often written 1/0 and referred to as "one-aught" or "single-aught" wire
A wire or cable has a voltage (to neutral) rating and a maximum conductor surface temperature rating. The amount of current a cable or wire can safely carry depends on the installation conditions. The international standard wire sizes are given in the IEC 60228 standard of the International Electrotechnical Commission .
A full-load wire does heat up slightly due to the metallic resistance of the wire, but this wire heating is factored into the cable's temperature rating. (NEC 310.10) [12] The NEC specifies acceptable numbers of conductors in crowded areas such as inside conduit, referred to as the fill rating.
Electrical wiring practices developed in parallel in many countries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. [7] As a result, national and regional variations developed and remain in effect. (see National Electrical Code, electrical wiring, electrical wiring in the United Kingdom). Some of these are retained for technical reasons, since the ...
As an example, the 5-15R is the common 125 V two-pole, three-wire receptacle rated for 15 A. The L5-15R, while sharing the same electrical rating, is a locking design that is not physically compatible with the straight-blade 5-15 design. The 5-30R has the same two-pole, three-wire configuration and 125 V rating, but is rated for 30 A.
Older solid aluminum wire also had some problems with a property called creep, which results in the wire permanently deforming or relaxing over time under load. Aluminum wire used before the mid-1970s had a somewhat higher rate of creep, but a more significant issue was that the same high price of copper driving the use of aluminum wire led to ...