Everywhere I go in person has shit for wire options. Where do y'all buy your wire? I'm looking for some that has those nice fine strands like the wiring in my watt meter. Am I going to have to resort to buying online? The stuff I get now has rather large strands that aren't very good for twisting around things and are just the right size for stabbing into my fingers.
Where to buy good wire
- Thread starter Rifle
- Start date
Rodifications
1 mW
Are ya still looking for wire?
AussieJester
1 TW
vanilla ice
1 MW
My home depot had some half way decent 12awg double. It was the low voltage underground lighting wire IIRC. Speaker wire works too, easy to find in fine strand and flexible. Just run it doubled up (like it comes) if its 16 or 14awg and it will carry as much current as single 12 or 10.
I need to mail order for some good stuff too though.
I need to mail order for some good stuff too though.
DAND214
10 MW
Have you tried the local HOBBY SHOP?
When I had my shop, 13 years ago we sold the stuff you are after. A shop that is into electric toys should have the stuff.
Dan
When I had my shop, 13 years ago we sold the stuff you are after. A shop that is into electric toys should have the stuff.
Dan
MadRhino
100 GW
I found a big choice of hi quality wires at millitary surplus, very cheap too.
Xrain
100 W
My local NAPA auto-parts always seems to have very good wire.
If i need something more special, Ill go with http://www.digikey.com or http://www.mouser.com, It can be a pain since you often have to buy the wire in lengths of 50-100', but it allows me to get exactly what I want.
If i need something more special, Ill go with http://www.digikey.com or http://www.mouser.com, It can be a pain since you often have to buy the wire in lengths of 50-100', but it allows me to get exactly what I want.
dnmun
1 PW
i salvage wire from dumpsters or scrap piles. i still have some 10AWG stranded. you don't need the small stranded, the regular size is ok. even solid is ok if it doesn't have to flex in operation.
vanilla ice
1 MW
I've got salvaged scrap wire too, but its SOOO dang stiff.. it would rip connectors off of my bike and rip tabs off of my cells before it bent! I look at the soft stuff as a necessary damage preventative rather than a luxury. Mail order has been covered but if you are in an emergency to buy locally.. seriously look at speaker wire. Its already doubled, or you could even run it quad for higher amp capacity. Works great that way! The only downer is you have to be mindful of the insulation if you need to stuff the multiple ends into a small connector boot.
Doctorbass
100 GW
Ultra flexible silicone wire bigger(6, 4 or 2 gauge) than 8 gauge and similar to the wire from Hobbyking seem a bit difficult to find at decent price!
Doc
Doc
Ypedal
100 TW
ever look at welding wire ?
Even solar energy places that run them up to wind mills use the flexible stuff....
but for 10, 12 and smaller silicone wire.. HK is the only place i've found online that you can buy by the foot.. or meter..
Even solar energy places that run them up to wind mills use the flexible stuff....
but for 10, 12 and smaller silicone wire.. HK is the only place i've found online that you can buy by the foot.. or meter..
Beavinator
1 kW
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2010
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- 362
I bought my wire from hobby king. It can be a bit deceiving because it says they have a warehouse in the US but wire comes from Hong Kong. Dont make the same mistake I did by going with just air shipping. I thought air shipping sounded fast but aparently it takes up to 45 days! You have to select Express shipping which in my case would of only been like 8 bucks more and you get it in 2-3 days. What a bunch of crap! Now Im sitting here on a beautiful sunny day waiting for wire.
auraslip
10 MW
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2010
- Messages
- 3,535
So I got 20 feet of 10 gauge wire from http://stores.ebay.com/Ennis-Electronics-151?_trksid=p4340.l2563
They have 0, 4, and 8 gauge as well. The gauge is flexible enough, and the insulation is very thick. How does it perform though?
Supposed to be 2.588mm. Seems it's a little bigger.
Resistance is 1.2 ohm for the whole 20 feet. The yellow multimeter started out at .4 and slowly climbed to 1.2 ohms. What's with that? I just measured the leads and they are at 1.2ohms by themselves. When I move it to the 2000 setting the leads read 48, and the leads plus the 20 feet measure 50. I'm thinking my cheapo wal-mart MM isn't gonna cut it for measuring the wire.
It's supposed to have a resistance of 0.9989Ω/ per 1000FT or 0.019978 ohm for 20 feet.
They have 0, 4, and 8 gauge as well. The gauge is flexible enough, and the insulation is very thick. How does it perform though?
Supposed to be 2.588mm. Seems it's a little bigger.
Resistance is 1.2 ohm for the whole 20 feet. The yellow multimeter started out at .4 and slowly climbed to 1.2 ohms. What's with that? I just measured the leads and they are at 1.2ohms by themselves. When I move it to the 2000 setting the leads read 48, and the leads plus the 20 feet measure 50. I'm thinking my cheapo wal-mart MM isn't gonna cut it for measuring the wire.
It's supposed to have a resistance of 0.9989Ω/ per 1000FT or 0.019978 ohm for 20 feet.
Alan B
100 GW
That is the wrong type of meter for measuring low resistances like wire.
Alan B
100 GW
If you want some fine stranded wire locally check your discount marine store. Online marine stores are pretty good, too, with better prices but a longer wait. RV stores also often have this.
West Marine
Boat US
The red/black paired wire is good for some things. The same online stores that carry Anderson connectors usually carry some of the red/black fine stranded wire, often in fairly heavy gauges.
www.powerwerx.com
www.dcpwr.com
In lighter gauges Radio Shack has some red/black wire.
West Marine
Boat US
The red/black paired wire is good for some things. The same online stores that carry Anderson connectors usually carry some of the red/black fine stranded wire, often in fairly heavy gauges.
www.powerwerx.com
www.dcpwr.com
In lighter gauges Radio Shack has some red/black wire.
Alan B
100 GW
auraslip said:
Pricing is a complex thing. I like a good price, too, but there are differences in quality, service, and the material itself. Companies need to make a profit to stay in business. Heavy wire has a lot of copper, and copper is pretty pricey.
I recently bought some copper wire from HobbyKing, and only 3/4 of the order arrived, they shorted the order. So now I can't complete the work and have to spend time and money to resolve it. Sometimes a few bucks is well spent on reliable, quick service.
Some inexpensive wire I've purchased is clearly not the same quality as "good stuff". Hopefully your experience with eBay wire will be good, but it is always a bit of a gamble.
One one project our "China" wire has 40% more resistance than calculations predict. Not all things are equal.
auraslip
10 MW
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2010
- Messages
- 3,535
Indeed! You almost always get what you pay for. With ebay it's always cheap crap. With HK it's lack of customer support and horrible shipping times.
Kinda why I was interested in testing the wire I purchased. If the seller is a good source, I'm was going to start buying the 8 gauge and bigger wire I usually use from him because it's cheap and I got the wire in three days.
What setup do you use to test wire? I'm also interested in testing the resistance of various connectors for my power loss simulator.
Without a meter like the one LiveForPhysics has, you could test it by running high current thru it and seeing what the voltage drop is across it (like how a shunt in a controller works). The more wire length you test, the easier to get a result you can measure accurately.
But you need an accurate measurement of the current as well as the voltage, or the resistance calculated from those two won't be accurate. The higher the current the more easily measured the voltage drop will be.
But you need an accurate measurement of the current as well as the voltage, or the resistance calculated from those two won't be accurate. The higher the current the more easily measured the voltage drop will be.
Alan B
100 GW
A four wire ohmmeter is used to measure low resistance. One pair of wires is used for passing current through the cable, the other for measuring the millivolt voltage drop.
You can make a similar measurement by putting a significant current through the cable and measuring the voltage drop. The more current, more cable length and the more sensitivity the better. Then use R = E / I to calculate the resistance.
You can make a similar measurement by putting a significant current through the cable and measuring the voltage drop. The more current, more cable length and the more sensitivity the better. Then use R = E / I to calculate the resistance.
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