SKU: BR-100897
HS Code: 8544.11.0050
Dear Blue Robotics
We are using 15m of cable for communication and power to an underwater device (half of the cable is underwater and the other half in free air).
I have been looking into the current rating for the AWG 22 in this cable. and I believe we can expect a max current rating around 3A and a resistance of around 84Ω. Can you confirm?
Thank you in advance
Hi @Morten,
We don’t currently provide current- or power-ratings for our cables, although we agree that they would be useful. Unfortunately the testing required for in-water and in-air heat dissipation at multiple different ambient temperatures is quite extensive, and isn’t something we’ve made time to do at this stage.
I have raised this internally as a +2 on the desire to have such values (for both you and me), but don’t have a timeline on when they can be expected.
AWG 22 is a metric for the conductor gauge/cross-section. A current-rating is determined by acceptable heat dissipation for the specified conductor, within the insulation properties provided by the rest of the cable construction (e.g. the wire insulation, cable jacket, and any filler), both in terms of safe usage (for touching) and cable self-health (for avoiding things like the insulation melting off).
Total resistance is determined by the conductor resistivity (the material’s tendency to resist electrical flow - analogous to density for mass), cross-section, and length.
Our Voltage Drop Calculator can provide an estimate of the expected voltage drop through a cable if you have a specific cable gauge (e.g. 22 AWG), cable length, driving voltage, and load current in mind. That can help with your design requirements, but is unrelated to safety (which is what a current rating is for), and is instead determined entirely by the conductor/circuit properties.