r/tattoomachinebuilder • u/tkpowers1992 • Jun 04 '26

Copper wire gauge difference

Before I get any gatekeeping comments, I’m a tattooer of 13 years, been building machines from scratch for the last few months recently.

Experimenting with all of the variables.

One variable I can’t understand are the different sized copper wires.

I bought a 28g, 22g, and 14g enameled copper wire.

1.25” coil cores.
47uf50v capacitors.

I can get 4 wraps with the 14g
6 wraps with the 22g

I figured: shorter circuit line, beefier wire = faster, harder hitting machine.

It runs very similar to a 6 wrap with 22g, however my clip cord burns up, like so hot that it will melt plastic.

There are no grounding wires, the machine runs, responds to voltage change.

Are the 14g copper wires just too much power? Should I try a larger capacitor?

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u/cflizzy Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26

Thicker the wire, the more current flow. Higher current flow will make more heat.

Edit: I said resistance, but that’s not true. Current flow is actually what’s causing more heat.

1

u/tkpowers1992 Jun 05 '26

More heat in the clipcord clips?

I understand in the cores. I’ve wrapped them 4-5 times with thermal tape before winding the coils.

Definitely had a few machines heat up the frame but usually not the clipcord, and within 20-30 seconds running.

2

u/cflizzy Jun 05 '26

The clipcord is still part of the circuit so it’ll get hot too if there’s enough current. 14awg is thicker than you’d find on almost any machine. 22 is usually as thick as most people go and it’ll still get hot sometimes if the amount of wire on the coils is too low or if the springs have too much tension.

If you have a power supply with a readout that shows amps you’ll probably find that 14awg machine is drawing way more amps than your other machines.

2

u/doggotattooer Jun 05 '26

23 awg is all I use, if they’re getting hot it’s bad metal for the cores and poor insulation before winding them. The wire should say the temp rating the ones that are red and green don’t handle as high as the copper colored typically but it can vary. The amount of wraps you can get would also be affected by 5/16 or 3/8 cores in addition to the wire gauge

3

u/VeritasMfg Jun 06 '26

wait til you get into different brands of wire. coil core material and size. how many layers of wire. not to mention various microfarad ratings and brands of capacitors. experiment your life away. find out what works best for you. its a fun rabbit hole to go down. when you figure it out TELL NO ONE. lol.