Wire size is usually identified as the area of the conductor in square millimeters. The
following sizes are for 60ēC insulation, copper wire, 3 current carrying
conductors in a raceway. Sizes over 6 square millimeter are normally stranded so
the measured diameter will be slightly larger.
These ampacities are approximate and must be modified for the environment -
number of current carrying conductors in the raceway, ambient temperature, etc.
The following wire areas were translated from a Chinese Electrical Code Manual Ampacity Table.
The Chinese Electrical Code ampacities are close to the ampacities listed in the NEC.
The NEC ampacity table is below the Chinese ampacities listed here:
Single Strand (solid) conductor:
The areas in square millimeters are, apparently, standard sizes available in China.
1. 1.13 mm diameter = 1.0mm2 This size is not normally used in industry
equivalent to zip-cord in U.S.
2. 1.37 mm diameter = 1.5 mm2 = 15 Amp
3. 1.76 mm diameter = 2.5 mm2 21 Amp
4. 2.24 mm diameter = 4.0 mm2 26 Amp
5. 2.73 mm diameter = 6.0 mm2 34 Amp
6. 3.56 mm diameter = 10.0 mm2 46 Amp
7. 4.51 mm diameter = 16.0 mm2 61 Amp
8. 5.64 mm diameter = 25.0 mm2 80 Amp
9. 6.67 mm diameter = 35.0 mm2 98 Amp
10. 7.97 mm diameter = 50.0 mm2 121 Amp
11. 9.44 mm diameter = 70.0 mm2 156 Amp
12. 10.99 mm diameter = 95.0 mm2 187 Amp
13. 12.36 mm diameter = 120.0 mm2 215 Amp
14. 13.81 mm diameter = 150.0 mm2 262 Amp
15. 15.34 mm diameter = 185.0 mm2 289 Amp
Wire color/conductor identification
This is the color/conductor identification I have found in Fuzhou China . . .
Single phase circuit:
Black Ground (grounding conductor)
Blue Neutral (grounded conductor)
Red Ungrounded Conductor (hot standard voltage in China is 240 for single
phase utility circuits)
Three phase circuit:
Yellow phase A
Green phase B
Red phase C
Blue neutral (grounded conductor)
Black ground (grounding conductor)
Three phase power is 360VAC, phase to phase and 240VAC phase to ground/neutral,
50Hz
The following tables compare English (NEC) wire sizes to metric wire sizes
(Areas and diameters in the following tables are for bare copper)
AWG |
mm2 |
mm-Dia Solid |
mm-Dia Stranded |
60° C Amps |
75° C Amps |
90° C Amps |
18 |
0.823 |
1.02 |
1.16 |
- |
- |
14 |
16 |
1.31 |
1.29 |
1.46 |
- |
- |
- |
14 |
2.08 |
1.63 |
1.85 |
20 |
20 |
25 |
12 |
3.31 |
2.05 |
2.32 |
25 |
25 |
30 |
10 |
5.261 |
2.588 |
2.95 |
30 |
35 |
40 |
8 |
8.367 |
3.264 |
3.71 |
40 |
50 |
55 |
AWG |
mm2 |
mm-Dia Stranded |
60° C Amps |
75° C Amps |
90° C Amps |
6 |
13.30 |
4.67 |
55 |
65 |
75 |
4 |
21.15 |
5.89 |
70 |
85 |
95 |
3 |
26.67 |
6.60 |
85 |
100 |
110 |
2 |
33.62 |
7.42 |
95 |
115 |
130 |
1 |
42.41 |
8.43 |
110 |
130 |
150 |
1/0 |
53.49 |
9.45 |
125 |
150 |
170 |
2/0 |
67.43 |
10.62 |
145 |
175 |
195 |
3/0 |
85.01 |
11.94 |
165 |
200 |
225 |
4/0 |
107.2 |
13.41 |
195 |
230 |
260 |
AWG |
mm2 |
mm-Dia Stranded |
60° C Amps |
75° C Amps |
90° C Amps |
250kcmil |
127 |
14.61 |
215 |
255 |
290 |
300kcmil |
152 |
16.00 |
240 |
285 |
320 |
350kcmil |
177 |
17.30 |
260 |
310 |
350 |
400kcmil |
203 |
18.49 |
280 |
335 |
380 |
500kcmil |
253 |
20.65 |
320 |
380 |
430 |
600kcmil |
304 |
22.68 |
355 |
420 |
475 |
700kcmil |
355 |
24.49 |
385 |
460 |
520 |
AWG |
mm2 |
mm-Dia Stranded |
60° C Amps |
75° C Amps |
90° C Amps |
750kcmil |
380 |
25.35 |
400 |
475 |
535 |
800kcmil |
405 |
26.16 |
410 |
490 |
555 |
900kcmil |
456 |
27.79 |
435 |
520 |
585 |
1000kcmil |
507 |
29.26 |
455 |
545 |
615 |
1250kcmil |
633 |
32.74 |
495 |
590 |
665 |
1500kcmil |
760 |
35.86 |
520 |
625 |
705 |
1750kcmil |
887 |
38.76 |
545 |
650 |
735 |
2000kcmil |
1013 |
41.45 |
560 |
665 |
750 |
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