When building your RC-model it is important to make sure all the wires and connectors you are using will be able to handle the current that is flowing through it. Using a wire that cannot handle the current flowing through it will ultimately melt, and could possibly cause your drone to crash.
Maximum current of a wire
In general here is a lost of the most common size wires and their corresponding current rating.
- 8AWG = 8.4mm^2 -> 210A
- 10AWG = 5.6mm^2 -> 140A
- 12AWG = 3,3mm^2 -> 100A
- 14AWG = 2.0mm^2 -> 80A
- 16AWG = 1.3mm^2 -> 50A
- 18AWG = 1.0mm^2 -> 30A
Alternatively you can use this general rule of thumb to quickly find out the maximum current rating of a wire.
Amps = cross sectional area (mm^2) x 25
Types of wires
In general you always want to use silicone multi-strand wires as they are nice and flexible. Multi-strad wire just means that instead of a solid strand of copper in the wire, lots of little wires are used stranded together which makes it much more flexible and easy to work with in the small spaces of R/C helicopters and planes.