Heatbed wire - what type

Hello,
what kind of wire do you use for powering heatbed ? I have common like for example nema17 has, when I turn heater to 110°C the wire is really hot and soft, is it OK ? Or what kind of wire do you recommend ?

Any good quality copper wire with appropriate insulation will do. The deciding factor is the wire gauge. I use AWG 14 (between 1.5 mm and 2.5 mm for those that use metric sized wire). If you are using the wire that is used on your stepper motors it's too small and not only will in inhibit the performance of the heat bed it is possible for it to melt or even catch fire.

Penn Union wire gauge metric to AWG chart [www.penn-union.com]

Soft and hot is a sign it is not OK.

Wire size depends on the amps, and how much voltage you want to lose over the length of your circuit. Look up a chart with wire size and amps, like [www.powerstream.com] or [www.amplepower.com]

Some use multiple smaller wires in ribbon cable: [reprap.org]

I would use wire at least size of the power wires in the power supply which is generally awg 18. That is about the minimum and could get warm. 14 is a nice safe figure as mentioned. (smaller number = bigger wire) or 2 awg18 wires.

Guys thank you for advices. Since I am not educated about electricity Iam going to look for something like awg 14 in local shop. Thanks

Remember to use multi-braded 14AWG.. houseold wires are also 14AWG (the 120V/15A circuits anyway) but is a single insulated lead.. that one is too hard to use..

maybe go to your local bigbox store and get some extension cord sold by the foot/meter. get the heavy duty one. And strip the insulation around the wires. (I mean the jacket, not the insulation on the wire itself.