DC: mixing 12 and 14 gage

[Henry]

Can I use a 12 gage wire for pos and a 14 gage wire for neg in a 12V
dc system? I wonder whether there will be any problems with the
different gages.
thanks!

 

[Henry]

it's for a boat. All loads need to have ground wiring. I was just
wondering whether the bigger negative wire could cause something that
I am not aware of.

 

[Harry Conover]

Can I use a 12 gage wire for pos and a 14 gage wire for neg in a 12V
dc system? I wonder whether there will be any problems with the
different gages.
thanks!

None, except you'll experience more voltage drop in the 14 gauge wire
than with the 12. This simply means that the voltage on the load will
be the supply voltage minus the voltage drop on the #12 + the larger
drop on the #14.



Harry C.