silicone wire from a recognized brand. Say Pomona or Alpha Wire from an industrial electronic parts distribution chain.
they usually have ridiculously high strand counts too. http://www.mouser.co.uk/Wire-Cable/Hook-up-Wire/_/N-5ggs?P=1yzp04tZ1yx79kq
or you can take your luck with no name china i'd buy a gauge or two lower to make up for lack of copper.
they usually have ridiculously high strand counts too. http://www.mouser.co.uk/Wire-Cable/Hook-up-Wire/_/N-5ggs?P=1yzp04tZ1yx79kq
or you can take your luck with no name china i'd buy a gauge or two lower to make up for lack of copper.
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OK & thanks,
I don't need 50 or 100 foot spools!
Ebay lists silicone insulated hook up wire & Alpha wire whatever that is.
I am not so confident when it comes to judging wire gauges, but I note that breadboard wire is 22 AMG & 7 amp capacity which is much more that alligator clip wire assemblies need.
So if the Chinese cheat (when do they not?) it probably wont matter. So long as the wire is flexible.
Should I specify the no of strands?
I don't need 50 or 100 foot spools!
Ebay lists silicone insulated hook up wire & Alpha wire whatever that is.
I am not so confident when it comes to judging wire gauges, but I note that breadboard wire is 22 AMG & 7 amp capacity which is much more that alligator clip wire assemblies need.
So if the Chinese cheat (when do they not?) it probably wont matter. So long as the wire is flexible.
Should I specify the no of strands?
7 by 0.2mm strands would do. (1.3A)
Better would be 19 by 0.15mm strands. (2A)
Better still 42 by 0.1mm strands. (2A)
Don't use single strand (solid core) it will fatigue and break, eventually. (0.6mm = 1.7A)
Don't use CAT5e, the cores are hard drawn and more likely to fatique quickly. (0.5mm = 1.2A) The flexible CAT5e with multi-strand would probably be OK but limit to 1A
Solder the wire ends to the nickel plated crocs. If you can be bothered solder a flexible link across the two croc halves to help with current rating.
PVC insulation is OK, silicone or similar high temp would be better.
At least three colours to allow pairs to be differentiated and for three lead dual polarity supply leads.
Better would be 19 by 0.15mm strands. (2A)
Better still 42 by 0.1mm strands. (2A)
Don't use single strand (solid core) it will fatigue and break, eventually. (0.6mm = 1.7A)
Don't use CAT5e, the cores are hard drawn and more likely to fatique quickly. (0.5mm = 1.2A) The flexible CAT5e with multi-strand would probably be OK but limit to 1A
Solder the wire ends to the nickel plated crocs. If you can be bothered solder a flexible link across the two croc halves to help with current rating.
PVC insulation is OK, silicone or similar high temp would be better.
At least three colours to allow pairs to be differentiated and for three lead dual polarity supply leads.
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Instead of "hookup" wire, search "test lead wire". When I made my own, I bought a roll of small size - for like hook clip types - black, and the clips themselves I got in all colors. For alligator clips I got the rubber shrouds in various colors. Yes one 50 foot roll lasted a long time.
Alpha wire is a brand name. Just like Belden wire.
Alpha wire is a brand name. Just like Belden wire.
I bought a few 1 meter lengths of silicone wire from 'HobbyKing' (Turnigy brand). Don't worry about strand counts it's very flexible. Q. Would I buy it again? A. IDK maybe their premium grade only.
My cheap eBay alligator clip test leads from China, had a different failure mechanism: the actuator handles were rounded instead of flat. So when you grip them and attempt to squeeze (to open the jaws), they rotate in your fingers and YOU CAN NOT MAKE THE FWORDING JAWS OPEN. I bought six packages of ten leads each, and only got five that I could actually open and close (out of sixty). Not such a great bargain.
I had a 12 pack of 400mm long coloured croc leads.
Saw some more at a very cheap price. Ordered them up.
No problem till I started getting some weird voltage measurements. Bah, humbug !
the new cheap leads were dropping significant volts along their length.
Measured resistance croc to croc. ~ 0r5 !!!!!
Makes me wonder what kind of copper they use in China?
Just spent a couple of hours stripping the croc ends of the test wires. Then refitting with soldered connections
Lousy continuity caused by:
Failure to solder wire to croc
Copper conductors not tinned (always gets you in near seashore situations).
Crimps used for low cost & convenience, just plainly a very poor "solution".
Bit surprised to note that all the leads now measure about 1 Ohm which is higher than I expected (wire was very thin though). Still they pass the continuity test & should stay that way now.
Lousy continuity caused by:
Failure to solder wire to croc
Copper conductors not tinned (always gets you in near seashore situations).
Crimps used for low cost & convenience, just plainly a very poor "solution".
Bit surprised to note that all the leads now measure about 1 Ohm which is higher than I expected (wire was very thin though). Still they pass the continuity test & should stay that way now.
I was going to suggest re-making the ones you have. I have some old (presumably Chinese) test leads which were fine for some years but then started developing random resistance. The solder joints were failing, or the wire strands were breaking, or both.
In the UK we may soon have a nuclear power station and a high-speed train incorporating Chinese engineering.
In the UK we may soon have a nuclear power station and a high-speed train incorporating Chinese engineering.
The Chinese and all others are perfectly capable of manufacturing to acceptable world standards.
The problem is with the crooks that take the failed components and sell them as if they were good.
The high resistance wire problem was probably noticed after they made 1 million of them. The buyer had seen some cheap wire and bought it in to save money but not told the production team.
When the failed items were discovered they became rejects and went out the back door to re-enter the market as fake items ! There's the problem. No scruples.
The problem is with the crooks that take the failed components and sell them as if they were good.
The high resistance wire problem was probably noticed after they made 1 million of them. The buyer had seen some cheap wire and bought it in to save money but not told the production team.
When the failed items were discovered they became rejects and went out the back door to re-enter the market as fake items ! There's the problem. No scruples.
We have! (In Argentina). Six locomotives catch fire and became unusable in seven months. It is said that they are unofficial Caterpillar copies, but Cat doesn't recognize the paternity of them. Conclusion: a good business for a corrupt politic and hundredths of thousand people traveling to their jobs like trash in a truck.
It's not that simple.
The Chinese have only a recently developed culture of manufacturing.
They have discovered due to the greed of western capitalists that any old thing will likely do so long as the western cuswtomer does not stop buying.
And the western buyer just keeps buying as if expecting by some unknown force that quality will improve.
It's also not just the Chinese, very recently the Queensland government in Australia bought a batch of locomotives from India. Well they are all breaking down & the carriages don't meet the standards required. Does the fault lie with sloppy Indian manufacturing or appallingly sloppy specification, tender, & acceptance testing by the buyer?
The Chinese have only a recently developed culture of manufacturing.
They have discovered due to the greed of western capitalists that any old thing will likely do so long as the western cuswtomer does not stop buying.
And the western buyer just keeps buying as if expecting by some unknown force that quality will improve.
It's also not just the Chinese, very recently the Queensland government in Australia bought a batch of locomotives from India. Well they are all breaking down & the carriages don't meet the standards required. Does the fault lie with sloppy Indian manufacturing or appallingly sloppy specification, tender, & acceptance testing by the buyer?
A buyer cannot be expected to test every feature of every item, or even to specify every feature. There must be some shared understanding of what is reasonable to expect. If this cannot be achieved, for whatever reason, then normal trade relations eventually break down. One thing which should be expected is that if an item has been designed to meet some spec (either customer's or statutory) then items coming off the production line should not be deliberately degraded so they fail to meet the spec. The classic example of this is the SMPS with missing mains filter capacitors (despite the PCB being designed to include them) and mains filter inductors replaced by wire links. This is so common that it cannot be just a few rogue factories; it seems to be standard practice, at least at the low to mid price points.
Of course, meeting specs can sometimes be a problem. A colleague of mine once worked on a software project with a large German engineering firm. It became clear that in one area the spec was defective, but the managers insisted that the software testing should be to the spec - thus ensuring that the software would not work when installed. He was horrified, because he expected that what should happen is that the software should be made to work and the customer told about the problem in the spec - which is what we would probably have done in England. This was a nuclear job.
Of course, meeting specs can sometimes be a problem. A colleague of mine once worked on a software project with a large German engineering firm. It became clear that in one area the spec was defective, but the managers insisted that the software testing should be to the spec - thus ensuring that the software would not work when installed. He was horrified, because he expected that what should happen is that the software should be made to work and the customer told about the problem in the spec - which is what we would probably have done in England. This was a nuclear job.
WARNING The latest trend is using wire insulation derived from renewable sources. Nice idea in principle, only the rats and other critters appreciate the food from Toyota and others.
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=rats+eating+auto+wiring&*
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=rats+eating+auto+wiring&*
yep, when I worked in a dog food factory we had
A grade, got our label
B grade, got our label but only went to certain markets
C grade got someone else's label
D grade, went to the landfill and you stayed there till buried.
Everyone dumpster dives now.
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