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size of wire for radio.

D

dan carley

Well Known Member
hi all,

going to be installing a new radio and a 403 mc in the rv. what gauge wire should be used?

thanks
danny carley
n17ft
 
Danny,

I used 18 AWG for my Icom. Check your installation manual, it might list the desired wire size, I know the Icom guide did.
 
I'd use 18 ga tefzel on the radio's main power and ground wires and 20 or 22 ga on the intercom's power and ground lines, the panel light/dimmer wires & xmit PTT key lines, and of course shielded tefzel on everything carrying audio signal. The cheaper 24 ga shielded tefzel that Aircraft Spruce sells works great for the audio-carrying lines.
 
Look at the schematic/manual

The manufacturer will tell you what size wire to use with their hardware. You want to be sure that the wire gages selected are compatible with the pins as well as the current/voltage/distance requirements. The ground wire should be the same gauge as the the high side of the same circuit. In the power circuits it is not OK to use an 18 ga. wire for the high side and 22 ga. for the ground return. For signal lines all of my avionics called for 22 ga. for the high side and the ground return. Some power requirements after you get away from the panel need to be determined by the builder but that is out of the scope of your question.

Bob Axsom
 
Last edited:
Gauges

Bob Axsom said:
The manufacturer will tell you what size wire to use with their hardware. You want to be sure that the wire gages selected are compatible with the pins as well as the current/voltage/distance requirements. The ground wire should be the as gauge as the the high side of the same circuit. In the power circuirs it is not OK to use and 18 ga. wire for the high side and 22 ga. for the ground return. For signal lines all of my avionics called for 22 ga. for the high side and the ground return. Some power requirements after you get away from the panel need to be determined by the builder but that is out of the scope of your question.

Bob Axsom
Click to expand...

22 gauge is OK and usually recommended for signal wires, but you might find 20 gauge much easier to handle and strip...:)

For the amount of wire we use, the weight gain is negligible...

gil A
 
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