What size of wire / fuse wire should I use?

What size of wire / fuse wireshould I use?

Size of the wires depends on the intended load. Once the load is known then the wires can be sized. There is no general rule and no definitive answer as it all depends. You should always go for the next biggest size after you've done the sizing to have some margin, not only for expansion, but also for safety.

For fuse wires at cell level it is a bit different. While choosing big wires will always work in case of doubt, fuse wires have to be very small to fuse at the desired curent but don't fuse under normal operation.

For used cells with low current per cell we are looking at something in the region of 34AWG to 30AWG, 0.02 to 0.05mm.
For new cells with higher current per cell we are more in the 24AWG range, 0.2mm.
It is also important to look at the number of cells in parallel as this is what fuse wire will protect the pack from, to keep the rest of the parallel cells from dumping huge currents in to shorted cells.

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More about fuses and where to use them are discussed in Fuses: Do I need them, What kind type to use, Where to use them

DISCLAIMER: I am by no means an expert on any one or all of these fields/questions/topics. The results of this FAQ is a collaboration of multiple different members to come up with a common list of questions that would be asked and we have tried to answer. I was the member who was chosen to post the FAQ. If you have question that goes beyond the FAQ, please post your questions in the relevant section pertaining to your inquiry. Thank you and have a nice day

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