The aluminum wire ampacity chart basically tells you how many amps can aluminum wires handle. Example: What is #2 AWG wire rated for? Just check the chart, and you will see that 2 AWG gauge aluminum wire has a 90A ampacity at a median 75°C (167°F) temperature.
The following ampacity chart for aluminum wires includes ampacities (how many amps an aluminum wire can handle) at three different temperatures (60°C (140°F), 75°C (167°F), and 90°C (194°F)). You will also find the maximal allowable amps on all aluminum wires at a median 75°C temperature, accounting for the 80% NEC rule.
Example: A 6 AWG aluminum wire has a rated ampacity of 50A. 80% NEC rule states that you can only load the wire up to 80% of the rated ampacity. That means that a 6 AWG aluminum wire can handle 40 amps of electrical current or less.
The chart includes:
- Aluminum AWG wires (1st Chart): 4/0 AWG, 3/0 AWG, 2/0 AWG, 1/0 AWG, 1 AWG, 2 AWG, 3 AWG, 4 AWG, 5 AWG, 6 AWG, 8 AWG, 10 AWG, and 12 AWG. These are considered smaller wires with the highest median ampacity of 180A.
- Aluminum kcmil wires (same as MCM aluminum wires) (2nd Chart): 250 kcmil, 300 kcmil, 350 kcmil, 400 kcmil, 500 kcmil, 600 kcmil, 700 kcmil, 750 kcmil, 800 kcmil, 900 kcmil, 1000 kcmil, 1250 kcmil, 1500 kcmil, 1750 kcmil, and 2000 kcmil. These are considered bigger wires (thicker) and can have up to 560A ampacities.
You will also find a similar AWG wire ampacity chart for copper wires here. If you have any questions regarding these wires, you can use the comments below, and we will try to help you out.
Ampacity Chart For AWG Aluminum Wires (1st Chart)
Aluminum AWG Wire Size: | Ampacity At 60°C (140°F): | Ampacity At 75°C (167°F): | Ampacity At 90°C (194°F): | Max. Allowable Amps (75°C): |
0000 (4/0) AWG | 150 Amps | 180 Amps | 205 Amps | 144 Amps |
000 (3/0) AWG | 130 Amps | 155 Amps | 175 Amps | 124 Amps |
00 (2/0) AWG | 115 Amps | 135 Amps | 150 Amps | 108 Amps |
0 (1/0) AWG | 100 Amps | 120 Amps | 135 Amps | 96 Amps |
1 AWG | 85 Amps | 100 Amps | 115 Amps | 80 Amps |
2 AWG | 75 Amps | 90 Amps | 100 Amps | 72 Amps |
3 AWG | 65 Amps | 75 Amps | 85 Amps | 60 Amps |
4 AWG | 55 Amps | 65 Amps | 75 Amps | 52 Amps |
6 AWG | 40 Amps | 50 Amps | 60 Amps | 40 Amps |
8 AWG | 30 Amps | 40 Amps | 45 Amps | 32 Amps |
10 AWG | 25 Amps | 30 Amps | 35 Amps | 24 Amps |
12 AWG | 20 Amps | 20 Amps | 25 Amps | 16 Amps |
This aluminum ampacity chart is quite easy to read. Just find the AWG wire you want to know how many amps it can handle, check the ampacity, and in the last column, you will also find the max. allowable able such an AWG aluminum wire to conduct at a median 75°C temperature.
Ampacity Chart For kcmil Aluminum Wires (2st Chart)
Aluminum kcmil or MCM Wire Size: | Ampacity At 60°C (140°F): | Ampacity At 75°C (167°F): | Ampacity At 90°C (194°F): | Max. Allowable Amps (75°C): |
250 kcmil | 170 Amps | 205 Amps | 230 Amps | 164 Amps |
300 kcmil | 190 Amps | 230 Amps | 255 Amps | 184 Amps |
350 kcmil | 210 Amps | 250 Amps | 280 Amps | 200 Amps |
400 kcmil | 225 Amps | 270 Amps | 305 Amps | 216 Amps |
500 kcmil | 260 Amps | 310 Amps | 350 Amps | 248 Amps |
600 kcmil | 285 Amps | 340 Amps | 385 Amps | 272 Amps |
700 kcmil | 310 Amps | 375 Amps | 420 Amps | 300 Amps |
750 kcmil | 320 Amps | 385 Amps | 435 Amps | 308 Amps |
800 kcmil | 330 Amps | 395 Amps | 450 Amps | 316 Amps |
900 kcmil | 355 Amps | 425 Amps | 480 Amps | 340 Amps |
1000 kcmil | 375 Amps | 445 Amps | 500 Amps | 356 Amps |
1250 kcmil | 405 Amps | 485 Amps | 545 Amps | 388 Amps |
1500 kcmil | 435 Amps | 520 Amps | 585 Amps | 416 Amps |
1750 kcmil | 455 Amps | 545 Amps | 615 Amps | 436 Amps |
2000 kcmil | 470 Amps | 560 Amps | 630 Amps | 504 Amps |
As you can see, big kcmil wires can handle more than 500 amps.
You can also check how some other useful resources like:
- AWG to mm2.
- AWG to mm.
- AWG to kcmil and kcmil to AWG.
- kcmil to mm2 calculator.
- Wire size calculator.
Thank you.