What type/gauge wire for led pods?

I have a few led pods and one bar I need to install and wire to my bussmann. Just wondering what kind/gauge wire I should be looking to get. I'm running everything in a 3/8 split wire loom. Max watts would be 300 on the bar.

 

Wire gauge all depends on the amount of current that you're pulling. If you google 'wire current capacity', you'll find a bunch of sites with good information. This is the one I usually check first (http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm). Anything you find online is an extremely conservative estimation and most likely bigger than you need.

For your light bar pulling 300 watts (25A@12V), 14 gauge will cover you. Remember though that you don't need to wire everything in 14 gauge. The switch and relay coil can be smaller gauge. I usually go with 18 gauge for that which is massive overkill for the amount of current that the relay coil pulls, but it's easy to source and work with. 20-22 gauge would be fine for the switch/relay coil, but it can be a pain working with the wires as they get thinner.

 

Cool. Thanks for the info. I'll probably be buying a 100' roll so I'll use the 14 for everything. I have the trigger wire and switches all wired already so basically just need to run wire from pods to bussmann. Any particular type of wire? Or is any automotive grade wire OK.

 

I actually have 14 gauge speaker wire, would it be OK to use that inside the split loom?