Why 22 gage wire ? why not 14 or 18 gage?

[GroovyTuesdaY]

I am curious if someone can tell me why i should use 22 gage wire for wireing joysticks and buttons as opposed to 14 gage or 18 gage or something else?

When autozone didnt have anything over 18 gage and i was just wondering what 22 gage has  over 18 or 14 etc.
Also, i am planning on useing .187 female connectors so does that have something to do with  what gage to use?

I apologise for the seemingly sillly questions, but i'm pretty new to wireing electronics and such and i just like to understand the theories why to use certain gage of wire with what etc etc.

thanks,
g~

[dhansen]

18 guage would work OK with your connectors except if you are chaining your grounds then they might be too thick to put two in one connector.  14 guage is way too heavy.  I think people recomend 22 guage because it is light and easy to work with...

Doug

[RandyT]

In the case of using a KeyWiz, or other encoder, there is an additional consideration.  There is a range of what will hold properly in screw-terminal connectors.

While 30ga. wire would probably still work fine electrically, it probably won't hold in the terminal connectors very well, and would also be prone to breakage.

The general rule is: The longer the wire and the more current flowing through it, the thicker it should be.  Length adds resistance.  But for low current applications like this, it's not that big of an issue.

It also has to do with what is readily available, inexpensive, and what works with the common crimp connectors, as dhansen stated.  

The connectors you are looking at are common in automotive applications, but not in electronics.  It's kind of like going to the plumbing store for a soldering iron to hack a joystick.  They might have an iron there, but the tip will be as big as your finger.    Different applications.

RandyT

[JesterDEV]

For me using 22 gage wire made it easier to conntect multiple wires to my ipac. In some cases I have several buttons conected for the same key.  Anything larger I would end up having problems putting all the wire in there.

[MameFan]

22 is a bit too easy to break once you've crimped.

I think I posted to another thread before, but here is what is recommended (even with Bob Roberts)

- 20 Gauge for Low voltage/amperage DC.. e.g. Controls, coin door, etc..  
- 18 Gauge for medium voltage/amerpage DC. e.g. lamps, +5/+12 volts, etc..
- 16 Gauge for 120 volta AC wiring.


As someone else posted.. Don't daisy chain your common grounds especially if you're using 22 or smaller gauge...  This holds even more true for common POWER (not signal) grounds.

[GroovyTuesdaY]

oh man!!!!  I have already begun the cutting and crimping of 22 gage wires.            Thats the first time i have heard anyone mention anything  different then 22 gage.   Why isn't this a common knowlegde thing ?  

how would one go about finding a bad ground wire connection after the wireing is all done and the daisy chain method is used?

g~

[Hoe]

Bobroberts is talking about actual arcade machines. I mostly believe he recommends the higher guages because they're simpler to work with and are more durable- nothing to do with current. 22guage is fine. Hell, you could easily get away with 26+

If you used 14guage, it would be as thick as your arm.

[Amra]

Why not 2/0 AWG?   lol... If you dont know a lot about wires, then that joke prolly wasnt funny to you.  

Personally, I dont see a problem with using 22 Guage wire for connectors, but if you are going to use something that small, or smaller (24, 30... ) then let me give you a hint.  This hint is esspecially important if you are daisychaining.

Before you crimp, put some flux on the wire, (if theres more then one, i.e. daisychaining , then twist them together) and apply solder to them, then slide them into the connector and crimp.  This will eliminate the even remote possibility of a poor connection, I promise. (unless you crimp the plastic part and not the metal part)

I always apply solder to the end of the wire before any connection, be it soldered, or crimped, it strengthens the wire, and gives more surface on the connection, making it a lot more solid.  That and it allows you to solder it onto the circuit board a lot faster, reducing the chance of damaging componants by heat.

[skirge66]

I',m with amra, tin the wires first...takes longer but the results are worth it.

[GroovyTuesdaY]

Why not 2/0 AWG?   lol... If you dont know a lot about wires, then that joke prolly wasnt funny to you.  

Personally, I dont see a problem with using 22 Guage wire for connectors, but if you are going to use something that small, or smaller (24, 30... ) then let me give you a hint.  This hint is esspecially important if you are daisychaining.

Before you crimp, put some flux on the wire, (if theres more then one, i.e. daisychaining , then twist them together) and apply solder to them, then slide them into the connector and crimp.  This will eliminate the even remote possibility of a poor connection, I promise. (unless you crimp the plastic part and not the metal part)

I always apply solder to the end of the wire before any connection, be it soldered, or crimped, it strengthens the wire, and gives more surface on the connection, making it a lot more solid.  That and it allows you to solder it onto the circuit board a lot faster, reducing the chance of damaging componants by heat.

Doesnt seem worth the time to solder and all that.   If i was going to go so far as to solder why not just solder them all on to the tang  or directly to the microswitch and forego all the crimping?   *shrug*   Just my thoughts.
One thing i have learned from watching some of my friends do work with wireing and such, it seems like they go through alot more work than is necessary by doing the aforementioned  suggestions.  Sometimes it just seems like  overkill for a project like this.  
I believe in the K.I.S.S. method .......KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID! lol.

g~

[Amra]

Well, i dont know how long it would take YOU to tin all the wires, but it would only take me an extra 3 seconds per wire, and since it will guarantee a good connection, those 3 seconds are worth the total 10 minutes it adds to the entire project.  When you spend 6 months on a project, whats an extra 10 minutes to make sure its done right the first time?

The choice is yours, just think about it, thats all Im saying

[u_rebelscum]

If i was going to go so far as to solder why not just solder them all on to the tang  or directly to the microswitch and forego all the crimping? *shrug*

I guess so they still can quick (dis)connect the microswitch from the wires if needed?  Makes sense not to solder the directly to the switch, IMO.  *shrug*  


I used:
18 gauge, no tinning;
18 gauge .187 quick connects for the NO; and
16 gauge .187 quick connects for the daisy chained grounds.  

Good fit for both daisied and non-daisied quick connects, and colored the ground QCs different from the "info" QCs.  Worked for me.