Chris Lewis wrote:

....

It strikes me that 18ga Cu is tough enough to suggest that it's being
broken on _purpose_. If that's the case, going to heavier wire and/or
steel is an arms race you'll lose.

That's the type of thought that inspired the question...seems likely to
simply be going to transfer damage from a relaively cheap/easy fix to
something likely far more of a pita/costly...