Nitrous wire gauge size, please help!!!
08-28-2010, 06:43 PM
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Nitrous wire gauge size, please help!!! I have a set of DynoTune solenoids. They are a couple years old, but I never installed them. I am going to set them as my primary solenoids for a while. They are small solenoids, but I am concerned at the 16 gauge wire.
Is 16 gauge wire really sufficient for a solenoid?
Is 16 gauge wire really sufficient for a solenoid?
08-28-2010, 09:34 PM
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Hi Transsam,
I am not sure how many amps the Dynatune solenoids pull. Most nitrous installs I do have a total amp draw of 37 amps (30amps for the nitrous solenoid and 4 amps for the fuel solenoid). In those cases, I use 14 gauge wire as long as my wire length from the battery to relay to solenoids is no longer than 4 feet. If it is longer the 4 feet, I step up to 12 gauge.
If your amp draw is lower, 16 gauge may be just fine. The easiest way to tell if your wiring is sufficient is to probe the positive and negative wires close to the solenoids with your digital voltage meter (the solenoids must be connected so that they draw amperage through your wiring). Activate the solenoids for 10 seconds and watch what the voltage stabilizes to (have the bottle turned off and the engine & fuel pump not running). If the voltage you observed is not within .5 volts of the battery voltage, I would recommend upgrading the wiring.
Abney
I am not sure how many amps the Dynatune solenoids pull. Most nitrous installs I do have a total amp draw of 37 amps (30amps for the nitrous solenoid and 4 amps for the fuel solenoid). In those cases, I use 14 gauge wire as long as my wire length from the battery to relay to solenoids is no longer than 4 feet. If it is longer the 4 feet, I step up to 12 gauge.
If your amp draw is lower, 16 gauge may be just fine. The easiest way to tell if your wiring is sufficient is to probe the positive and negative wires close to the solenoids with your digital voltage meter (the solenoids must be connected so that they draw amperage through your wiring). Activate the solenoids for 10 seconds and watch what the voltage stabilizes to (have the bottle turned off and the engine & fuel pump not running). If the voltage you observed is not within .5 volts of the battery voltage, I would recommend upgrading the wiring.
Abney
08-28-2010, 11:46 PM
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Thanks for the replies,
Just to clarify, the solenoid factory wiring is 16 gauge into the solenoids, just so we are on the same page. To change it, I'd have to go inside the solenoid. Up to the solenoid's wires, I probably have enough 4 gauge to do it with, way more than enough 8 gauge, and the more practical 12 is in abundance too. Do I need to change what is inside the solenoid too, or just make sure I've got 12 gauge leading up to it (I really do have like 25' of extra 8 gauge if that would be better)?
Thanks again!
Just to clarify, the solenoid factory wiring is 16 gauge into the solenoids, just so we are on the same page. To change it, I'd have to go inside the solenoid. Up to the solenoid's wires, I probably have enough 4 gauge to do it with, way more than enough 8 gauge, and the more practical 12 is in abundance too. Do I need to change what is inside the solenoid too, or just make sure I've got 12 gauge leading up to it (I really do have like 25' of extra 8 gauge if that would be better)?
Thanks again!
Last edited by transsam; 08-29-2010 at 12:02 AM.
08-29-2010, 09:02 AM
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Thanks for the replies,
Just to clarify, the solenoid factory wiring is 16 gauge into the solenoids, just so we are on the same page. To change it, I'd have to go inside the solenoid. Up to the solenoid's wires, I probably have enough 4 gauge to do it with, way more than enough 8 gauge, and the more practical 12 is in abundance too. Do I need to change what is inside the solenoid too, or just make sure I've got 12 gauge leading up to it (I really do have like 25' of extra 8 gauge if that would be better)?
Thanks again!
Just to clarify, the solenoid factory wiring is 16 gauge into the solenoids, just so we are on the same page. To change it, I'd have to go inside the solenoid. Up to the solenoid's wires, I probably have enough 4 gauge to do it with, way more than enough 8 gauge, and the more practical 12 is in abundance too. Do I need to change what is inside the solenoid too, or just make sure I've got 12 gauge leading up to it (I really do have like 25' of extra 8 gauge if that would be better)?
Thanks again!
There is no need to change the 16 gauge wires that are made on your solenoids. Your solenoids most likely don’t pull much amperage since they only have 16 gauge wire. With your existing solenoids, you don’t quite need to use 12 gauge wire for your harness right now but since you have an abundance of it I would use it anyway. Plus your harness will have the higher amperage capability in case you ever switch to a higher amp set of solenoids.
Ps, The only wires that carry any real current are the ones that go from battery positive to 87 on your relay and the wire going from 30 on your relay to the solenoid positive wires. The positive relay trigger wires (the wires going from key + to your arming switch, then to your WOT switch, then to relay terminal 85) can be 18 gauge. The negative relay trigger wire (the wire going from terminal 86 to ground or through an optional fuel pressure safety switch to ground) can also be 18 gauge.
In case my rambling is confusing, there's wiring diagram on page 5 of this document that is wired like I described above http://www.nitrousexpress.com/Instructions/stage1.pdf
08-29-2010, 07:31 PM
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Hi Transsam,
There is no need to change the 16 gauge wires that are made on your solenoids. Your solenoids most likely don’t pull much amperage since they only have 16 gauge wire. With your existing solenoids, you don’t quite need to use 12 gauge wire for your harness right now but since you have an abundance of it I would use it anyway. Plus your harness will have the higher amperage capability in case you ever switch to a higher amp set of solenoids.
Ps, The only wires that carry any real current are the ones that go from battery positive to 87 on your relay and the wire going from 30 on your relay to the solenoid positive wires. The positive relay trigger wires (the wires going from key + to your arming switch, then to your WOT switch, then to relay terminal 85) can be 18 gauge. The negative relay trigger wire (the wire going from terminal 86 to ground or through an optional fuel pressure safety switch to ground) can also be 18 gauge.
In case my rambling is confusing, there's wiring diagram on page 5 of this document that is wired like I described above http://www.nitrousexpress.com/Instructions/stage1.pdf
There is no need to change the 16 gauge wires that are made on your solenoids. Your solenoids most likely don’t pull much amperage since they only have 16 gauge wire. With your existing solenoids, you don’t quite need to use 12 gauge wire for your harness right now but since you have an abundance of it I would use it anyway. Plus your harness will have the higher amperage capability in case you ever switch to a higher amp set of solenoids.
Ps, The only wires that carry any real current are the ones that go from battery positive to 87 on your relay and the wire going from 30 on your relay to the solenoid positive wires. The positive relay trigger wires (the wires going from key + to your arming switch, then to your WOT switch, then to relay terminal 85) can be 18 gauge. The negative relay trigger wire (the wire going from terminal 86 to ground or through an optional fuel pressure safety switch to ground) can also be 18 gauge.
In case my rambling is confusing, there's wiring diagram on page 5 of this document that is wired like I described above http://www.nitrousexpress.com/Instructions/stage1.pdf
Thanks!
