Tefzel wire gauges? Help a noob!

[rightrudder]

I'm to the point of running some wires to the tail strobe and elevator trim servo, and I know the correct gauges to use from Van's literature and what the manufacturers of the strobe & servo specify.

But physically, how do you determine the gauge of wire? There are some light green markings on the insulation, but they're pretty much unreadable to 51-year-old eyes. Does anyone have dimensions of the insulation diameter of various gauges that I could check with a micrometer? Or is there another method? There are multiple coils of wire included with the basic Van's kit that are unmarked.

Thanks for any input here!

[erich weaver]

Better get some glasses or a magnifying glass. The standard tefzel wire typically indicates a label idnicating awg size on the insulation. Wont take long before you will recognize the awg size by sight alone though.

[rightrudder]

The lettering is very faint and tiny on the smaller gauges?difficult to read even with magnification. You're right, though. Once I know what 22 AWG "looks" like, it will be much simpler.

[N804RV]

Milspec wire will have a manufacturer's mark indicating the military specification, wire type, and guage.

Tin plated, copper conductor, ETFE insulated milspec wire will be marked M22759/16-(awg)

So, 20 guage wire would be marked M22759/16-20 and so on.

Like the above poster said, you might need a magnifying glass to read it.

[flion]

You can read it, it usually ends in a dash number indicating the gauge (-22 for example), but it is tough. For that reason, it was worth it to buy my wire from B&C and have it spooled. Having the gauge marked on the spool removes confusion except, of course, for the inevitable odd lengths that seem to accumulate. Wire is relatively cheap, so I am becoming less of a miser for all the short pieces and my eye-strain and frustration is disappearing.

[rightrudder]

Thanks! I appreciate the responses. I think I'm good to go now.

I think I'll wrap the Van's kit wire around spools of some sort that are marked.

[XOverZero]

Doug, you might as well go ahead and get yourself a 10x loupe;

http://www.edmundoptics.com/microsco...agnifiers/1862

I've had one for more than 20 years and it saw nearly constant use on the job. In fact, one is needed in order to 'properly' comply with SAIB HQ-14-16:

http://www.rotor.com/rotornews/April14/HQ-14-16.pdf

One caveat, though. Don't look at anything with that loupe you don't need to look at. To the naked eye an object you've just finished fabricating can look smooth and regular and perfectly fine, but at 10x it suddenly resembles the surface of the moon.

[rightrudder]

Thanks, John. Ah, the loupe?.I've used one to look at thousands of transparencies on a light table, back when cameras used what was called "film."

[az_gila]

No loupes needed...

Assuming you have the correct Mil 22759/16 wire, measure the OD and look it up on the chart here -

http://www.awcwire.com/productspec.a...mil-w-22759/16

[rightrudder]

Originally Posted by az_gila

No loupes needed...

Assuming you have the correct Mil 22759/16 wire, measure the OD and look it up on the chart here -

http://www.awcwire.com/productspec.a...mil-w-22759/16

Perfect, Gil. That will erase all doubt.

I might make a "gauge gauge" with max O.D. values drilled in a piece of aluminum.