14 ga primary wire

I am looking for some 14 ga wire to replace wiring on my trailer for the lights. Is CCA ok or best to use AWG.

I?ve always used 14 ga copper on any trailer wiring application. Want the option to be able to solder any repair splices.

AWG stands for American wire gauge.

AWG stands for American Wire Gauge, it is the measurement standard for wire size. CCA is Copper Clad Aluminum wire, two different things. I believe you meant CCA or regular copper wire. I would use regular copper wire. I think aluminum will corrode quicker if there is any damage to its cladding or the insulation, also at the connections. I believe flexing of the wire would lead to the aluminum breaking easier than copper.

GPT/PVC insulation can reflow and melt off the wire once it heats past its rated capacity. The crosslinked polyethylene wire is available in various insulation thicknesses (TXL/GXL/SXL). TXL is a thin wall, SXL is a thick wall, and GXL falls between the thin and thick wall insulation spec.

I just found an unlimited free supply of 12 and 14 gauge 1 strand copper wire. Would that be ok to use. I know it is a little stiff buy could solder connection and than heat shrink warp. ????

No, single strand wire will not work for a trailer. It is intended for stationary use only, as in buildings. It is too stiff, it will break from vibration and flexing.

Even stranded THHN/THWN wire is too stiff. It is also intended for stationary installation. It will work, but just not the best choice.

The best wire is the automotive low voltage wire. It has soft flexible insulation, and fine stranded wire that resists breakage.

You should only use stranded wire on anything that moves. Single strand wire will break over time and cause problems.

look to google

Agri-Supply offers a 14 gauge 5 wire cable that will cover all of the light wiring, if the trailer has electric brakes you'll need to run a couple of 12 gauge or even 10 gauge wires to get good trailer brakes.
I purchased my 20K trailer used, someone had wired it with auto store 16 gauge junk, always having trouble with broken wires and weak brakes.
It's getting rewired this year.

If you use aluminum wire you should use a gauge heavier than if you used copper.

CCA: I assume it refers to copper clad aluminum rather than cold cranking amperes. I do some consulting for a local company. They had asked a comcast technician to do some wiring for them. Not to pick on comcast technicians but he used left over wire he had available- the customer wanted cheap and it was just for test. My job was to determine why the equipment would only work for a short test run then quick working. Always a different malfunction, each time I found broken wire at a connection point. Soldered or crimped made no difference. I examined the wire end at the break and noticed the center looked sliver rather than the copper color of the outside of the wire. I send a couple of samples to a friend who is a Metallurgist. He knew immediately the wire was copper core and placed the samples in an acid bath. He sent me pictures of samples showing the acid had eaten away the inside core leaving the very thin outside cladding. The wire looked like very thin wall copper soda straws. Replacing the stranded copper core wire with stranded all copper wire eliminated the problems.

I would not recommend the use of copper core wire for your application.

Most semi truck wiring is in 12 gage with the White ground wire in 10 usually. So I stay with that for wiring on trailers. Yes I do not have to deal with electric brakes either. Mine are air brakes.

DON'T use any type of aluminum wire on trailers (or anywhere else, for that matter, except larger gauge aluminum for direct burial or in stationary applications. The smaller gauge aluminum was used in mobile homes for a few years in the late '70's, with disastrous results- if you were lucky, it vibrated and broke and you had to rewire; if you weren't so lucky, it broke and arced across, and your house burned down.

14 gauge automotive copper (stranded) wire is fine. Get a standard wiring scheme off the internet, and buy the right colors of wire. If you want to go cheap, get an outdoor extension cord of the proper length to run from the plug in the front back to the lights in the back. It has 3 conductors, which is what you need for taillights, left turn and right turn. The wire colors will be wrong for a standard plug, so you have to draw a diagram of what color goes to what terminal in the plug to make it easier then you have to rewire. You'll have to add wires for brakes (blue, bigger gauge), ground (white) and hot (if needed- black, I think, but not sure).

If you want to go first class, get an appropriate length of trailer wire from an RV place. If you have no brakes on trailer, 4 conductor will be OK. If you have brakes, get the 6 conductor- the blue wire for the brakes should be of a bigger gauge than the other wires.

Only use aluminum if your hobby is Recreational Trailer Rewiring. But its probably a moot point, because I can't recall seeing aluminum in small enough gauge to be usable in automotive wiring.

I would buy my wire at an electrical supply house because auto parts store insulation on wire is a guess whereas insulation on supply house wire is listed and known . Copper stranded.

Thanks for everyones help. I will go with auto primary 14 gauge wire.

I didn't read the rest of the posts. When he said trailer I was thinking mobile home.

I have used extension cords. outer jacket gives extra protection.

I just found an unlimited free supply of 12 and 14 gauge 1 strand copper wire. Would that be ok to use. I know it is a little stiff buy could solder connection and than heat shrink warp. ????

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This would be exactly worth what you paid for it!

Far more important than having the right colors along the way is sealing any connections from road salt, and possibly sea air in your case. My trailer came with "SO" cord for the plug, four strands of copper meant to power a heavy voltage appliance (10AWG) with three conductors plus a ground. I needed to add a wire for brakes. I wish I had run PVC conduit to allow for keeping the connections protected.

I buy every extension cord i see at yard sales.


I rewire everything with it..from cake feeder and bale spike to trailer lights