How many wire jumpers?

Question

I have 44 gage wire and I am carrying 20 amps. using very short jumpers. (under 1/2 inch) How do I calculate the minimum number of jumpers I'm going to need??

Thanks

Answer 1

The current depends on the temperature rise you are willing to accept.

44 AWG has a diameter of 0.002", for an area of 3.141 square "mils".

Based on a chart from Bishop Graphics Inc, 3 square mils can handle 1/4 amp if it is allowed to rise 10°C, or 1 amp if it's allowed to rise 100°C.

So, for 1 amp at 100°C, you can use 20 jumpers, but that will get hot!

I'd use 80 jumpers, and expect a rise of 10°C if they are spaced well enough apart.

Answer 2

A 44AWG wire has the following characteristics:

44awg  Dia = 0.001978in  Circular Mil Area = 3.911 and Cross Sectional Sq Area = 0.000003072

Since a 14AWG wire has an Ampacity of 20amps and a Cir Mil Area of 4107.

The Number of Jumpers (Strands) = 4107 / 3.911 = 1050.

Check out the following regarding Cross Sectional Area of a Wire and Ampacity

Answer 3

Bad practice. Yes, you can parallel a lot of jumpers to increase the current capacity, but it's very difficult to connect them so that the current is shared equally between them. The connections themselves will be suspect, ie, how are you connecting the jumpers to the source and the load?

Get some heavier wire. And examine the rest of the connections carefully. 20 amps is a lot of current.

Answer 4

find the max current rating of 44 gage wire.  divide 20 by that number to find the # of jumpers.  add a few for overcurrent protection.