Wire recomendation?
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Hi,
I plan re wire hotends fans, that are a Little shorts, distance from Duet 1 meter aprox....
What type and thickness of wire do you recommend?
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I wire the heater with 22 and fans, therm, etc, all other with 26.
Most will say that is too small, based on tables. Do the math for the one or two meters of wire. It is fine.
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@Danal thanks
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For fans you can probably get away with 24 or 26 gauged but it depends on the cable length, conductor type, voltage and current draw.
https://www.calculator.net/voltage-drop-calculator.html
If your head moves I highly suggest the few extra pennies for silicon jacketed cable. The stuff is amazingly flexible.
As a note I over built my system with most everything 18awg on a 24v system and 14 gauge for the bed just to reduce line losses. The 18 gauge was just 2 conductor speaker cable, 14 gauge was high flex silicone.
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Whatever gauge you choose, you want to look for high strand count wires. They are more flexible. For example this one has 60 strands per wire. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MJ967YV
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the silicone stuff, which is often a high strand and super flexible cable has a higher temp rating that allows more current compared to pvc or other plastics for the same cross section - but that could also mean higher voltage drop compared to a heavier wire with plastic insulation rated for the same current.
i'd run the numbers for both temperature and voltage to be on the safe side.
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Do the math. You'll be surprised.
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I'm using stranded Ethernet for my fans and thermistor. The best I could find readily available was 23 gauge. While all the calculators I've seen say it should be fine for the hotend heater, I have yet to find that courage.
