[AT] Tractor wiring

[Dean VP]

George:

You be correct. Fine strand electronics wire should be used for the wiring
on our tractors primarily for two reasons: Easier to work with and is much
more flexible to take into account flexing and vibration. 

Normal household 120V or 220V #12 or #14 gauge solid core wire is not
appropriate for use in this environment. 

Tractor lights are about 40W I believe so at 12 Volts the current is only
about 3 to 4 amps. 20 amps is about the highest current anywhere except for
the starter to solenoid to battery cable. That requires a #2 or larger
stranded cable. Welding cable works pretty good. 

Dean A. Van Peursem
Snohomish, WA 98290

I'm a walking storeroom of facts..... I've just lost the key to the
storeroom door 


www.deerelegacy.com

http://members.cox.net/classicweb/email.htm



-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of George Willer
Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 11:26 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Tractor wiring

Mike,

Unless the rules have changed in the 53 years since my high school physics 
class, the skin effect only applies to high frequencies... like radio 
frequencies.  Direct current capacity depends only on the total cross 
sectional area.  Naturally, stranded wire has less tendency to work harden 
from vibration.

George Willer

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Sloane" <mikesloane at verizon.net>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 1:12 PM
Subject: Re: [AT] Tractor wiring


> One other thing: house wiring is solid copper, but for vehicles of any 
> kind, you should use "stranded" copper. Also, it is my understanding that 
> stranded wire will carry more current than solid wire of the same gauge 
> (something called "skin effect"). The reason for using stranded wire is 
> that it is better able to handle the vibrations and doesn't "work harden".

> OK, two things: resistance losses for direct current are higher than for 
> alternating current, so for longer runs you need relatively thicker wire. 
> Fortunately, most tractor wiring is very short, that that isn't usually an

> issue.
>
> Mike
>
> Spencer Yost wrote:
>
>> Mattias is right, the formula holds true for any type of electrical
>> circuit.   Be sure to realize resistance, an important additional load on
>> the circuit that may change your decision on wire size, increases with 
>> the
>> length of the wire.
>>
>> As for wire sizes, 10 ga. is used for charging circuits on virtually all
>> vehicles with regular duty alternators and alternators are usually the
>> highest wattage circuits (400-800 watts) on a vehicle.  So I use 10 ga 
>> for
>> any type of charging circuit, I use 10 ga (and a relay!) for modern
>> high-intensity lamps and I use 12 ga. for for lower output lights if 
>> there
>> is more than 2 on the circuit.  I use 14 ga. for everything else.  If I 
>> am
>> unsure, I use 10 ga and a separate switching circuit with a relay.  Heavy
>> duty alternators, if I had ever wired for any, would probably get 6-8 ga
>> wire.
>>
>> I have no engineering calculations to back this up but this is what I 
>> have
>> learned to use over the years and seems to match pretty well with what is
>> used in practice by manufacturers and hold up to a few offhand resistance
>> and wattage calculations I have done on the back of a tool package label.
>> I am sure others have some better ideas that maybe are tested or 
>> calculated
>> that may give you a better degree of comfort than "This is Spencer's 
>> system
>> and it works for him because nothing has burned down"  (-;
>>
>> Spencer Yost
>> Owner, ATIS
>> Plow the Net!
>> http://www.atis.net
>>
>> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
>>
>> On 11/16/2004 at 10:18 PM Greg Hass wrote:
>>
>>
>>>After several years of procrastinating I am going to completely rewire my

>>>Farmall 856 with a year-a-round cab.  I can rewire a house, a barn or a 
>>>shop.  However, when it comes to tractor wiring I can't figure the size 
>>>of
>>
>>
>>>wire to use when it comes to wiring the various components.  For 
>>>instance,
>>
>>
>>>I want to add some halogen lights, some hooked together and some wired 
>>>singly.  Also, I want to add a heater and possibly get the circulating 
>>>fan
>>
>>
>>>running, which has never worked since I've owned the tractor.
>>>
>>>I want to use adequate sized wire, but on the other hand no bigger than 
>>>needed as the heavier wire is harder to work with.  Does anyone know of a

>>>chart, or source, or rule of thumb on how to figure such things?  For 
>>>instance, with house wiring "amps x volts = watts", but I'm not sure the 
>>>same formula would apply to a 12-volt system.
>>>
>>>Greg Hass
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>AT mailing list
>>>http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>
> -- 
> Mike Sloane
> Allamuchy NJ
> mikesloane at verizon.net
> Images: <www.fotki.com/mikesloane>
>
> The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so 
> certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. -Bertrand
> Russell, philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate (1872-1970)
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> 


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