I work for a company that manufactures commercial appliances which run off of 200-240VAC and draw as much as 40A per machine. For internal wiring purposes, we currently never use anything smaller than 16 gauge wire for the high voltage wires, even in locations where they only carry small fractions of an amp. I was looking at ways to save money, clean up our wiring, make the build process easier, etc. and thought that we could use 18 or 20 gauge wire in some of the low current applications (for example, a solenoid valve that only draws 50mA.) It seems crazy to use 16 gauge wire for current so low that it could be handled with 22 gauge wire.
One of my coworkers says that UL requires that we use at least 16 gauge for anything high voltage, but I've seen much smaller wires carrying high voltage in other machines which I believe are UL compliant. Do any of you know whether or not there's a requirement that high voltage wires within commercial appliances be a certain size? I find numerous references online to small gauge wires that are UL approved for high voltages, but I also know that there could be other limiting factors such that wire is only rated for that voltage in some situations and not others.
Wires that I might be interested in would include UL styles 1007 and 1569, among others:
https://www.nationalwire.com/pdf/UL-AWM-1569.pdf
http://www.standard-wire.com/comparison_chart_ul_wires_cables.html
Thanks in advance for any insights.
One of my coworkers says that UL requires that we use at least 16 gauge for anything high voltage, but I've seen much smaller wires carrying high voltage in other machines which I believe are UL compliant. Do any of you know whether or not there's a requirement that high voltage wires within commercial appliances be a certain size? I find numerous references online to small gauge wires that are UL approved for high voltages, but I also know that there could be other limiting factors such that wire is only rated for that voltage in some situations and not others.
Wires that I might be interested in would include UL styles 1007 and 1569, among others:
https://www.nationalwire.com/pdf/UL-AWM-1569.pdf
http://www.standard-wire.com/comparison_chart_ul_wires_cables.html
Thanks in advance for any insights.