[AT] Tractor wiring

[Mike Sloane]

You are 100% correct. What was I thinking when I wrote that? My only 
excuse is that I had just returned from the dentist office and was still 
"feeling no pain".

Mike

George Willer wrote:

> 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
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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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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-- 
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)