# cat5 cable ampacity



## dflowers2 (Mar 5, 2007)

How many 12 volt dc amps can cat5 cable handle?


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## Atribune (Oct 6, 2008)

I wouldn't put more than 500mA (half an amp) through it that tiny wire heats up awful fast


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## hedg12 (Jul 6, 2008)

Depends on quite a few things. Temperature, # of conductors, and distance distance to name a few. You can find a calculator here. Cat 5 has 8 24 gauge conductors.


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## dflowers2 (Mar 5, 2007)

Thanks for the info.

Hedg12 - so I should be able to get ~2 amps per wire in the bundle at 100 ft 80 degrees? Mainly what I am looking at is running triggering air solenoids.


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## rbrittigan (Sep 8, 2008)

hedg12 said:


> Depends on quite a few things. Temperature, # of conductors, and distance distance to name a few. You can find a calculator here. Cat 5 has 8 24 gauge conductors.


Excellent tip & link - I am using Cat 5 for my triggers as well (24v, though)


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## hedg12 (Jul 6, 2008)

dflowers said:


> Thanks for the info.
> 
> Hedg12 - so I should be able to get ~2 amps per wire in the bundle at 100 ft 80 degrees? Mainly what I am looking at is running triggering air solenoids.


I'd imagine you'd be fine. Do you know the current draw of your solenoids?


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## dflowers2 (Mar 5, 2007)

According to the documentation, they will draw between 3-4.8 watts. Using an Ohms Law Calculator I found online, even with the 4.8 watts at 12v I should be pulling no more than 0.4 amps. Does this sounds correct?


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## hedg12 (Jul 6, 2008)

That's correct - amps * volts = watts, or in this case watts / volts = amps, so you're looking at .4 amps max. You should be fine at 100 feet.


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## Spider Web (Oct 11, 2007)

Hmmmm...consider voltage drop at 100'
at 12 volts DC or AC you'll end up with about 17.5% drop or aprox. 9.9 volts on the load end. I should think the solenoids should energize at that voltage.

You may want to test first.


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