Wire gauge for PSU

Any UK crimpers out there?

If so, what sort of wire do you use for 12V ATX, and where do you get it at a reasonable price?

Most of the advice on the web says 18AWG, which is the American system. There is no exact metric equivalent - it seems to fall between 32/0.2 and 24/0.2 strand.

24/0.2 at Maplin looks a bit thin to me, but 32/0.2 seems about right. I'm thinking of buying a supply of 32/0.2 automotive wire on Ebay. The core diameter is 1mm which should be about right.

Has anybody used automotive cable? Any problems?

There's a calculator here:

http://www.66pacific.com/calculators/wire_calc.aspx

for AWG to metric or Imperial. It gives the result as diameter.

Converter here:

http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calcula...ss-section.htm

and a comparison chart of lots of things here:

http://www.dave-cushman.net/elect/wiregauge.html

You need wire that's flexible enough (so mains cable cores are too rigid) and robust enough - perhaps a bit of stripped-out mains flex would do.

As 18 AWG is 0.8171 mm^2, 1 mm^2 mains flex core would be the nearest.

I purchased 24/0.2 & 32/0.2 from Maplin.
I used the 32 for the ATX cables & 24 for the fans etc.

I produced a full set of cable extensions.

http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...0/IMG_3711.jpg

I also braided the full set

http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...x/IMG_3492.jpg

That looks lovely Very nice job.

Thanks Tattysnuc

You can see what I have been doing with my cable extensions in my build log

http://forums.hexus.net/chassis-syst...ded-build.html

Subbed!!! Will read through when I've finished remodelling my server... :)