Wire gauge

[nevets7]

i'm geting ready to wire up my dome lamp and am have no luck trying to figure the guage of the wires needed to do so i have tried reading the diagrams to no avial it for my 74 super beetle thanks steve

[andk5591]

18 should be more than adequate. If I am reading the conversion chart correction, it only needs to be 20 gauge. I did a google search for classic VW wire gauge conversion and found the chart (on here).
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[nevets7]

so either 16 or 20 guage should be adiquite for the light to the switches thanks

[andk5591]

I meant to edit my first post. the smaller the smaller the number, the heavier the gauge. It appears that factory is 20 gauge, but you can use larger, so 18 or 16 is fine. There is no such thing as too big, but no need to do gross overkill.
_________________
D-Dubya Manx clone - 63 Short pan,1914.
Rosie 65 bug - My mostly stock daily driver.
Woodie 69 VW woodie (Hot VWs 7/12).
"John's car" 64 VW woodie - The first ever
Maxine 61 Cal-look bug - Cindy's daily driver.
Max - 73 standard Beetle hearse project - For sale
66 bug project - Real patina & Suby conversion
There's more, but not keeping them...

[Multi69s]

Here is a handy little chart that can help you rewire anything in your car.

However, it is NOT an absolute bible

The first thing to look at is the size of the fuse that the wire will be connected to. In any application, the fuse, and or circuit breaker determines the size of the wire ( in technical terms they are both called over current) (OC) devices. They are engineered so that they will melt, or shut off before the wire can burn itself in two. You NEVER EVER install a wire in any application that can carry less current (AMPS) than it will take for the fuse or circuit breaker (OCs) to melt or trip.

Also ALL wires have a certain amount of resistance per length. This resistance causes heat to build up in the wire, so the longer the wire, the more resistance, and the more heat build up. This wire resistance is called voltage drop, so if you have a small long wire, at the beginning of the wire you might have 12V, but at the end only 11V, That's why the chart recommends that you can use a certain size wire for a certain amount of length. Now comes the bad part.

Over time ALL metals oxidize (rust for steel). This oxidation increase the resistance of the wire, so that the current (AMPS) do not flow through it as freely. VW used an excellent quality of wire when our cars were built, but that was forty years ago. The wire that you get from your local FLAPS is no where near the same quality. Yes it can handle the stated amps on the package, but I can 100% guarantee you, that it will not last for forty years. so for myself, this is what I do.

When we run new wires, we always have to feed them through an opening or passage way, If space permits, I ALWAYS go one size larger on the wire. This way, I know I will never have to replace it again. So as an example, if the chart says that a 18 AWG (gauge) wire is required for the dome light, I will run a 16 AWG one instead. This way, I know that I won't have to replace it again in the future, but maybe more important, I won't see the dome light get dimmer in a couple of years, as the oxidation begins to form.

Sorry for being so long winded, but I tend to get anal on rebuilds, Plus electricity is one of the subjects that I teach.
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[ricaroo]

The wire sizes on the wiring diagram are in square millimeters, not AWG sizes

For example, the dome light for my 1971 Standard is 0.5 square mm making it #20 awg

Here is a conversion chart I found on google

https://goo.gl/images/fV2S7L

Rick
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1971 Standard Beetle 2 dr Sedan 1600dp

[EverettB]

In addition to the information above, there is a link at the top of every Wiring page on this site that says:
Wiring size conversion chart - German mm to USA AWG
Link:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/wireconversion.php

This has some conversions for what you see in the VW charts to USA wire gauges
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[nevets7]

thank you everybody for the information and help