From tranny to vrdn, completely irrelevant. From vrdn to linestage, consider length first, then adjust size accordingly. Differences will likely be small, most important is to keep them as short as possible.
Mark himself can give you a better answer wrt this particular psu. But in general, shorter and thicker and twisted well, is the way to go. But in this case the current draw is small.
Mark himself can give you a better answer wrt this particular psu. But in general, shorter and thicker and twisted well, is the way to go. But in this case the current draw is small.
WRT current and amps: I ran across an AWG chart which listed these values. I find it interesting, anyway. The VRDN is listed as having, "...True 1.5 ampere output capability" so perhaps I'll lean towards the 18ga. Thanks for your comments - they pointed me where I should have been looking. (I'm unclear what "chassis wiring" vs "power transmission" might be since I'm using chassis wiring for power transmission.)
| AWG | Max amps for chassis wiring | Max amps for power transmission |
| 18 gauge | 16 | 2.3 |
| 20 gauge | 11 | 1.5 |
These are not mains voltages. Think watts and not amps for minimum gauge. Hint: it will work with a few strands of copper. That is not the point. You primarily wanna minimize Rdc and inductance, so use as short and thick cables tightly twisted as you find practical, and don’t dig into the details.
Please tell me you used the correct Molex housings for the AC power connectors on those Meanwell SMPS? It looks like they are just friction fit, exposed live wires, which makes me sweat thinking about it. Your build inspired me to follow the same course with SMPS and chassis, and it took mea while to locate the right Molex housings and Connectors, just waiting for them to arrive.
Chassis wiring assumes free air vs bundled, much shorter lengths and an enclosure. Having 2, 3, 4 wires twisted together or in loom are still considered "free air" wiring in this regard and no wiring scheme within an amplifier that I'm aware of would exceed the category. For perspective, consider that up to 3 current carrying 12 awg plus grounds (and neutral if not CCarrying) @240Ac enclosed in 150' of conduit are rated to carry 20A each by the NEC and the conservative nature of ratings generally when life safety is the primary concern. The 150' number is arbitrary and simply used as an example. FWIW more than 3 do incur a derating factor. Over-built, over-spec'd is appealing in some regards but I'm very comfortable with the chassis ampacity tables.
I don’t remember! 😆 I believe I put heat shrink on the crimped connectors because I didn’t have the housing. I will check and increase safety measures as needed. Thanks!
@Dneu2011
Strictly speaking I believe:
- Chassis
- Audio Ground
- Chassis
I've been puzzling over the wiring and switching of a fully balanced unit (two BA2018 kits) to allow for single ended inputs and outs too. Switching the resistors at the front end seems.... fussy.
Are you using a balanced amp? Amp Camp Amp X 2? or an Aleph J? I'm considering those to drive a FHXL (Alpair 10.3) or Pensil.
Strictly speaking I believe:
- Chassis
- Audio Ground
- Chassis
I've been puzzling over the wiring and switching of a fully balanced unit (two BA2018 kits) to allow for single ended inputs and outs too. Switching the resistors at the front end seems.... fussy.
Are you using a balanced amp? Amp Camp Amp X 2? or an Aleph J? I'm considering those to drive a FHXL (Alpair 10.3) or Pensil.
@mhenschel
Thanks for the feedback. I built a couple balanced versions where I wired the Pin 1 inputs AND outputs to audio ground thinking that was correct and it worked really well. But reading online pin 1 should be to the chassis. Single ended inputs and outputs worked as well in my configurations but I want to do it the right way for Pin 1
Thanks for the feedback. I built a couple balanced versions where I wired the Pin 1 inputs AND outputs to audio ground thinking that was correct and it worked really well. But reading online pin 1 should be to the chassis. Single ended inputs and outputs worked as well in my configurations but I want to do it the right way for Pin 1