13.5mm or 18.5mm waterproof connectors?

AAH

I love blinky lights :)
Community project designer
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Messages
4,188
Location
Eaglehawk
The connectors themselves will perform the exact same function. There is at least 2 wire sizes that get used on pigtails. 0.75mm2 and 1.0mm2. I personally never use the AWG system as there is seemingly a lot of interpretation when it comes to Chinese suppliers. As a general rule of thumb 0.75mm2 cable is rated for 7.5A and 1mm2 cable is rated for 10A.
 

Toni

New elf
Joined
Aug 31, 2018
Messages
42
Location
Sydney
Great. And what about the cable type - flat ribbon vs round? Perhaps the round style cabling has more shielding and is better suited for outdoors, or?
 
Last edited:

AAH

I love blinky lights :)
Community project designer
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Messages
4,188
Location
Eaglehawk
As far as I know the only time you get the option of flat cable versus the round is directly out of the pigtails. In this case it doesn't matter hugely but the round has 2 layers of insulation which doesn't affect much except for the physical toughness of the cable. Depending on whether the pigtail is going through an enclosure wall or not the round is easier to seal with grommets as well.
 

Toni

New elf
Joined
Aug 31, 2018
Messages
42
Location
Sydney
Great so the 1mm2 cable that is rated for 10A is really the safer bet? Even if you're drawing far less A? i.e. 2A.

What do I tell the supplier just ask for a 1mm core?

AWG18 should be 1mm thick shouldn't it? Do some suppliers just do the doggy and undersell you knowing that your highly unlikely going to cut apart the cable?

As a general rule of thumb 0.75mm2 cable is rated for 7.5A and 1mm2 cable is rated for 10A.

Is this really only applicable for extension leads and not the pixel wiring itself correct?
 
Last edited:

AAH

I love blinky lights :)
Community project designer
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Messages
4,188
Location
Eaglehawk
There's been discussion on xlights FB page and also on here about the fact that the Chinese suppliers have varying sized wires sold by AWG. I'm sure I have seen it described as Approximate Wire Gauge rather than American Wire Gauge, The cable may be marked at 18AWG or whatever but it's possible that some dodgy Chinese wire manufacturer has undersized their wire to save on cost. Because it's still sold as xAWG it's a cheaper option for pixel suppliers to buy.
For pigtails where the current is under 7.5A there is no real benefit over 1 size from the other. The voltage drop over the length of a pigtail is in millivolts. It's when you have long cable runs where the size becomes important. It's also when you are requiring higher current through the wire where you start hitting the current capacity of the wire. Once you start getting around the limit of the wire it starts getting warmer at which point the resistance of the wire increases which will cause additional voltage drop which contributes to the wire getting hotter still. If you get supplied with 7.5A or thinner wire and attempt to power 135+ pixels through it then you will be exceeding the wires current carrying capacity.
 
Top