I'm hoping someone will answer this pretty soon. I'm hoping to do this today and launch tonight. I have 30 ft. of 12 ga. wire for my launch pad. What's the smallest anyone uses, gauge wize? I'm having a little trouble with the wire being too heavy and too much memory (won't stay where I try to put it, it springs back). So I was wondering could I get away with a short amount of like 16-18 gauge so it'll stay where I put it. What do you think? Dwight

WOW! 30 ' of #12 is pretty darn heavy!

As long as you are using 12v like a car battery, you can get by with 30' of #16 or even #18 zip wire. That's the size wire used on most table lamps and available at any hardware store.

That size is a lot easier to deal with.

Save the #12 to wire 20 amp circuits in your garage!

__________________
"I'm a sandman. I've never killed anyone. I terminate runners when their time is up." Logan from "Logan's Run"

http://sandmandecals.com/

Thanks Sandman, that's the kind of help I was looking for. I kind of typically over do stuff sometimes. I just didn't want to lose any amps or whatever to cause a failed launch. Thanks a bunch man!! Dwight

Sorry Sandman, I was mistaken about something. It is 18 ga. i'm using but it's speaker wire. I don't know how that changes it but it seems to be larger than 18 ga. primary wire. Also, the sheathing on the speaker is stiffer and thicker. At any rate, I now have 18 ga. primary wire and it's much better.

The insulation thickness will make it last a lot longer but the cheaper stuff will last a pretty long time before it starts to fail.

As long as it's easy to deal with (store when not in use) you're all set.

__________________
"I'm a sandman. I've never killed anyone. I terminate runners when their time is up." Logan from "Logan's Run"

http://sandmandecals.com/