#12 wire?

[jeepr]

I have two huge rolls of stranded #12 wire that someone donated to my project. I know its overkill for the 12v wiring, but would it be detrimental? I had planned on using #16 for the 12v lights and #14 for the 12v plugs, would the #12 have too much resistance? I think running the wiring may be a pain with the thicker wire. I definitely couldn’t wire everything with its own run. I would need some type of block at a central point. My initial thought is to just go and buy a roll of #16-2 for the lights and use the #12 for the plugs.


Any thoughts? Thanks

[bobhenry]

The larger the wire the lower the resistance. Use the freebie wire the price is right.
If your ac and dc are the same type and color of wire do yourself a favor and find a way to mark the dc wire so you won't drive yourself crazy retracing everything. spray paint or colored electrical tape or labels should do the trick.

[Alphacarina]

Bob's correct - From a resistance standpoint, #12 is better than either #14 or #16

I agree that I wouldn't use the same wire for both AC and DC and for DC it also helps if you have different colors for hot wires and ground wires. If your free roll is red, it's perfect for hot wires and if it's black, it's good for ground wires, since those are standard colors for those applications. If your roll is white, you can take a magic marker (red or black) and 'mark' the wires at strategic points and then use the white wire for everything - Mark it well at all the connections so you can tell later what the purpose of each wire really is

Don

[jeepr]

I have one roll of red and one of black, so I am all set there. I have some 14-2 Romex for the AC wiring. This is just DC 12v wiring I was inquiring about.

[brian_bp]

Don's plan sounds fine to me... but remember that red=positive and black=negative is the automotive battery standard, but not the RV trailer standard. In trailers, black=positive and white=negative is more common (universal, in the few I've seen). No problem... just be sure that if someone helps you with your wiring, or you try to use a colour-coded diagram, or try to match colours to a device (such as a fan or light fixture), that you think about which colour means what in each situation.

[Miriam C.]

Brian is right with the colors. It might be a good idea for everyone to make a wiring diagram and seal it to the td somewhere. Notes for colors use for which purpose are good. I definitely used black for hot. You might find a place that sells wire by the foot to trade you some white.

[bobhenry]

I used 12 gage extention cord wiring with a ground The orange sheath was for ac and black sheathed for dc and boy am I glad I did it. It made it so much easier to sort out who is what. My light fixtures are all modified for ac / dc and being able to identify the source made things so much easier.

[jeepr]

I was going to run everything off of 12v and a battery tender and some plugs off of 110v. I am going to hit the salvage yard and see what kind of 12v lights I can scavage from conversion vans.