L84sky

Tracker wire sizes are called out by their cross-sectional area in square millimeters (the international standard). The current carrying capability (ampacity) of a wire
is mainly determined by it's cross-sectional area and it's length. Larger area = higher current rating, Longer length = lower current rating.


In the US wire is sized to AWG standards so replacing a Tracker wire requires
some conversion. Replacing my 20 mm^2 starter cable would require at least a
four gauge wire. The AWG table is for a single, solid, round conductor.
Because of the small gaps between the strands in a stranded wire, a stranded
wire with the same current-carrying capacity as a solid wire, always has a
slightly larger overall diameter. However, 10 AWG solid wire has the same
ampacity as 10 AWG stranded wire.


My 2.5L engine has two wires going to the positive battery terminal.


The larger 20 mm^2 wire goes directly to the starter. The 8 mm^2 wire goes to the 80-amp battery fuse. It may seem wrong to to put an 80-amp
fuse on a wire rated for 73 amps but the chart assumes a wire length of 1,000 feet. Shorter lengths of wire can safely carry higher current.



The negative battery terminal has two matching wires. The 20 mm wire connects to the underside of the engine block.


The 8 mm wire connects to frame ground G100. Wire sizes on my Tracker range from 20 mm (largest) to 0.5 mm (smallest).


Area for wire is not calculated using the pi*r^2 formula you learned in school.


This is an AWG solid-wire stripper under a microscope.


For the solid-wire stripper, the 16 AWG diameter measures 1 mm with calipers.


For the stranded-wire stripper, the 16 AWG diameter measures 1.7 mm with calipers but it has the effective cross sectional area of a 1 mm solid wire so it gets a 1 mm "rating" on the tool.