Different size wire 14, 16, 18 or 20. What size is correct and when?

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Different size wire 14, 16, 18 or 20. What size is correct and when?

I was reading around a lot last night and this morning about the different size wires used in arcade games.

It seems that Bob uses 18 and 20 gauge wire and I have seen where ken says 16 is used a lot.

So what type and size is best for the machines? What size should be used where and when? What size would you use for making your own jamma adapters? ect.. ect..

Now...

On my hunt last night I could only find 14g stranded wire. I need a lot of wire (180ft) to make a custom adapter for a interconnect board on the back of pole position.

Anyway it looks like 14g might be a bit much/over kill. Whats your thoughts on this?

Also where can I buy the wire you suggest at? What kind of price can I expect to pay?

This 500ft roll from Lowe's was $45.00 and they only had 14g, 12g, 10g ect. I should have went to home depot so I knew what both had...

Any ideas on a better place to buy wire at?
 

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I might as well ask about shrink tubing too. I bought some 3/16 and on the package it says it will shrink to half the diameter. Something tells me that is not going to be enough.

So what size shrink tubing would be correct for most arcade applications?
 
I was reading around a lot last night and this morning about the different size wires used in arcade games.

It seems that Bob uses 18 and 20 gauge wire and I have seen where ken says 16 is used a lot.

So what type and size is best for the machines? What size should be used where and when? What size would you use for making your own jamma adapters? ect.. ect..

Now...

On my hunt last night I could only find 14g stranded wire. I need a lot of wire (180ft) to make a custom adapter for a interconnect board on the back of pole position.

Anyway it looks like 14g might be a bit much/over kill. Whats your thoughts on this?

Also where can I buy the wire you suggest at? What kind of price can I expect to pay?

This 500ft roll from Lowe's was $45.00 and they only had 14g, 12g, 10g ect. I should have went to home depot so I knew what both had...

Any ideas on a better place to buy wire at?

yes 14g is over kill unless doing ac wiring, for dc on jamma 16 to 18 is what i use for buttons, power, ect...im not sure for older games but my spy hunter and eagle look to use 16 to 18 for the harness, just use the 14g for ac and buy some smaller for the other stuff
 
It seems that Bob uses 18 and 20 gauge wire and I have seen where ken says 16 is used a lot.

My opinion, Bob is correct. 18 for power and 20 for input signals is proper for most games.
The problem with the jamma harnesses these days is the low quality wire being used to make them in China. They have a lower strand count and poor metal properties.

If the cabinet is one of those monsters, then I can see going with 18 for signal due to longer wire runs.

I suppose some of the older classics could justify upping to 16 for power due to consumption but I do not see the need for the signal lines to be up-sized that extreme.

The 14 gauge THHN wire would be a poor choice for what you are looking to do. THHN is electrical distribution wiring and is stiff as hell. It is designed to be pulled through conduit & boxes and the sheathing is designed to resist tearing. It also has lower & thicker strands and is designed to carry current at 120vac.
 
If lowes or HD is your best option, buy doorbell wire. It can be had in many colors and I think it is 18 or 20 gauge. I usually go to radioshack and buy speaker wire. They have a good variety of size but not color if that is important to you
 
I use "primary wire" from the auto parts store, because it comes in a variety of colors, and it is easy to find (auto parts stores are very common).

18 AWG is fine for AC from the wall, earth ground, and power & ground from the power supply to the edge connector. You could also use 16 AWG, but it is not necessary by any means. With 14 AWG, you would probably have trouble fitting it into crimp pins, solder eyelets, etc.

20 AWG is good for control input connections. You could use far thinner wire, but with 20 AWG you have enough "meat" for solid crimps and overall harness durability.
 
If lowes or HD is your best option, buy doorbell wire. It can be had in many colors and I think it is 18 or 20 gauge. I usually go to radioshack and buy speaker wire. They have a good variety of size but not color if that is important to you

Isn't door bell wire solid core?

Edward
 
Door bell and heater thermostat wire is usually solid core.

For most game cabinets here is what many manufacturers use:

General AC power wiring: 16 gauge

AC power from isolation transformer to monitor: 18 gauge

DC power wiring is 18 gauge

Control wiring is 20 gauge.
 
Thanks for the post guys...

I took the 14g back to Lowes and the 3/16 shrink tubing. I down sized the shrink tubing at Lowes to 1/8 it now looks about right.

Anyway I found another place that had 18g stranded. It has a strand count of 16 inside the insulation.

500ft set me back $36.00 with the tax. They have all kinds of solid colors but nothing else. 16g & 18g from them is not a problem but they don't have 20g.

Anyway here is a shot of the wire.

http://mrsalvage.com/wire/18gauge.jpg

I hope this is acceptable?
 
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