ESC Wire selection

[barneyg]

My new SunnySky 2212 1400kv motors have a max Amp rating of 23A according to the spec sheet.  For my V-Tail I was looking to use the Afro 20A slims since they have the same n-fets as the 30A but thinner wires and no BEC, but I was going to rewire them with more appropriate wiring. 

To this end I looked at the specs of the 30A Afro which uses 15 AWG (I can';t find 15 AWG anywhere looks like a typo ... either means 14 or 16 not sure??) on the inputs and 16 AWG to the motors, I also looked at my existing 30A ESC';s and they use 16 AWG everywhere.

Now for the twist in the tail ... BOTH the 2212 1400kv and the 2212 980kv have 18 AWG wires.  The 980 is rated at 15A continuous  while the 1400kv is 23A.  If I read the charts right the 18AWG wire is fine for about 16 A continuous so these 1400kv motors are not using the right wires.

This anomaly aside is there a point in using anything thicker than 18 AWG connecting to the ESC given that is the gauge that eventually hits the motor ?

[teslahed]

Unless your wire runs are very long I would just duplicate the wire gauge the motors use.

If you have very long motor wires routed through hollow arms or something resistive losses might start adding up and thicker wire might help.

But because of the way the 3 phase brushless motors are switched at high frequencies you';ll still get less energy lost due to resistance if you make the 3 motor wires longer than you would if you made the 2 power wires to each ESC longer instead.

[barneyg]

So what about the 2 power wires ... would you stick with 18AWG or go up to 16AWG ?