If you were to ground/earth an old sewing machine
#11
Member
Join Date: Nov 2023
Posts: 1
Correcting potentially dangerous advice
Smokey- Copper wire doesn't know whether it's plugged into 12vdc or 120vac. What's important is the ampacity of the wire, and it's ability to handle the load. Check an ampacity chart to calculate the load and required wire size.
The loom you have appears to be a trailer light wire- typically 18 ga. May be a bit small. A 3 wire extension cord in 14-16 gauge will work.
The loom you have appears to be a trailer light wire- typically 18 ga. May be a bit small. A 3 wire extension cord in 14-16 gauge will work.
Whilst you are right that wire "only cares about current" (in a vast number of circuits which can be modelled simply without taking into consideration things such as skin effect of conductors, etc), there is one VERY important element to cable which ABSOLUTELY cares about voltage. And that is the insulation. YES, cable IS rated for voltage - that means car wire may not have been tested to ensure the insulation doesn't allow higher voltages such as mains, to conduct through the insulation, break down the insulation, or have capacitive effects etc, which would absolutely let the outside of the cable's insulation be live with mains voltages if it were the case.
There's no point talking about protective/safety earthing if you're going to be recommending that 12 or 24 volt DC cable is safe to use on mains voltages. The reality is that unless it's rated for mains, it is unknown whether it will be safe to use.
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