PPI Amplifier Restoration: Power Wires

[nicad2]

Hello All,

I have been having alot of fun recently working on a project to restore some old Precision Power (PPI) Art Series amplifiers. I am talking about the ones with extruded aluminum fins, not the ones with triangular and circular heatsinks. As you may know these amps have hardwired 10-12ga power wires. Since my particular amps have been installed numerous times, their power wires have gotten quite short.

I would like to replace these short power wires with some new high-quality ones, but everything I find has one or more of the following problems.
1) The color doesn't match. Usually the reds wires are translucent and/or a completely different shade.
2) The wire jacket is so thick, that I won't be able to fit them through the openings in the amp. I'm guessing these huge "looking" wires sell well.
3) The strand count is so low that the wires are not very flexible.
4) The conductors are not corrosion resistant.

Does anyone have recommendations of brands or sources for high-quality power wires similar to what came with these amps originally?

Thanks!

I tried attaching a picture of what the wires should look like, its not working.

[TO-3]

Originally posted by nicad2
Hello All,

I have been having alot of fun recently working on a project to restore some old Precision Power (PPI) Art Series amplifiers. I am talking about the ones with extruded aluminum fins, not the ones with triangular and circular heatsinks. As you may know these amps have hardwired 10-12ga power wires. Since my particular amps have been installed numerous times, their power wires have gotten quite short.

I would like to replace these short power wires with some new high-quality ones, but everything I find has one or more of the following problems.
1) The color doesn't match. Usually the reds wires are translucent and/or a completely different shade.
2) The wire jacket is so thick, that I won't be able to fit them through the openings in the amp. I'm guessing these huge "looking" wires sell well.
3) The strand count is so low that the wires are not very flexible.
4) The conductors are not corrosion resistant.

Does anyone have recommendations of brands or sources for high-quality power wires similar to what came with these amps originally?

Thanks!

I tried attaching a picture of what the wires should look like, its not working.

1) Why do you need a red and black cable? The conductivity is not dependent on the color of the color of the insulation.
2) Drill
3) Get wires with a larger thread count.
4) HUH?!?!?!

If you think those cables were high-quality, maybe you should find someone else to fix it.

[nicad2]

I am aware of the many options that would make the amp functionally equivalent to its original condition.
Since I am restoring this amplifier, my objective is to also make it cosmetically equivalent.

Originally posted by TO-3
1) Why do you need a red and black cable? The conductivity is not dependent on the color of the color of the insulation.

Thanks, my circuits professor didn't cover that .

Originally posted by TO-3
2) Drill

This is an option, but would require a larger grommet and would not be cosmetically equivalent. I prefer to avoid this if possible.

Originally posted by TO-3
3) Get wires with a larger thread count.

Yes, can you recommend any good sources?

Originally posted by TO-3
4) HUH?!?!?!

I found some wires that met the other requirements, but were very prone to corrosion (high oxygen content copper?).

[TO-3]

Radio shack.
When I worked at PPI, we just used whatever wire we had in stock to replace those cables. It was a stupid idea to begin with(hardwiring power cables to the board) but I have always belived in functionality over asthetics(except when I built the PPI2500 F-1's), that had to be both.

[Dr. Photon]

It looks like you are looking through the car stereo section at a local store. You do not need/want special "car stereo" power wires! I'd go to a generic electronics place/surplus shop and look at all their wires. You might also have some luck looking in the electrical section of an Autozone (the electrical section, not the stereo section), or at a place (Home Depot, etc) that sells wiring meant for AC power.

[nicad2]

Yeah, I checked several local car audio shops. They didn't have anything smaller than 8ga. The retail shops (Fry's,BB,CC) had 10ga wire, but you had to buy it in a kit ($50+). Home Depot/Lowes had some appropriately sized wire, but it flunks the high strand count and color match requirements. The red was pretty close to pink!

I haven't tried any autoparts or surplus stores yet. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll give it a shot.

I just found these. They look pretty good, but they don't list the diameter. I'll have to send them a note to see.
www.robotcombat.com/store_wire.html

[creyc]

I've used those Deans "Wet Noodle" wire listed on that page for other projects (like RC cars) and it is great stuff, and VERY flexible! I imagine that would suit you well, it was very high quality wire.

[Eva]

Oxygen content in copper is a wire marketing fairy tale.

Better handling of corrosion in OFC wire is another marketing tale, but much more stupid than the previous one. First, changes in copper purity within the 99% range don't have any effect on corrosion. Second, those thin-strand "car-audio" power wires get corroded much easier than standard thick stranded wire, and the amount of damage done by corrosion is much more important. That's because the copper surface exposed to air and humidity is at least an order of magnitude higher than in thick-stranded wires, which are far more reliable.

[nicad2]

I ended up using power wires by "Amp King". The color, thickness and flexibility are all inline with what I was looking for. The 8ga size required enlarging the power cable hole, but the 10ga did not. They look great and the price is reasonable.