Hello there everyone,
Being a newbie on diy audio, I am wondering if anyone have any suggestions or pointers on what type of electrical wires people use for their restoration projects? Assuming they are audio grade, where can I find them in the states? What material and size should be used? This is mainly for tube amp restorations. Thanks.
Being a newbie on diy audio, I am wondering if anyone have any suggestions or pointers on what type of electrical wires people use for their restoration projects? Assuming they are audio grade, where can I find them in the states? What material and size should be used? This is mainly for tube amp restorations. Thanks.
I would recommend recycling wire from unwanted electronic equipment. Every wire I have re-purposed has been audio grade because that is what I rated them as upon inspection. Generally that means multi-stranded and tinned copper strands, and with an insulation coating that has a marking on it that aligns with the section of circuitry you are wiring.
Perhaps if you look up wire gauge and current rating and buy some vintage valve gear or old organ and look at what gauge they used.
Imho if you find yourself looking at any commercial product description with the words silver, teflon and/or audio grade you should run and hide, unless of course you are going to make and sell audio equipment, and then yes use as much wire as you can that includes those words, and if possible all three.
Perhaps if you look up wire gauge and current rating and buy some vintage valve gear or old organ and look at what gauge they used.
Imho if you find yourself looking at any commercial product description with the words silver, teflon and/or audio grade you should run and hide, unless of course you are going to make and sell audio equipment, and then yes use as much wire as you can that includes those words, and if possible all three.
According to the science of Physics, the best conductor is silver (Ag). So, the best conductor would be gold plated silver strands in a resistant and flexible insulator. However, looking at the cost of such wiring, copper wins with only a slight increase in resistance. Copper is also not exceptionally reactive as an element, although it needs protection to block most corrosion.
Physics also states metals lose their resistance when a temperature drops to extreme coldness. They acquire the weird property of superconductivity with absolutely no manifestation of resistance. In this state, and if my memory serves me right, electrons pair giving rise to superconductivity. However, losing resistance completely has its problems too. Electrons do not lose their kinetic energy due to forming part of a macroscopic electronic current. This means, at boundaries, there will be reflections as 'collisions' with such boundaries are elastic. This means, the little resistance offered by everyday conductors is beneficial.
Physics also states metals lose their resistance when a temperature drops to extreme coldness. They acquire the weird property of superconductivity with absolutely no manifestation of resistance. In this state, and if my memory serves me right, electrons pair giving rise to superconductivity. However, losing resistance completely has its problems too. Electrons do not lose their kinetic energy due to forming part of a macroscopic electronic current. This means, at boundaries, there will be reflections as 'collisions' with such boundaries are elastic. This means, the little resistance offered by everyday conductors is beneficial.
Or more in certain applications where you may wish to use resistance as a functional part of whatever you may be doing -for e.g. manipulating transfer functions in a filter etc. Be that as it may, given the cooling required for ordinary metallic conductors to transition to superconductivity, it's something of a moot point. 
I often recycle the longest wires from old computer power supplies. A nice variety of colours for prototyping and fooling around.
But when I'm in serious build mode, I rather use stranded copper wire with silicon insulation such as this one: LAPP KABEL HEAT180 Fil de cablage multibrins souple silicone 0.75mm2 Rouge - Audiophonics
The extra cost is well worth it due to their flexibility, ease of stripping, heat and voltage resistance.
But when I'm in serious build mode, I rather use stranded copper wire with silicon insulation such as this one: LAPP KABEL HEAT180 Fil de cablage multibrins souple silicone 0.75mm2 Rouge - Audiophonics
The extra cost is well worth it due to their flexibility, ease of stripping, heat and voltage resistance.
Suggest the OP to use the **SEARCH** function, his question has been answered a Million times already.
And to be aware that cable threads in general end up being blocked because of the much trouble they cause.
For some unknown reason they attract all the fanatics who answer what their obsession dictates instead of what practical common sense and experience teach and as soon as possible suggest liquid Helium cooled wiring (superconductivity) or at least gold plated silver wire ... to somebody asking about **Antique tube stuff**
Yea, sure, very practical suggestions
As a side note I never ever found 60V rated cable (which would require a few micron thick insulation)
Plain vanilla general purpose wire bought at the corner hardware store is rated 300VAC so 420 VDC but I am certain there is a generous safety margin, since mains wiring must stand very high voltage peaks (think lightning on power lines).
From: https://www.mtl-inst.com/images/uploads/AN_904-1001_Rev_G.pdf
Which matches "everybody´s" experience of using regular general purpose mains rated PVC insulated wire in Tube circuitry.
I use nothing else, and have built hundreds of Tube Guitar Amplifiers along 50 years with them wiring everything, including HV supply, tube plates to output transformer, etc.
To further reinforce this, from (PDF) Mechanisms and modes for ignition of low-voltage PVC wires, cables, and cords
And to be aware that cable threads in general end up being blocked because of the much trouble they cause.
For some unknown reason they attract all the fanatics who answer what their obsession dictates instead of what practical common sense and experience teach and as soon as possible suggest liquid Helium cooled wiring (superconductivity) or at least gold plated silver wire ... to somebody asking about **Antique tube stuff**
Yea, sure, very practical suggestions
As a side note I never ever found 60V rated cable (which would require a few micron thick insulation)
Plain vanilla general purpose wire bought at the corner hardware store is rated 300VAC so 420 VDC but I am certain there is a generous safety margin, since mains wiring must stand very high voltage peaks (think lightning on power lines).
From: https://www.mtl-inst.com/images/uploads/AN_904-1001_Rev_G.pdf
Which matches "everybody´s" experience of using regular general purpose mains rated PVC insulated wire in Tube circuitry.
I use nothing else, and have built hundreds of Tube Guitar Amplifiers along 50 years with them wiring everything, including HV supply, tube plates to output transformer, etc.
To further reinforce this, from (PDF) Mechanisms and modes for ignition of low-voltage PVC wires, cables, and cords
The best wire is .. no wire .. so You won't hear it. I don't know if air sounds better than metal ... Go for ordinary copper stranded wire.
For higher Voltages 500V up use the same used on TV crt's or the ones used on MHY lighting disco stuff or even car spark plugs because of better insulation.
If You want it for making Your things beautiful & expensive, go for platinum with diamond insulation.
Don't forget the grounding box filled with earth connected to nothing...
For higher Voltages 500V up use the same used on TV crt's or the ones used on MHY lighting disco stuff or even car spark plugs because of better insulation.
If You want it for making Your things beautiful & expensive, go for platinum with diamond insulation.
Don't forget the grounding box filled with earth connected to nothing...
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So much hot air!
Vacuum tubes, at least the plates and screen grids, need 600 v rated wire. I use the alpha and belden pvc stranded copper wire sold at newark(farnell) digikey mouser. 24 ga is good enough for most low current tube circuits. Silver plate is optional and doesn't help soldering that much. digikey and mouser never have sales, newark does. Watch for the asterisks, and you can call up the sale stuff only if you are feeling cheap. Newark is now carrying some UK brand that comes in 20 m reels, enough for a lifetime for my needs.
As I hand solder and don't have a surgeon's precision, I prefer teflon (tfe) or kynar (pfte) to avoid burned insulation. Particularly annoying when I burn the insulation off the lowest wire on a stack of six on one terminal. Look in a hammond organ sometimes, beautiful work and a half dozen wires on many of the terminals. When the tube socket goes loose or pops a terminal while you are replacing a bad resistor, it's tragedy if you burn the bottom wire.
NTE wire is ****, like most of their other parts. solid core and snaps easily, waste of $3. house brands of newark are fine.
I sometimes find teflon insulated wire at surplus houses and ebay. got some black teflon 24 from ebay this spring, without paying $.80 a foot for it. Black, red, green, are hard to get and usually expensive.
Vacuum tubes, at least the plates and screen grids, need 600 v rated wire. I use the alpha and belden pvc stranded copper wire sold at newark(farnell) digikey mouser. 24 ga is good enough for most low current tube circuits. Silver plate is optional and doesn't help soldering that much. digikey and mouser never have sales, newark does. Watch for the asterisks, and you can call up the sale stuff only if you are feeling cheap. Newark is now carrying some UK brand that comes in 20 m reels, enough for a lifetime for my needs.
As I hand solder and don't have a surgeon's precision, I prefer teflon (tfe) or kynar (pfte) to avoid burned insulation. Particularly annoying when I burn the insulation off the lowest wire on a stack of six on one terminal. Look in a hammond organ sometimes, beautiful work and a half dozen wires on many of the terminals. When the tube socket goes loose or pops a terminal while you are replacing a bad resistor, it's tragedy if you burn the bottom wire.
NTE wire is ****, like most of their other parts. solid core and snaps easily, waste of $3. house brands of newark are fine.
I sometimes find teflon insulated wire at surplus houses and ebay. got some black teflon 24 from ebay this spring, without paying $.80 a foot for it. Black, red, green, are hard to get and usually expensive.
Make sure you get tinned wire, not bare copper. If it is for tubes, 600V rating is needed.
Your local hardware store will have a limited range of wire. An assortment of colors is useful.
Hook-up Wire Spool Set - 22AWG Solid Core - 6 x 25 ft ID: 1311 - $15.95 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits
Your local hardware store will have a limited range of wire. An assortment of colors is useful.
Hook-up Wire Spool Set - 22AWG Solid Core - 6 x 25 ft ID: 1311 - $15.95 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits
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I buy silver plated teflon insulated wire from Apex, Jr., both solid core and stranded. A little harder to strip than PVC, but withstands the heat from a soldering iron. I don't have any opinion about the "sound" of different wires. I use this because I have 10 left thumbs, and my projects don't look burnt after I finish them.
Not the case, copper has a conductivity of about 59MS/m, not dependent on the shape its in.
Perhaps you meant conductance?
I found this an interesting (if only historically) read.
Copper wire tables : United States. National Bureau of Standards : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Copper wire tables : United States. National Bureau of Standards : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
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