American UL AWM Power Cables

UL AWM style 1015 is the single-conductor PVC hook-up wire that most North American appliance and control-panel wiring is built on. The style page allows 80°C, 90°C or 105°C with a 600Vac or 750Vdc rating over a wide size range from 30AWG to 2000kcmil, in solid or stranded copper, and it carries a horizontal flame rating with optional 60°C or 80°C oil resistance. Electrical and electronic tags may add a 2500V peak marking for electronic use. Because the size range is so wide, the same style covers a 30AWG control lead and a 500kcmil power conductor: specify the size, the temperature class and the colour code on the order, and state whether the construction has to be oil resistant.

UL AWM style 1017 is the 80°C single-conductor PVC wire for internal wiring where the conductor is fixed and the maximum continuous temperature stays well below the 1015 or 1028 ceiling. The style fixes a 45 mil minimum average insulation wall over 22AWG to 8AWG conductors, which is thicker than a 1015 wall at the same gauge, so the finished wire resists chafing and cut-through better in a crowded panel. It keeps the 600Vac rating and the horizontal flame requirement, and it accepts optional oil resistance at 60°C or 80°C. Typical orders are panel and appliance internal leads in 22AWG to 8AWG, in the standard colour code, cut to length with stripped and tinned ends.

UL AWM style 1028 is the 105°C companion to 1015 for equipment that runs hot, with a 600Vac rating over 22AWG to 6AWG conductors in solid or stranded copper. Insulation walls are 45 mils minimum average for 22AWG to 8AWG and 60 mils for 7AWG and 6AWG, and the style carries a horizontal flame rating with optional 60°C or 80°C oil resistance. Tags may add the 2500V peak marking for electronic use. It is the usual choice for appliance harnesses, motor leads and heater wiring where the 80°C style 1017 would run out of temperature margin, and it is often ordered in the appliance colour code with a matching 105°C sleeve or heat-shrink at the termination.

UL AWM style 1056 is the 105°C stranded PVC wire listed for the internal wiring of indoor or outdoor refrigerating equipment, which is why it appears in compressor compartments, condensing units and cold-room controls. Conductor sizes run 20AWG to 10AWG stranded only, with a 60 mil minimum average insulation wall and a 600Vac rating, plus the horizontal flame rating and optional 60°C or 80°C oil resistance. The heavy wall is the point: the wire is handled during service, routed against sheet metal and exposed to oil mist and condensate, so the thicker PVC jacket keeps the dielectric intact where a thinner hook-up wire would chafe. Standard colours and cut lengths are made to the order.

UL AWM style 1275 is the wet-rated refrigerating wire: 105°C dry and 60°C wet, 600Vac, over 18AWG to 10AWG stranded copper made from 30AWG or finer strands. The insulation is an extruded PVC of the compound class listed for Type TW constructions, at 60 mils minimum average, which is what makes the wire usable where condensate collects or a defrost cycle leaves the harness damp. It is specified for the internal wiring of refrigerating equipment, on fan motors, defrost heaters, thermostats and valve solenoids, and it also accepts optional 60°C or 80°C oil resistance. Order by size, colour and cut length; the 60°C wet rating has to stay on the print legend.

UL AWM style 2464 is the multi-conductor PVC jacketed cable that has become the standard control, signal and low-voltage power cable inside and between electronic equipment. Two or more insulated singles are laid parallel or twisted, in flat, oval or round form, with optional fillers, a barrier layer, a shield or a braid, all closed in an extruded PVC jacket of 30 mils minimum average on cables up to 0.700 inch. The rating is 80°C and 300Vac with a cable flame requirement. It is ordered as 2, 3, 4, 6 or more cores, shielded or unshielded, in overall diameters to the drawing, with drain wire, foil, spiral or braided shields where the signal needs it.

UL AWM style 20288 is a flat parallel construction of two or three conductors, assembled like a type SPT cord and allowed with or without a grounding conductor. Two sources of demand drive it: it may be woven through the chain links of chain-suspended fixtures, which is the fixture-chain wiring in retail and industrial lighting, and it is also accepted for the internal wiring of appliances. Ratings run 60°C, 75°C, 80°C, 90°C or 105°C at 300Vac, over 18AWG to 12AWG solid or stranded tinned or bare copper, with 40 mils minimum average insulation and at least 60 mils of material between conductors after separation. Orders are cut and stripped to length for fixture assembly.

UL AWM style 20856 is a two-conductor parallel construction whose insulation and jacket are one extruded PVC body, described on the style page as the same as type SPT-2 where the acceptability of the combination is determined by UL. Conductors are 15AWG or 14AWG stranded copper, tinned or bare, at 300Vac with 60°C, 75°C, 90°C or 105°C ratings and an FT2 flame requirement. Walls are 45 mils minimum average with a minimum 80 mils of material between the conductors, so the pair holds its shape when it is pushed through a channel or stapled along a frame. It suits appliance internal wiring and fixture leads where a flat two-conductor SPT-2 profile is specified but the assembly is an AWM component.

UL AWM style 22094 is the newest of the group, issued in 2017, and it is the one to specify when a multi-conductor AWM cable has to work outdoors. Three or more conductors are laid parallel or cabled in flat, oval or round form, with optional shielding, inside an extruded sunlight resistant PVC jacket proven for 720 hours of exposure; the temperature window is 60°C, 80°C, 90°C or 105°C with a -40°C cold end, at 300 or 600Vac. Conductor sizes run 18AWG to 2AWG, with insulation walls of 30, 45 or 60 mils by size band and jacket walls from 60 to 110 mils by cable diameter. It is used for internal and external wiring of equipment that stands outdoors.