Can I use Dupont wires for power delivery?

Question

For a small hobby project I'm trying to control an LED strip from a phone. To prototype this, I will simply use a breadboard.

I have an external 12V power supply and the strip will use at most, 1.5 amperes.

My question is, can I use those cheap Dupont wires with the 2.54mm connectors to deliver power to the power supply?

Easy. (1) What current rating are they? (2) And what current do you need? If (1) > (2) then yes. — , Nov 06 '20 at 17:08
Even if they work, you might get a much lower brightness output. It's up to you if you care or not. — Wesley Lee, Nov 06 '20 at 17:29
Keep the current limits of the solderless breadboards in mind. — JRE, Nov 06 '20 at 17:37
Please add the circuit diagram to the question. That would make it clear if the circuit you are hoping to use is viable or will destroy the phone. What you say sounds simple, but one wire in the wrong place and you won't be texting your friends for a while ;) — Andrew Morton, Nov 06 '20 at 19:14
@AndrewMorton It's this circuit. I have found another solution for the gnd and 12v wires going to the ledstrip itself, but my question still stands for the gnd wire from the ledstrip to the devkit — Cyborgium, Nov 07 '20 at 19:08

Rohat Kılıç · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-06T18:05:19.690

6

Most of dupont jumpers are 28 AWG. This means that the max permissible current is around 1 Amp. However, some dupont jumpers, especially the Chinese ones, are not really 28 AWG even if they look so. Maybe you can use 2 or 3 of them paralleled, just in case.

PS: The other day I had to cut one of them for MCU-programming purposes. What I saw inside the insulator was only 5 or 6 pieces of ~0.1mm-dia conductors. I'd think twice before using them for >1A currents.

edited Nov 06 '20 at 18:05

answered Nov 06 '20 at 17:28

Rohat Kılıç

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I took your advice and I counted the conductors, the ones I have only have 8 so I doubt that it'll be a good idea. Thank you – Cyborgium Nov 06 '20 at 17:52
@Cyborgium you're welcome. If my answer is satisfactory enough then you can accept my answer so that the question does not remain open. – Rohat Kılıç Nov 06 '20 at 18:21

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 06 '20 at 17:17

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Those wires can be anywhere from 20 to 30 AWG. At 20 AWG you should be fine carrying up to around 10A, less if they're bundled or otherwise covered. At 30 I wouldn't put more than a few hundred mA through.

answered Nov 06 '20 at 17:17

vir

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At 20 AWG you should be fine carrying up to around 10A Typo perhaps 10 A => 1 A? Also, even though the wires might be OK with 1A, the connectors might not be. I would not use dupont connectors for > 0.5 A. – Bimpelrekkie Nov 06 '20 at 18:40

Can I use Dupont wires for power delivery?

2 Answers2