Voltage Drop Calculator
This is a calculator for the estimation of the voltage drop of an electrical circuit. Modify the values and click the Calculate button to use.
Voltage Drop Calculation Result
The voltage drop is within acceptable limits (less than 5%).
Voltage at load: 117.55 Volts
About Voltage Drop
When electrical current moves through a wire, it is pushed by electrical potential (voltage) and it needs to surpass a certain level of contrary pressure caused by the wire. The voltage drop is the amount of electrical potential (voltage) loss caused by the contrary pressure of the wire.
Excessive voltage drop in a circuit can cause lights to flicker or burn dimly, heaters to heat poorly, and motors to run hotter than normal and burn out. It is recommended that the voltage drop should be less than 5% under a fully loaded condition.
There are four major causes of voltage drop:
- Choice of material used for the wire
- Wire size
- Wire length
- Amount of current being carried
Typical AWG Wire Sizes
American Wire Gauge (AWG) is a wire gauge system used predominantly in North America for the diameters of round, solid, non-ferrous, electrically conducting wire.
| AWG | Diameter (mm) | Area (mm²) | Copper Resistance (Ω/1000ft) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0000 (4/0) | 11.684 | 107 | 0.04901 |
| 000 (3/0) | 10.404 | 85.0 | 0.06180 |
| 00 (2/0) | 9.266 | 67.4 | 0.07793 |
| 0 (1/0) | 8.252 | 53.5 | 0.09827 |
| 1 | 7.348 | 42.4 | 0.1239 |
| 2 | 6.544 | 33.6 | 0.1563 |
| 3 | 5.827 | 26.7 | 0.1970 |
| 4 | 5.189 | 21.2 | 0.2485 |
| 6 | 4.115 | 13.3 | 0.3951 |
| 8 | 3.264 | 8.37 | 0.6282 |
| 10 | 2.588 | 5.26 | 0.9989 |
| 12 | 2.053 | 3.31 | 1.588 |
| 14 | 1.628 | 2.08 | 2.525 |