Amp draw in different wires

[Derek]

I'm wondering....I have some 14 gauge wire that I bought from my local hobby shop. It's that real good wire with the silicone insulation. I also have a 14 gauge indoor/outdoor household extension cord that has a broken plug. The extension cord has 3 wires in it (with white black and green insulation). I'm wondering if I can SAFELY use that extension cord in my builds. Will the extension cord wires tolerate the same amp draw as the hobby shop wire?

[Graham Lawrie]

Derek, i believe it is all to do with the resistance which is measured over the distance and the diameter of the wire. I am sure there is a formula. I will see what i can find out. Me personally i would use the stuff you bought as that is what it is designed for. However 14 guage should be the same.

[Derek]

Cool man! Thanks!

[KevG]

Household wire is usually copper core, not sure what core is in the silicone though but its a lot more flexible than copper, personally id go with the silicone stuff I recon it would be more able to deal with the thermal load.

[Derek]

The more and more that I think about it, although it is MUCH cheaper to use the household wire, I have decided to use the silicone hobby wire. I'll warm up the soldering iron and remove the "already installed" household wire and solder in the "good stuff."

Thanks guys!

I did do some searching and I found the specs for the household wire. It states that this wire is suitable for up to 20amps. Now, we all know that I'm gonna pull much more than 20amps and its gonna be quite continuous. I wouks feel like a real "doof" if I crashed my big Gemini v2 build because I used unsuitable wire.

So...ill be installing some 12gauge hobby grade silicone wire. That will be quite suitable.