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Finally stopped guessing on wire gauge for long runs

Tbh I used to just grab whatever I thought looked thick enough when running new coax or power lines. Last year I had a job at a hangar in Tucson where the plane kept losing GPS signal in the aft bay. Turns out I had put 18 gauge on a 40 foot run and the voltage drop was killing it. Now I actually pull up the table on my phone and check the length against the amps before I even cut a piece. Old me would have just swapped the unit and called it a day. Anyone else have a specific oh crap moment that made them change their whole approach to wiring?
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3 Comments
marydavis
marydavis1mo ago
Did you end up replacing the whole run or just the power wire on that one? I've had similar moments where one bad guess cost me a whole afternoon of rework.
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murphy.tessa
Oh wait, pretty sure that was me who replied to Keith, not Mary.
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keith_bennett
Oh man, just the power wire. Lesson learned though, right?
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