so i’m getting ready to build my own power cable since i need a longer one and well its just one more thing to waste money on and was wanting opinions on what size wire i should go with. my thoughts were 10 gauge, 12 gauge, or 14 gauge. however i think 10 gauge might be too stiff for my liking.
total length will be around 10-12 feet in length (3-3.6m) and currently will only be used with a 750w power supply but i will move up to a 1kw psu once they come back in stock (seriously everything 850w and over is sold out pretty much everywhere).
it will have some braided sleeving (maybe pet) heat shrunk to it. will be using sjoow cable if that matters.
also if you have made one i’m very curious to see it
Yeah I should have mentioned I’m in America so the wall power is around 120 volts.
Also i found some sjeoow 12/3 wire at a local home improvement store and its super flexible, probably could have went with 10/3 and still been more flexible than some 18/3 pc cables, so I’ll be using that.
I have made my own extension cables. I don’t have one handy to take a picture of it though.
Back of the napkin calcs. Your 1k PSU plus the NEC specified 25% safety factor, you need to size for 10.5 amps. 14AWG is perfectly fine for this short run with a decent cable. SJOOW is kind of an odd pick for the job but if you’ve got it already then
If you want something that would be rated for more than the outlet is rated to deliver then 12AWG is good for that.
SJOOW is kind of an odd pick for the job but if you’ve got it already then
where i live in southern indiana we have a lot of farms and workshops so power tools need their cords replaced quite often, so finding sjoow in bulk is very easy.
If you want something that would be rated for more than the outlet is rated to deliver then 12AWG is good for that.
yeah i was looking at the manufacturer website and the wire i have is good for 300v at 25 amps (over 7kw) which i find hilarious as my wall is only good for 1800w, my ups 1100w, and my psu 750w (for now). the ends i bought should be here thursday, friday at the latest, so i’ll post some pics when i get it made.
nope going with standard 5-15p because i only have 15amp breakers in my apartment and not a single 5-20p outlet anywhere. they will be solid copper sonarquest plugs though
so i have it i’d say 90% done i just need to buy a heat gun to do the heat shrink. turned out better than i thought it would. next time i’m totally doing 10 gauge as this 12 gauge wire is more flexible than some oem 18 gauge pc cables i’ve used.
ok i got myself a heat gun, this one if anybody is interested, and finished my wire then had my sister take some pictures with her dslr so it would pick up the colors correctly. added them to the album.
