The wire type and guage is dependant upon its use;
Heavy current low voltage will need a heavy guage wire and high voltage low current supplies will require 26SWG with quality insulation.
It varies but I usually use single core flex not solid.
My usual supplier caries most types and sizes in both large and small rolls;
Hookup & Equipment Wire | RS Components
Heavy current low voltage will need a heavy guage wire and high voltage low current supplies will require 26SWG with quality insulation.
It varies but I usually use single core flex not solid.
My usual supplier caries most types and sizes in both large and small rolls;
Hookup & Equipment Wire | RS Components
I like teflon or EFTE (kynar) insulated 26 ga, tinned or silver plate. 300 v rated for transistor, 600 v rated for vacuum tube . I don't like redoing work when I burn the insulation off PVC wire. Stranded or single doesn't matter to me.
For power areas as 400 w/ch amps up, 18 ga or 16 ga. These areas are sparsely wired, so I can use PVC there. 16 ga 600 v rated wire is required for the AC mains wire before the fuse or breaker, and after if the fuse or breaker is > 10 A.
I buy teflon/efte wire from surplus houses when available because much cheaper than new. If I have to buy new, newark has closeout specials occasionally, whereas mouser & digikey do not.
For power areas as 400 w/ch amps up, 18 ga or 16 ga. These areas are sparsely wired, so I can use PVC there. 16 ga 600 v rated wire is required for the AC mains wire before the fuse or breaker, and after if the fuse or breaker is > 10 A.
I buy teflon/efte wire from surplus houses when available because much cheaper than new. If I have to buy new, newark has closeout specials occasionally, whereas mouser & digikey do not.
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I use this wire: WIRE SOLID 22AWG 1000FT BLACK TR64 TC - T1010-21-01K - SAYAL Electronics because it's good quality, made in Canada, and cheap!
22 Solid for signal and tube B+, 18 Solid for power tube heaters.
22 Solid for signal and tube B+, 18 Solid for power tube heaters.
I'm spoiled - I use PTFE insulated silver plated stranded wire of various gauges for my interconnects, and PTFE insulated mini-coax for low level connections. If it's high level signal like a line amp output, I may cheap out and use a PTFE insulated twisted pair. I don't like the burn-back you get with PVC-insulated wire when you try to solder it - it also gets stiff when it ages, and the colors fade.
I've been blessed to be able to grab on to a bunch of spools of PTFE wire of various sizes from local surplus houses over the years for a relative pittance. I'd hate to see the real-world pricing...
I've been blessed to be able to grab on to a bunch of spools of PTFE wire of various sizes from local surplus houses over the years for a relative pittance. I'd hate to see the real-world pricing...
I twist & add solder to the stranded wire after I strip it & before I put it on the terminal or through hole. If wire goes under a screw terminal, a red crimp spade lug is in order. I use mostly euro capture terminal strips now instead of pan screw barrier strips. They are cheaper & easier to get the wires to stay put. I do have to stock #4-40 x 7/8" screws to hold the euro terminal strips to the board.How do you work with stranded? I HATE working with stranded unless the strands are like 18AWG. Solid stays where I put it, and I can push several wires under a screw terminal
Oooh, great source! They have much better prices than anywhere else I've found. Thanks a lot!
I commercially build Guitar amplifiers and since forever use "normal" stranded PVC coated wire, sizes 0.35 0.50 0.75 1 mm^2 as needed
Never a problem.
Tinned if available, but no problem with pure copper type.
Won´t touch solid wire with the proverbial 10 foot pole, not Tour/bumping around/flexing when servicing friendly, andn that´s an understatement.
Sadly way too many VOX or Peavey amplifier solid wire nightmares visited my bench (hint: you flex a board up to solder something or reach under it even if just to measure and afterwards lose connections)
Never a problem.
Tinned if available, but no problem with pure copper type.
Won´t touch solid wire with the proverbial 10 foot pole, not Tour/bumping around/flexing when servicing friendly, andn that´s an understatement.
Sadly way too many VOX or Peavey amplifier solid wire nightmares visited my bench (hint: you flex a board up to solder something or reach under it even if just to measure and afterwards lose connections)
When I "tin" the wires, they no longer fit because the solder makes them larger.
I primarily use these now that I make PCBs instead of doing point to point. Ningbo Kangnex Elec | Ningbo Kangnex Elec WJ301V-5.0-2P | Screw terminal - LCSC.COM
I can fit 5 or 6 #22 solid wires in them.
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How do you chose a size for a given application?
Why is your preference for tinned? Oxidation?
Soldering is quicker if the wire is tinned. Quick soldering damages PCB lands less & melts less insulation if using PVC.
Wire gauge depends on the current carried by the wire. Wire tables from alpha etc have fusing current by gage. You want to use about 10% of that or less. You figure the current by dividing the power supply voltage at a point by the impedance of the amp stage you are sending through the wire. I use 30 ga for the input, 26 through the VAS, and drivers for 50W amps. 100-400 W amps need 22 ga for driver stages, and the upper ranges need 18 for the output transistor collector+emitter to rail cap and 16 for speaker wires.
Tubes, 26 is fine for most except the heater wires, which are several amps in some cases. Output transformer to speaker wire sized for the wattage: 22 fine for <70 w amps.
As far as fitting through the holes tinned, drill bigger holes. Not possible on some cheap PCB with tiny pads.
Wire gauge depends on the current carried by the wire. Wire tables from alpha etc have fusing current by gage. You want to use about 10% of that or less. You figure the current by dividing the power supply voltage at a point by the impedance of the amp stage you are sending through the wire. I use 30 ga for the input, 26 through the VAS, and drivers for 50W amps. 100-400 W amps need 22 ga for driver stages, and the upper ranges need 18 for the output transistor collector+emitter to rail cap and 16 for speaker wires.
Tubes, 26 is fine for most except the heater wires, which are several amps in some cases. Output transformer to speaker wire sized for the wattage: 22 fine for <70 w amps.
As far as fitting through the holes tinned, drill bigger holes. Not possible on some cheap PCB with tiny pads.
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As mentioned above, diameter comes from application and intended current.
Most of my preamp and signal level wiring is 0.35mm^2, which is about same as in normal "ribbon cable" universally used, so I am in good company
Also because it easily fits in my standard 1mm drill PCB holes.
Next size for some current is 0.50mm^2 which requires 1.25mm drill holes for esy insertion, in all cases twisted and tinned or not.
Higher diameters for supply and speaker wiring, but then using some kind of soldered or crimped terminal, not soldered straight inside a PCB pad.
No problem with untinned copper wire (I mean as supplied, not my own solder tinning) because I buy straight from factory by the whole rolls (100 or 200 meter) in different colours and use them quickly, no time to tarnish on storage.
Factory tinned wire is not an absolute guarantee of longevity, at least not in Buenos Aires which is a humid city, unused wire shows some dulled surface after 1 or 2 years which does not take solder easily.
I see the same in, say, 10 y.o. semiconductor legs which do not take solder any more.
Oh well.
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